Don’t Overlook Any Of Your Players!
Author: Larry Cicchiello
As a baseball coach, I’ve always enjoyed watching my so called “superstars” perform. Hitting a “seed” up the gap or pitching six scoreless innings is lots of fun to watch. But I also enjoy a player who has been struggling and then overcomes any baseball struggles.
I’ve had my share of championships and have enjoyed them tremendously. After one of them, my 10-11-12 year old team doused me with many different colors of an athletic beverage. One of my player’s mothers asked me if …
Great video here from Brent Mayne about posture and foundation for catching.
Sacrifice bunts, sacrifice fly’s, ground balls that move base runners up a base are often considered outs that help the team score runs. These are known as productive outs. Certain types of teams use productive outs to score runs. More often than not, these are teams that can’t score runs via hits.
Hillerich & Bradsby Company, popularly know for the manufacturing of Louisville Slugger brand bats and baseball/softball equipment was found liable on Wednesday for the the death of an 18 year old baseball player. The death occurred after a batted ball struck Brandon Patch in the back of the head in 2003. Lawyers for the family argued that H & B failed to adequately warn of the dangers of the company’s aluminum bats. H & B was ordered to pay the family $793,000 plus an additional $58,000 for the grief and funeral expenses of the family.
Below is the NFHS Baseball official balk rule. My comments are in red and Feint: deceive by mock action.
The debate seems to revolve around the angle in which a pitcher steps to first base. According to the updated rules, a left handed pitcher throwing to 1st base can either step directly towards first base or as much as 45° towards home plate. The same logic applies to throwing to 3rd base by a right handed pitcher.
For whatever reason, so far this post-season has been a comedy of errors for the umpires. Over at deadspin.com there is a list of the questionable calls and photographic evidence to prove that the wrong call was indeed made. It’s understandable that umpires make mistakes. Some may argue that this is the beauty of baseball but when playoff games are hinging on an umpire getting the call right, the issue must be addressed.
