Sports
Coverage of Hoya sports.
Switch Hitting: A weekly take on sports
“Boyhood dreams, a bat made from a tree struck by lightning and most importantly, a never-ending passion for the game.” So goes the tagline for Barry Levinson’s iconic 1984 cinematic adaptation of Bernard Malamud’s baseball novel, The Natural, the story of Roy Hobbs’ journey from young pitching phenom to middle-aged outfield hero. Fast-forward 23 years, subtract the magical bat, add some perseverance and determination, and this fictional feel-good story about overcoming adversity takes on a very real dimension in the form of St. Louis Cardinals’ outfielder Rick Ankiel.