Passage Analysis

The passage I selected for my analysis was found on page 266 of my memoir:

“It’s hard to explain what it feels like taking your position for the first time as an umpire on a big league diamond, but psychologically speaking, I think it akin to what it must be like commanding an army on the battlefield for the first time, or ascending to the throne after the king dies; you survey the field, and it seems to stretch on forever, and it occurs to you that this is your territory, your domain, that you’re supposed to assert dominion over it and that you don’t have a clue of the appropriate method or demeanor for doing so” (266).

This passage puts the umpire in a place of power over the baseball field, showing that he is in charge of maintaining order and stability. The umpire is in charge of calling strikes, balls, fouls, fairs, safes and outs, and many other things. He has the power to eject players and managers who do not behave, and he ultimately decides the outcome of a baseball game, without being favorable to either team playing. In this passage, the big league field is emphasized in that it symbolizes accomplished desires. Here, the author is a newly graduated umpire, and yet is getting the chance to work a major league spring training game. Several older and more experienced umpires, meanwhile, are stuck in the minor leagues, most of whom will never get the chance to work a game in the major leagues.

Figuratively, this passage compares the umpire to being a king on the baseball diamond, who is in charge of keeping the country in order during his reign. The king being compared, however, is newly crowned, as the author was, having just graduated from umpire school. This newly crowned king has no idea what he is doing, but he has been put in a position of great power because others around him feel that that is what he is supposed to do. The author, being a newly graduated umpire, was selected to umpire in a spring training game for the major leagues, which both old and new umpires stuck in the minor leagues desire to do. Likewise, many people in a kingdom who work for the king, old and young, wish to rule the kingdom as the king, not as an advisor.

This passage is extremely significant in that it sums up what it is like to be a major league umpire for the first time. Many umpires never get to experience such a feeling at any point in their umpiring careers, as the system denies them a chance to move up to the major leagues. More importantly, it signifies the responsibilities of the average umpire. As stated in a previous paragraph, the umpire decides the outcome of a baseball game, without being favorable to one team or another. The umpires are the impartial judges of a baseball game, keeping the baseball society in order.