An ardent fan might find it disreputable that a skinny fellow in a suit might decide to allow one of his own to take a bat.
Neither he nor the batter has any business standing at a plate.
But the first man doesn’t have to.
The second man will hold a bat against his shoulders.
He shows bunt, and holds up.
He swings, sending a fastball skidding through the dirt into the waiting hands of a first base coach.
The batter takes.
And then he walks back to his seat in the dugout. His teammates walk back, too, to pick up their gloves and toss their helmets into cubby holes.
Fans will grieve. Fans will rejoice.
But it wouldn’t make sense to have a professional at the plate when it counts.
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