The Irony of “Baseball Marriages”
Lewis explains, “BILLY WOULD SAY later that his wife left him because she was unnerved by his intensity-that she could even see it in his hands when he drove an automobile. At any rate, she soon found himself out of not only baseball uniform but a wife as well. Baseball marriages were like that: their most vulnerable moment was immediately after a player retired, and it dawned on husband and wife that they’d actually be spending time together.” The retirement of a player should be a blissful moment for a couple for it means that there will be satisfactory family time. Nonetheless, it is uncanny that retirement elicits the dissolution of matrimony. Obviously, the ‘baseball marriages’ are not robust; perhaps they are based on superficiality, which is ascribed to the prestige of being a baseball player’s spouse.
The Irony of “Billy’s father…taught his son baseball”
Lewis reports, “Billy’s father, no athlete himself, had taught his son baseball from manuals. ...Whatever the season he’d take his son and his dog-eared baseball books to empty Little League diamonds. These sessions weren’t simple fun. Billy’s father was a perfectionist.” Although the father is not endowed with baseball skills, he contributes substantially to the growth of his son’s prowess in baseball. A non-athlete would not be projected to develop another’s athletic skills. Beane’s dad validates that athletes require dedication and a progressive mind-set. Had the father been disheartened and with a rigid mind-set training Beane would be unsatisfactorily.
The Irony of “The Curse of Talent” (Chapter one)
The heading for chapter one, “The Cures of Talent”, is ironic because endowed people possess higher odds of prospering than the untalented folks. The irony of the title is complemented by alluding to Cyril Connolly’s quote, “Whom the gods wish to destroy they first call promising.” The ironic title surmises that being talented is not utter bliss: “Billy’s failure was less interesting than the many attempts to explain it. His teammate and friend Chris Pittaro, said, “Billy was as competitive and intense as anyone I ever played with. He never let his talented dictate. He fought himself too hard.” Beane’s situation confirms that talent is the absolute source of triumph. Even endowed individuals can flop. Accordingly, talent should be managed aptly, since failure to do so would occasion catastrophes.
