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Originally Posted by peter_josephina
So, I'm primarily a hockey fan, followed by college football and basketball.
However, I'm from Detroit and so, am now following MLB a bit closer.
I watched a National League game last night and have the following questions.
1. Why do pitchers bat like they do? I've never played fastball in my life but still bet I could at least foul off a couple and look like a real player. Those pitchers just look so weird at the plate. Did you ever see Randy Johnson try to bat? Jeez what's the problem??? (see my related thread on why Brett Favre and that guy on the colts look like they're wearing dresses when not in the pocket)
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Haha great comment. Soem pitchers are actually good hitters, examples being the now retired Mike Hampton (hit 9HR in limited appearances one year) and Josh Beckett. Basically the bottom line is that they never swing. I'm a pitcher in high school and we never hit. It's always long toss, and then when the batters hit, we run. They never practice because they only are relied on to hit once every five days, and then, are used in sacrifice situations. In the american league, pitchers don't even hit at all! I agree with you though, they do look rather stupid. I mean, I'm not the greatest hitter, but at least I look good when I strike out.
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| 2. Since the catcher is always giving the pitcher signs, is he telling him which pitch to throw? Why? This doesn't make an ounce of sense to me. |
First, it's a complicated mix. Generally, the coach has the ultimate decision; sometimes he relays signs to the catcher. The coaching staff has notebooks and hundreds of pages of notes on each hitter and his past performances. If, for example, the coach knows that the hitter strikes out 70% of the time when thrown a curveball in an 0-2 count, if the situation arises, he may tell the catcher to tell the pitcher to throw a curveball.
For the most part though, the pitcher and catcher work together deciding on the pitch. Yes, the signs are telling the pitcher not only what pitch to throw, but also where (inside, outside, up, down). The catcher is in a much better position to notice weaknesses in the hitter's stance and swing, and also is tasked with the responsibility (along with the pitcher) of studying all information on the hitters past performance and his strenghts and weaknesses. For example, lets say that the batter has his hands wrapped too far back before his swing; the catcher notices this and realizes that he will be late on a fastball up high. So he relays this to the pitcher, who can agree to throw the pitch, or deny it with a short shake of the head. If the pitcher shakes the catcher off, the catcher thinks of another good pitch for the situation (are they trying to get a double play? Do they need a strikeout?) and gives the sign until the pitcher agrees.
A good catcher is invaluable. I was lucky enough to have one last year; when I was on my game it was like we had a telepathic link. Every pitch I wanted he called; and actually, if you are around the game long enough, you begin to get a feel for what pitch to throw when. With the aforementioned catcher, we usually agreed on the pitch 95% of the time.
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| 3. Why do coaches have to wear a team uniform? I swear Dusty Baker looks like an old man in his pajamas when he shuffles out to the mound. Seeing Larry Brown in a $5k suit or Charlie Weiss in a sweat shirt look so much more natural. |
Tradition. There's a lot of that in baseball, for the better or worse. MLB tries ot maintain the feeling that baseball is a game not a business. Obviously it's a huge business, but somehow, it wouldn't feel right to me to see managers in suits...call me old fashioned!
Hope that helped, and I hope you enjoy and learn to appreciate the game. Remember, 90% of baseball is mental. If you actually try to follow it and realize what is going on, it's simply mind boggling at times. The mind games between the pitcher and batter, fielders and batters, managers, etc, is utterly amazing.
-Jon
