Casey At The Bat By Ernest Lawrence Thayer

Although an outcome may seem imminent, one should always be prepared for what may come next. “Casey at the Bat,” a captivating poem detailing the events of an unfortunate baseball game for the citizens of Mudville. The poem was written in 1888 by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, an American writer, and has widely been recognized for being the most influential and famous baseball poem of all time. The poem begins with Mudville being in a slump within a baseball game, dreading the impending outcome and loss that they have to suffer. After a few promising starts from Jimmy and Flynn, Casey goes up to bat. To the entire crowd’s dismay and surprise, Casey strikes out and Mudville loses the game. Within the poem, Thayer explains how surprises are imminent

He has become too cocky and confident within his attributes that he completely dismisses his attention. In turn, this causes him to strike out and disappoint the entire town. An example of Casey’s downfall is when at the first pitch, he dismisses even attempting to hit it and simply focuses his attention on something else. “And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air, And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there. Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped — "That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one!" the umpire said.” (Line 34-37). Thayer uses this to set the mood as chill and easy, detailing how Casey is confident within his skills and won’t fail.This sets the stage for disappointment to occur following this strike. His cocky and arrogant demeanor shows how the suspense and support has driven him to disregard the effort he has to put in. Another example of how the suspense leads to disappointment is when the crowd is yelling at the umpire and also Casey, causing pressure. “Kill Him! Kill the Umpire” (Line 40). This shows how the pressure led to Casey feeling pressured throughout the duration that he was up there. The crowd led to Casey choking and shows how suspense shows how surprise led to failure. Another example of how suspense lead to the downfall of Casey on his final hit. “But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed” (Line 47). This shows how Thayer causes suspense by hyping up Casey’s imminent performance but it in reality will lead to his failure. This, once again, ties back to being prepared for failure and