To tackle (in baseball)

[AlexanderIII]

Dear all,
Could you please help me out with a difficulty in the novel by Dennis Lehane 'Gone, Baby, Gone'?

The centerfielder and the right fielder met at the ball and tackled each other.


I understand that such play behavior shows some problems with their mechanics, as the author has it.

The centerfielder and the right fielder ran up to the ball simultaneously and… what happened next? They
1) both tried to catch it in the air?
2) each tried to pick it up from the ground first?
3) one of them managed to catch it and the other tried to take away from the first?
I think (1) is the most relevant, though in such a situation everything is possible.

 

[Ceremoniar]

The word tackle is usually associated with American football, where it means to physically stop someone from advancing the football. It is unusual to see it in a baseball context, since the word usually means a very physical contact that may involve bringing someone to the ground, and this does not occur in baseball. However, in your sentence, I would understand it to mean that the two outfielders were both attempting to catch a ball in the air, and accidentally collided with each other, possibly knocking both to the ground. That does happen occasionally in baseball, though one does not usually use the word tackle for that, since they were both on the same team and not trying to knock each other down.

 

[AlexanderIII]

I've studied the entry 'Baseball' in encyclopedia and the word 'tackle' is not used there just as you say. Thank you very much for your explanation.

 

[pob14]

As I indicated in the other thread, all these descriptions sound like teams of children who have not yet learned the game. Is this the case?

 

[AlexanderIII]

Yes, as it has just turned out:

The North Dorchester T-ball league for ages four through six met once a week down at Savin Hill Park and played on the smaller of two fields...

Thank you for your help, Pob14!