Gravity had to go and ruin this baseball's quest to roll on top of the outfield fence forever
School is back in session, which means millions of kids are sitting at attention (or not), awaiting lesson plans and lectures and, inevitably homework.
I am not a teacher, but I can identify valuable teaching tools when I see them. With that in mind, look at what happened to this baseball after it was struck by the Phillies' Rhys Hoskins in Wednesday night's game against the Pirates:
Pinball??? pic.twitter.com/LjgWa6iOZ4
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This, right here, is a real-life example of the phrase "on the fence," an idiom used to convey indecision and an inability to make a choice when presented with options. It's one we all can relate to every now and then. For example, I have no idea what I want to eat for dinner tonight. Do I want salad? A sandwich? Just a bowl of oatmeal? I don't know. I'm on the fence about it.
If there are any teachers out there reading this who happen to be looking for tangible examples of expressions we use in the English language to help make it clearer for students ... you're welcome.
If you're sitting on the couch waiting for your friend/significant other/brother/sister/whomever to make up their mind about where they'd like their birthday dinner, and it's taking entirely too long -- that's what this feeling is. This sensation of helplessness, as the person or object in question just remains indecisive.
Watch this and tell me it doesn't fill you with anxiety:
Sure, a baseball is not a sentient creature, so it is incapable of thinking and analyzing -- and yet, when I see this ball bounce around, ricocheting away from left fielder Bryan Reynolds and up onto the fence and just sit there, rolling, I can't help but feel that it knows what it's doing.
Why won't it make up its mind? Is it going to fall back on the field or bounce into the stands? What's taking so long?
More crucially, how is this even happening? What kind of complex physics equation can explain why this baseball, traveling at whatever rate of speed it's traveling at, could balance perfectly along the railing for as long as it does?
Somebody, tell me, because it's driving me crazy.
Adrian Garro joined MLB.com in 2016. Throughout his travels, both Bartolo Colon and Vin Scully have placed their hands on his shoulders. Not at the same time, though. That'd be amazing.
