"Starbuck" by Robert Reed (F&SF, April 2006)

I love Baseball. I like Robert Reed. This was one of his more approachable stories. The idea behind the conflict is really cool. The best part about the idea that drives the story is that pitchers don't have to wait for robotic umpires and instantaneous steroid testing to implement it. There is no character arc. The protagonist is a pitcher deep in the ninth with no outs and the winning run at the plate. His closer is a shit, and injured, and the managers wants to pull him from the game. He has to dig deep, find whatever strength of will is in him, and get three outs. Good tension all the way through, even though for non-baseball fans the central problem of getting three outs is probably a "so what" issue. For a baseball fan, however, it is a great dilemna.