quote:

[The episode] builds the tension on the pitcher’s mound, as the pitcher draws back his arm and throws the ball. Exploiting the potentially infinite camera positions available to animators, the script zooms in and out of multiple perspectives — the inner monologue of the pitcher himself and the calculating throughs of the batter he faces; the commentary of the excitable journalists in the outside-broadcast booth; viewers at home yelling at the television; fans in the bleachers; team members on both sides; the pitchers father and dewey-eyed love interest. Coupled with shots of the arena, sudden zooms and splitscreen effects, flashbacks and voiceovers, the sequence occupies the entire first half of the episode, cutting to the commercial break just as the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. After the commercials, the episode continues with a similar hyperreal deformation of time, pursuing the ball’s trajectory towards the batter, the bat’s connection with the ball, and the frenzy of action among both teams as the batter hits a homerun.