Baseball Talk: Hitting, Pitching, Catching Strategy

Reminds me of the old joke..."Ma, I'm writin you this letter real slow cause I know you don't read too fast"

Keep 'em comin rbc......thanks

 

This is a good thread -- there is not an easy answer. There are politics in everything, and baseball is no different, particularly when our kids are involved. No matter how much integrity a coach has, this is still quite a balancing act. Are you playing Johnny more than Joey because his dad spent 4 hours cleaning up the field for you the other day, or do you really think Johnny's a little better? Did you pinch hit Tim in the 5th inning instead of Todd so you wouldn't have to deal with the call from Tim's dad that night, or did you really think Tim was more likely to get on? There are always decisions made that raise eyebrows and whether the coach is just wrong despite the best of intentions (it happens), or politics had an impact -- is hard to say.

I've been on both sides of this -- as a youth sports coach dealing with tough, in-your-face, always-critical parents or the overly friendly, overly involved parents (not sure which are worse) and wondering whether my decisions were being influenced. I can tell you I think I usually went the other way -- rewarding the kids who worked hard and whose parents were supportive and willing to help when asked, and bending over backward to make sure the jerk parent or the overbearing parent didn't influence me. But I can't say I have always been able to block out the politics and act as if they didn't exist -- they do and they can be quite a distraction.

On the other side, as a dad I've had to bite my tongue at times and not do what I wanted to do the most -- call and ask a coach what in the world he was thinking when he did something I didn't agree with involving one of my kids. No question I made the right decision not making those calls, but it was very tough.

At the end of the day, parents who play politics only hurt their kids in the long run. Sure there might be some short-term gain, but, eventually, in sports and in life, our kids are going to have to learn to make it on their own and to deal with adversity when it arises. Better to learn those lessons first on the baseball field in high school (or better yet, little league) than lots of places they'll be in the future.

So my friendly advice is this -- support your kids positively, remind them that life is not always fair, teach them to love the game and to make a contribution in whatever way they can -- whether by hitting home runs and pitching no-hitters or by carrying the towels and cheering on their peers. Don't pressure them to achieve and don't "help" them with the coach or confront the coach critically. Participate in parent group activities that help out and contribute in group fundraisers if you're able. "Volunteer" only if the coach asks for volunteers and, if you want to do something "special" for the program, do it annonymously or wait until your kid graduates. You'll enjoy it more, they'll enjoy it a lot more, and you'll both be better off.

 

What a great post Dodgerblue...I was just going to say the same thing

Seriously, you hit all the heads, on all the nails

 

NEW CHALLENGE

Do you guys know the history and the rules for Switch Pitching

:lurking: It's Ok to discuss this aloud in class.

:anon: The masked historian!!!

 

I had a reply, but I think I'll keep that one to myself

Did it start with Babe Ruth or before that..like maybe Originals childhood days

 

Score 1 run for Braves. He IS CORRECT! It does go back aways but I'm not interested in that time. I am afraid that it even pre-dates originals childhood, but it's only occurred once in the majors since 1900.

Ancient History: Three pitchers, Larry Corcoran, Elton Chamberlin & Tony Mullane did it in the 19th century, but when they broke in to the bigs, pitchers threw from a box area that was between 45-50 feet from home and there was no mound. Pitchers threw underhanded, The batter got to tell the pitcher where he wanted the ball and fouls were not counted as strikes (ever wonder why records before the modern-area are pretty meaningless...that's why).

There are two episodes remaining to be discovered: Since 1900, who? What major leaguer, regardless of level, was the most extreme example of "switch pitching".

Also, what's the rules.

 

The most recent was Greg Harris of Montreal in'95...as a side note, he ended his career at the end of that year.

The most interesting was Paul Richards, an Oriole GM. He won both games of a doubleheader. I believe throwing right handed the first game.

I didn't realize the rule has changed

 

Position that's least coached

Bear with me, this may be a long post:

Coaches by and large seem to select positions by a particular quality

1st base- Big hitter, can scoop bounced balls
2nd base- good hands and feet, weak arm
ss - good hands, good feet, strong arm
3rd- good hands, strong hitter, slow feet
catcher- fat kid, good hitter
outfielder- can catch flyballs
Pitcher- throw strikes

There are exceptions to these qualities, but those are the stereotypes

But which position gets the least amount of coaching?

My opinion is the outfielders. They genuinely are told to "shag flies and back up throws", but are not taught the fundamentals. Picking up the arc of the ball in flight. Picking up the spin. Windy days. How to get a jump on the ball. Watching pitch location. Where to be on every thrown ball? etc, etc... I just don't believe they get near enough attention.

What positions do you feel are the least taught ?

 

Grandslam.... Bottom of the 9th "Braves win..Braves win"

There is no rule. When Harris got approval to switch pitch, MLB gave guidelines to the umpires to keep the batter & pitcher from switching between every pitch and prolonging the game but no rules were adopted.

 

I look at it two ways:

In terms of the AMOUNT of time taken with the teaching of the position, I'd agree that it's the outfield that suffers.

However, relative to what players NEED to know to really excell at their position, I'd say it's the catchers. If you've ever seen a major league catcher work with high school catchers, you know what I mean.