ks than allow his gift be tampered with by the Doc's ministrations. On one hand, this rejection of the self-help movement is admirable in a sport where players today seem eager to use any superstitious trick-or drug-to give themselves a psychological or physical boost to their performance. It satisfies the American mythical ideal of the naturally talented self-made man who cannot be kept down by scandal. But the fact that Hobbs is never "for the team' but is only determined to win "the world for himself" also shows the selfishness of his character and the selfishness of the American mythology surrounding baseball (Malamud 85). Hobbs is so powerful that one crack from his bat named 'Wonderboy' at practice can make a dead field grow green.
             Baseball is a team sport, but statistics are kept on individual players, and players are followed just as closely as teams. Baseball's focus on the individual moment of the hitter's or the pitcher's glory embodies American individualis
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