Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.” So it was not impossible that I,
Banished to the outfield and daydreaming
Of water, or a hotel in the mountains,
Would suddenly find myself in the path
Of a ball stung by Joe Barone.
I watched it closing in
Clean and untouched, transfixed
By its easy arc before it hit
My forehead with a thud.
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How is this excerpt important to the poem as a whole?

It introduces the problem the speaker has playing his baseball position.
It shows why the speaker does not like playing baseball.
It shows how the speaker’s feelings about himself begin to change.
It develops the idea that the speaker feels like an outsider with the other boys. Read the excerpt from "How I Learned English.”

Someone said "shin” again,
There was a wild stamping of hands on the ground,
A kicking of feet, and the fit
Of laughter overtook me too,
And that was important, as important
As Joe Barone asking me how I was
Through his tears, picking me up
And dusting me off with hands like swatters,
And though my head felt heavy,
I played on till dusk

This excerpt shows that the speaker no longer feels like an outsider because

he enjoys a funny moment with the other boys.
he becomes a better baseball player.
he learns how to correctly use English words.
he allows the other boys to make fun of him.