Baseball Talk: Hitting, Pitching, Catching Strategy

I recall this story from the other Board and I remember Wahoo (an umpire ) getting upset about this post

I have mixed emotions about Jack Chavious as an umpire. He works tremendously hard and he really wants to do well. But he will hustle to get himself in position and still BLOW the call...and it's not every now and then.

But I like Jack as a person ( a heckuva nice guy ) and I believe his being a good guy is why he helped out Mathews. It's not like he had a son playing over there, but I certainly understand where Papbear is coming from. Appearance of a conflict of interest is just as bad as an actual.

 

Designated Hitter in High School

Questions (for discussion sake):
What purpose does the D.H. serve in High School baseball?

If a player isn't capable of playing in the field, does he have a role beyond High School?

Should this rule be abolished at the High School level?

Chime in guys......

 

I'm not a big fan of the DH at the HS level, but if their going to do it, do it for the pitcher only, not position players. I think that's what it was originally intended for anyway.

 

I'm not a fan of the DH at any level. I know that there are those that are for it though and they're reasons are arguable. The one thing that I have always liked about baseball is that players get to display both offensive and defensive skills. For instance; pitchers that cant hit or bunt will come back to haunt you in one way or another. It also waters down the managing aspect of the game, a DH makes it easier on the coach. Just my opinion.

 

What about the argument of involving more kids in the game?

 

I think getting more kids in the game is a poor excuse for using a DH. If you're going to use it do so with the intent of helping the team win the game not just so "Johnny" can play too.

I guess there are times when a DH may be warranted. Like if a HS coach must bring a freshman up from JV to fill a hole caused by injury and the kid just hasn't matured enough to hit V pitching. But, I think that it's important that he explain this to the kid and his parents up front in order to avoid any future problems. (parents most probably)

 

I'm not trying to put Jack or any other umpire down by saying that they are dishonest. My point is simple. Umpires must not, and should not, put themselves in the position of possibly being accused of being impartial. There was also on umpire on the old message board who said he used to umpire his son's Legion games. In a situation such as that, I believe that an umpire has an obligation to request that he be assigned to another game. Any comments from you umpires out there?

 

I guess I dont really have an answer for that. I'm just old school, I remember when I first saw it, it was kind of like cheating in a way.

 

Man, am I enjoying all these posts. Where were you guys at when I was pretty decent at the plate in Junior High? Led the team in hits all three years and was not to bad a catcher, but concentrated on basketball in high-school because my junior high coach wasn't a baseball man and no girls showed up at games. By the way, that's one of my few regrets in high-school, not playing baseball. Wished with all my heart I'd played now, but really look forward to alot of high-school games this year along with seeing the Crawdads play a bunch.

 

Big Red, glad to see you post in here.

Times have changed a little now. There are always a group of young wimmin that come to the games now. Especially on a warm friday night.

I'm also glad that you did not lose your love for the game.

...and the part about " we should have seen you", don't be surprised if DodgerBlue did see you. Umpires were terrible back then also!!