Is it ok to slide into first base?

The answer is yes, but most of the time runners who slide into first base do it for the wrong reason.  By sliding, usually head first, most are of the mind set that they will reach first base more quickly than if they ran through the bag.  Check out the following video clip to see […]

Most players …

It’s the end of June and most players have been working out, practicing, and/or playing since the fall.  The “dog days of summer” are approaching.  Some thoughts about this time of year: Most players are starting to feel the physical drain of a long season. Most players are starting to feel the mental drain of […]

What can we learn from a chicken?

Ok.  So I occasionally look for stupid things online.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective), I tend to see just about everything through the eyes of a baseball coach and usually end up asking myself “how can I apply this to baseball?”  You might say it’s a gift or, if you are my wife, […]

Where do you touch a base?

When rounding the bases, which part of the bag do you tag? Just about every baseball player would answer with “the inside corner.”  And they would be correct.  However, when you go farther and ask “what part of the inside corner do you touch?” the answers probably don’t come so quickly.  It would be nice […]

3rd base coach: Send the runner?

A third base coach rarely gets much attention, especially at the higher levels where the manager stays on the bench.  Quick, name five MLB 3rd base coaches.  See what I mean?  It seems the only time a 3rd base coach ever gets his name in the paper is when he gets a runner thrown out […]

First base: Defending the "first move"

A lot has to go right for the defense for the “first move”play to be successfully defended against. When a left handed pitcher has a great move to first base, many base runners will be told to run on first move.  The runner will take a normal (or longer) lead and take off as soon […]

When does the stride foot land?

I recently got a question from a reader asking about when the stride foot should be landing in order to be ready to hit a hard fastball.  It’s a good question because many young hitters have trouble with this aspect of hitting.  Some just don’t seem to be getting the front foot down in time […]

Staying within your stance

Chipper Jones:  Staying within his stancefrom start to finish with little head movement Greg Gross, the hitting coach for the Philadelphia Phillies, had a short clip on a pre-game Phillies show about a basic hitting tip he gives to players of all ages.  He called it “staying within your framework” but I’ll call it “staying […]

Quickening your throws: Catch around the ball

 On this ball above his waist, Jeter positions the glove fingers above the ball which will allow him to catch on the way down to his hip. Yesterday, I posted a tip for infielders called Quickening your throws: Take it to the hip where I explained that taking the ball out of your glove and […]

Quickening your throws: Take it to the hip

I’ve said many times that as kids get older, the game gets faster.  In many respects, this blog is an attempt to help players keep up with the pace of the game so that they can get the most out of their potential. The catching and throwing transition is an important one but even more […]

The Power of the Bench

Still one of the best motivational tools known to man. “I didn’t like his attitude.  The inning before there were a couple of plays he didn’t make, but he gave the effort. There are going to be plays that you can’t make. On that play, there wasn’t energy. Elvis is better than that. I didn’t chew […]

Shortstops and the 5.5 hole

One of the toughest defensive plays in all of baseball is when a shortstop has to go to his right to field a ground ball.  This is especially true whenever the batter/runner has a good amount of speed.  For some hitters who can fly, just making the shortstop move to his right even a little […]

Third Base Coach: What to say

In a recent post, I focused on the 1st base coach and what they should be saying to base runners who get to first base.  Today is for the 3rd base coaches out there.  The first three points are the same thing that 1st base coaches say so if you want to go back and read the explanation for […]

The Contact Play

With a runner on third base, the offensive team has a few things it can do on a ball hit on the ground.  They can tell the runner to make the ball go through the infield before running, they can have him go on any grounder that gets past the pitcher, they can have the […]

1st Base coach: What to say

Things that all 1st base coaches should say to runners at first base: Number of outs. “On your own past the catcher & pitcher” – if a ball gets past the catcher or if the return throw gets by the pitcher, the runner decides for himself whether or not to go.  He can’t wait for the […]

Leads off second base: Settle down!

Baseball is a very hard game to play.  The hardest part of the game is hitting the baseball.  Hitting becomes even harder whenever the batter is distracted either mentally or visually.  That being said, here’s a piece of advice for base runners who are at second base.  SETTLE DOWN OUT THERE! Movement by the runner […]

Get the umpire to talk

Asking “why?” can be a useful strategywhen talking to umpires.(Photo by Rose Palmisano/Orange Co.Register) So much goes into the dynamics of the relationship between the head coach and umpires.  I’m sure a whole book can be written about how to handle umpires during the course of a game depending on the situation and the call.  […]

Labeling

As a sociology teacher, one concept I teach is called labeling.  One aspect of labeling is similar to having a reputation.  A reputation can be good or bad, fair or unfair.  If a person has been labeled a good kid by most of the people around him, that kid will usually receive the benefit of […]

Go with your best

To beat Roy Halladay, you know you aregoing to have to beat his best stuff. A general tip for any pitcher that is in a jam is to “go with your best stuff.”  Most pitchers by the time they reach the high school level are going to throw at least three types of pitches.  They […]

The Delayed Steal (Part 3)

The first baseman is not to blame on a delayed steal.He will be looking home before the runner goes. In Part 2, I listed and explained what coaches should look for before giving the delayed steal sign to a runner at first base.  If you read it, you’ll notice I didn’t say anything about mistakes […]

The delayed steal (Part 2)

Because a delayed steal is a timing play and mostly will involve runners who are not overly fast (if they were, a straight steal usually would be easier), it becomes imperative for coaches to choose wisely in when they put on the delayed steal.   There are only three players a coach needs to pay attention […]

The Delayed Steal (Part 1)

One of the most underrated offensive plays at the lower levels of baseball is the delayed steal.  My teams at the high school level have probably used it well over one hundred times.  I can honestly say that the runner has been thrown out about 5 times max.  Of course, the runner needs to know […]

Showing up players

Coaches at all levels routinely teach their players to not “show up” umpires and their teammates during a game.  A player needs to keep his cool and move on if an umpire makes a questionable call.  A pitcher has to keep his poise and move on if a teammate makes a bad error behind him.  […]

The game is hard

You can hide here … You have to give a lot of credit to baseball players if they are still playing at the high school level and beyond.  So much of our modern society pushes them away from a sport like baseball.  Playing the game well takes an incredible amount of skill.  Acquiring that skill […]

Sun balls

A tough play that is rarely practiced is the fly ball in the sun.  Here are some suggestions and tips for players with regards to handling balls hit in the sun.  Suggestions: Get a pair of sunglasses.  Not all glasses are alike.  Try a variety of styles and lenses if you are able to in […]

The big inning

Want to see how important the “big inning” is in baseball?  Try this experiment.  Look at the box scores of all the games played on a particular day.  Could be MLB games, college games, and/or high school games.  Look at them all and do the following.  Count how many games the winning team scored an […]

Good or bad?

I saw in the paper the other day that Blue Jays pitcher JoJo Reyes finally won a game.  He almost broke the record of consecutive starts without a win.  It ended at 28 with his win against the Cleveland Indians.  29 games without a win is one of those records that no pitcher wants to have. Here […]

Catchers and pre-game

Most every team at the lower levels takes pre-game infield/outfield practice.  Here is a tip for catchers during this pre-game routine. Find out how the ball bounces. Seeing how a throw bounces in front of home plate isnot something you want to find out with a runnerapproaching and the game on the line. One of the […]

Swing and Miss stuff

Pitchers who can get batters to do this more often are seen as more valuable, especially come playoff time. This time of year involves two important things:  high school/college playoffs and the amateur draft.  In both, the importance of good pitching is key.  The teams that tend to do the best come playoff time generally have […]

Bunt delay

  Being a little slower out of the batter’s box mightjust keep the catcher back long enough to move a runner on a bad bunt.(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)  A  batter squares to sacrifice bunt.  The ball is bunted about a foot or two in front of the plate.  The catcher pounces on it […]