The chapter opens with a flashback to the previous chapter, in which the narrator laments the fact that the narrator's younger brother, a pitcher, has been promoted to the varsity team. He laments that the younger brother's talent is too great for the rest of the team to keep up. The narrator complains that the other players on the team are too eager to get on the starting team, and that they do not have the discipline to stay focused on their work. He complains that he was the one to kick him off the team, for he was too soft on the ball. He wonders if he will be able to return to the team if he graduates, and the narrator assures him that he will.