MLB Saturday 7/13

[Wiretowire]

YTD +1430
1-0 last

Thanks for the responses Phantom, Bank, Pirate, and Fade. Great stuff and I appreciate the stories. Two things I will comment on is I don't know anything about ump school. I can talk about the minors and some about the majors from friends who made it, but ump school is another planet. The other thing is Pirate one tip I will give you is when your son is at least 16 (and not before) teach him to fire the ball back to the pitcher. Doesn't have to take his arm off but throw it on a line not lob it back to the pitcher. Coaches and scouts love that shit but don't have him do it before he turns 16 when his arm has time to develop. And when you talk about blocking the ball on low pitches remember to have him lean forward from the waist so if the ball hits the chest protector it will angle down in front of him. GL

Sorry folks I can't find much. Totals all seem high most around 9 so I will wait for them to come down and they will. By the way and this is not an "I told you so" but yesterday's Mets game ended up a 1 run Mets win. If you had taken the -1 1/2 you lost 1 1/2 units total. One unit because Colo covered and the 1/2 unit you should have won betting Mets ML. (when odds are that high bet 1/2 your regular bet on the ML) Yes, I know I sometimes lose those high chalk bets but giving the bookie runs is not the answer. I would rather you walked away from those bets like the books want you to with those high odds than give them runs. Just a thought.

Cinn ML -75/+50

GL

 

[inZane]

Good luck today Wire...

 

[PirateAlew]

Love Cincy today, glad we match up. As far as totals, I do love the reds over and mets and mets over (Drekman is HP ump for mets games, 14-3 over and an avg over 12 runs---most umps are around 8).
Thanks for the baseball tip, My HS baseball coach sounds like you, he was a catcher for Duke and then Pulaski Braves. He'd worked with us on getting it back to the pitcher repeteitively because as he said muslce memory will kick in when the mental side goes out. I remember a few catchers, one Mets catcher, Mackay Sasser, who had a mental block for a few games and had an issue throwing the ball back to the pitcher.
A coach threatened to fine Sasser $20 each time he hesitated to throw the ball back to the pitcher. He even had to get psych treament to cure this mental block. Believe they said that is a real condition some guys develop. In High school, I threw harder and faster than the pitchers on our staff, so they'd get mad when I fired it harder to them than they did me. I only did it when I wanted to make a point the guy could throw harder.
We did the blocking drills for hours, balls of the feet, and always kept my throwing hand on my leg or near the mitt for faster throws and if i needed to block, had one coach at UNC camp who tried to get me to put my arm behind my back like some do. I hated it. Now with a torn ACL needing surgery I dont think I'll be demonstrating proper form anymore ha! Do you recommend the hand placement behind the back or to the side so the fingers dont get crushed in a foul ball?
Good luck today and god speed!

 

[Timh]

BOL Wire have a great weekend!

 

[phantom888]

Pitching is all about repetition

If a pitcher throws a strike get the ball back to him quickly so he can repeat his delivery and create a good rhythm for throwing strikes.

Catchers control the tempo of the game

Keeps the fielders awake as well

Good luck today!

 

[Wiretowire]

Thanks Inzane. I appreciate it. GL

Thanks Tim. GL

Thanks Phantom. Very true about pitchers. GL

Thanks Pirate. I never believed in the arm behind the back. I always kept the throwing hand ready up next to the mitt but always in a fist. Open hand is begging for broken fingers and behind the back too slow to react. A fist is fast and protects the fingers as even a hard foul will have trouble breaking the knuckles or hand. Problem is most young catchers keep the fist but as the ball comes to the plate, they instinctively open the hand. Good idea to film a few so they don't do that. I learned this technique when I was 8 years old so I never had the open hand problem, but you have to watch out for it as the ball comes in. For young kids have them cover a caught ball with the throwing hand still in a fist if there is no one on base. Some were taught to put the throwing hand in a fist but low next to the right knee. That works too but I liked it up front. No matter what catching is brutal. You get your ass kicked every game and you have to be demented to play that position. But it's also the position that will get you signed fast if you are decent. Pitchers maybe faster signed but you can get where you want if you are crazy enough to catch. Back in my day we just turned our hat around and put the mask over it. Even in the minors we were too stupid to ever think about wearing a batting helmet backwards instead. GL