Today I wanted to accomplish a couple of things. First, I wanted to get back in to the writing mood, since I have not published since the end of October way back in 2019. Secondly, I wanted to pick your brains about the upcoming baseball season. I know that most of the people that will read this are hardened baseball fans and you are probably reading this as a favor to me. Due to the nature of my business (Champions Sports) a baseball training center, this might sound like a sales pitch. Maybe it is. However, my intentions are honorable.
Baseball is hard. In my opinion it is the hardest of the team sports to play. This is not a up for discussion. You have no argument that will persuade me to think otherwise. Hitting a round ball with a round bat and hitting it squarely is very hard to do. Now to take into consideration the way guys throw at the upper levels. It amazes me that there aren't 20 no hitters every year. Take catching a pop up. You think its easy because you have watched your favorite baseball team over and over and they hardly every drop those. Remember you are watching the best. Ever watched a youth or high school game and seen a pop up dropped? Yeah me too. It is also very tough. Let's not even get started on throwing strikes. Take a guy from 50', or 60'6" away and have him throw a 5oz leather ball through a 17" x 2 1/2 ft strike zone. There are guys that are really good at this and other guys that have great arms but have no clue where the ball is going when they release it. This also is hard to do.
I can keep going. Outfielders that have to cover hundreds of feet in every direction. Run as fast as they can and catch balls hit a different velocities and angles. Oh yeah sometimes the ball is hit right at them but most of the time it is not. Then from 200 ft away the need to throw a strike to their cutoff man or even further to the next base. Infielders that have so many responsibilities that it would make your head spin. I'd like to see the dad in the stands that is getting on some kid for missing a grounder to get his old butt out there and give it a try. All kinds of grounders, true hops, rolling grounders, bad hops, short hops, Sunday hops, forehands and backhands are just a normal day for an infielder. Oh yeah and you have to catch line drives and pop ups that the outfielders cant get. Then you have to make a throw. Like Coach Clary says right left catch, right left throw. And make a good throw.
Are you tired yet. Do you see what I mean by difficult. We haven't even started talking about the toughest position on the baseball field. The catcher. These guys are amazing. They are the only players allowed to be in foul territory when a pitch is thrown. It is their job to catch or block every pitched ball. Sometimes they can use the mitt but sometimes they have to use their body. Honestly I have played every position on the baseball field except catcher. I feel that I would know what to do in every situation at every position in the game...except catcher. I never had any desire to play the position. Brutal work. Call me lazy, call me whatever you want, but don't call me a catcher. Funny thing you can't win without a good one. If you have a below average catcher it will be almost impossible to win baseball games. You can be below average at every other position and have a great catcher and you can win a game here and there. Have a bad catcher and you can't win.
What I am getting at is this. We are now about 40 days away from your sons/daughters league tryouts and I see this every year. There are several players that have been working on their game for the past few weeks and there are a bunch of players that will show up at tryouts without ever swinging a bat or throwing a ball. If you have a baseball player in your house or even if you have a player that just plays baseball for fun (there is a difference). Now is the time for them to start working on their game. I know you might say he/she just plays for fun. Let me tell you playing well is way more fun than suiting up and not being very good. Whether you work at home, at school or another baseball facility it is time to get to work. Hopefully you will entrust your player to one of the great coaches at Champions. If not, for the love of the game get your work in somewhere.
