Chapter 10 - Catching

The catcher should be the most intelligent player on the team because he has more decisions to make and is responsible for calling more plays on the field. Adding interest to his assignment is the fact that he is involved in more action than is any other player.

There are at least three physical requisites for success in catching—durability, agility, and hand speed. When you have observed the quick movements of a Yogi Berra in pouncing on two bunts in succession to throw out runners at third base in a World Series game with the Dodgers or the split-second starts of Roy Campanella in speeding after pop flies, you realize the value of rapid mobility in your catchers. Obviously it takes durability for a catcher to remain alert and aggressive in every inning of every game. And hand speed is especially valuable in catching foul tips and breaking pitches— knucklers, screwballs, and sharp-breaking curves.

GOOD CATCHING HABITS. The biggest problem to overcome in developing catchers is to get them to be ready to throw quickly and accurately. Too many catchers stay down in their "signal squat" to catch pitches. It is not easy to comprehend why this happens. One reason seems to be that photographers invariably pose catchers in that position for pictures. Youngsters see these pictures and surmise that this is the proper position for receiving the ball.

With some older players it becomes a lazy habit. When there are no runners on base, some major league catchers stay down in the "squat" position and some even catch on one knee. An alert batter has a good chance of dropping a bunt in front of home plate and beating it out for a base hit if he finds a catcher receiving in this position.

So few batters take advantage of the carelessness of a catcher that it is easier for him to become careless. Nevertheless, the catcher handicaps his team when he is not in the best possible position to break in any direction as the ball is pitched, catch a pop fly, retrieve a wild pitch, or field a topped ball which may bounce in front of the plate.

To show what can happen when a catcher gets careless, recall the situation in the 1959 World Series when Sherman Lollar, one of the best catchers in the game, signaled for a curve ball outside, shifted out, and dropped to one knee before Shaw released the ball. Shaw's pitch was inside and got past Lollar, permitting Dodger runners on first and second to advance a base. When Shaw charged up to the plate to discuss the play with Lollar, it was obvious that he thought Lollar should have caught the pitch. It is unlikely that he would have missed it if he had been in a proper position to catch the ball.

When a catcher moves to the inside or outside of the plate before the ball is pitched, he may tip off the opposition as to what kind of pitch to expect. Dropping to a knee generally indicates that he has signaled for a curve. But if a catcher gets into the habit of catching from the same (proper) position all the time, he avoids tipping off his strategy, and he has the freedom of movement to get in front of every pitch in the vicinity of the strike zone.

Branch Rickey has observed that a key factor in catching is the ability to get into a position to throw at the earliest possible moment. This means that the catcher should catch as many pitches as possible with the weight of the body on the right foot. In the few instances when this cannot be done, he should shift his weight to the right foot as soon as possible. Combining this action with bringing the ball up to a throwing position in a continuous motion as the ball is caught will keep the opposition from running wild on the bases.

The Chicago White Sox discovered this when Johnny Roseboro's good catching form, aggressiveness, alertness, and accurate arm combined to throttle their attack when they met in the World Series. His ability to throw instantaneously turned the base-running speed of the White Sox to the advantage of the Dodgers as he threw out runner after runner until the Sox quit running.

Early in his career Yogi Berra had so much difficulty in attempting to curb the running of the Brooklyn Dodgers that he was replaced by Aaron Robinson in a World Series. Only the expert instruction of Bill Dickey and hard work by Berra in learning to catch and throw in a continuous motion made it possible for Berra to make proper use of his strong arm and to develop into an outstanding catcher during the following season.

FINDING A CATCHER. Finding a catcher is usually the most difficult assignment in filling positions for a baseball team. This is not always because boys don't want to be catchers, but more often because boys have trouble in learning to play this position. Wearing more equipment, catching the ball which a batter is attempting to hit, avoiding batters in throwing to basement, and other skills are requirements of catching that are not common to other positions.

Since these situations make it necessary for a catcher to spend more time in learning his position than is generally necessary for other players, Little League teams should make a practice of training one or two extra catchers each season. These boys should be among the younger players on the squad so that they will be eligible to catch in the league the following year. A good way to train the youngsters is to have them catch batting practice while wearing mask, chest protector, protective cup, and leg guards.

Keep in mind that catching requires more strength and endurance than other positions and urge rugged youngsters to try out for the position. Although there have been few left-handed catchers, there is no reason why a southpaw can't catch. A team from Texas had a talented left-handed battery in a recent Little League World Series.

There are some advantages to having a left-hander behind the plate. Normally it is easier for a left-handed catcher to catch breaking pitches from a right-handed pitcher, particularly when the batter is right-handed. He may have trouble in getting a catching mitt, but manufacturers will make mitts on order.

Catchers who wear glasses are becoming more common, too, both in professional and amateur leagues. However, be sure that your catcher has a mask which fits properly over his glasses if he wears them while catching. Finally, remember that it is highly desirable to have a lively or "peppy" catcher who will keep your other players alert and on their toes,

Fundamentals

The catcher is the quarterback of your team. He has the whole field in front of him and is the only player in a position to see whether or not the other players are in their proper places and ready for action. Thus, he should double-check before each pitch to see that his teammates are in position and should hold up play until they assume the proper position.

THE SIGNALS. Once the defense is properly aligned, the catcher assumes the "signal squat" with his right knee pointed toward the second baseman and left knee pointed toward the shortstop. His left forearm rests on his left thigh so that his mitt is in front of and against his knee, with the back of the mitt facing the third baseman. The signals are given with the right hand, the fingers resting against the base of the right thigh to keep anyone behind him from seeing the signs.

The system of signals becomes more complicated as you advance in baseball. The basic pattern is to call for a fast ball with one finger, curve with two fingers, a change of pace with three fingers, etc. If you think your foes are picking up your signals, use a series of signs, such as: one finger, two fingers, one finger for the fast ball; two fingers, one finger, two fingers for the curve ball.

FIG. 29(a). Here the catcher gives signals to the pitcher, squatting so that his right knee is pointed toward the second baseman and left knee pointed toward the shortstop. His left forearm rests on his left thigh so that his mitt is in front of and against his knee, with the back of the mitt facing the third baseman. The signals are given with the right hand, the fingers resting against the base of the right thigh to keep anyone behind him or runners at first or third base from seeing the signs.

READY TO CATCH. After he gives the signals, the catcher stands up with his weight on the balls of his feet, and body bent forward. This must be emphasized to catchers because many of them try to catch from the "signal squat" and in so doing are unable to shift quickly to get in front of a wide pitch, jump to stop a high throw, move forward to field a bunt, shag a foul ball or back up third or first base. Insist that he keep from catching from the "lazy man's crouch."

THE TARGET. Once he has assumed a comfortable stance with his feet spread apart slightly wider than the width of his shoulders and the left foot slightly ahead of the right foot (about three to six inches), he should give the pitcher a target with his mitt—the front of the mitt facing the pitcher—and hold it still until the pitcher throws the ball. A target between the belt and the knees—with the fingers of the mitt pointing toward the ground—is preferable most of the time because a large majority of batters can hit pitches between the shoulder and belt farther than they can hit low pitches.

FIG. 29(b). When he signals, the catcher stands and measures his distance from the batter before assuming his catching stance. With arm extended (right hand toward a left-handed batter and left hand toward a right-handed batter), the hand should be from six to twelve inches in back of the batter's hands and bat. This should keep the batter from coming into contact with the catcher when he swings the bat.

The catcher should be sure he is centered behind home plate so that he gives the pitcher a good target by outlining the strike zone with his body. The pitcher should aim at some target on the catcher's body (left shoulder, right knee, bottom of chest protector or some other spot) to be indicated by the catcher when he gives his signals to the pitcher. The catcher should be an arm's length in back of the batter as he lines up to receive the pitch. To avoid being hit by the bat, he should not move forward to meet the ball until after the batter swings. This is particularly important with beginners in the batter's box and behind the plate, as they often do the unexpected and injuries can be the result.

RELAX THROWING HAND. The throwing hand should be relaxed and half-closed as the ball approaches the mitt. It is desirable to have the back of the hand toward the pitcher because the joints of fingers and wrist will bend with the ball if they are hit by a foul tip, and the hand is in the proper position to reach into the mitt to grasp the ball and make a throw quickly. The throwing hand should be held close to the mitt.

SHIFT FOR PITCHES. On wide throws, the catcher steps toward the ball so that he can get in front of the pitch. With a right-hander at bat, and a pitch to the outside, he steps to the right with his right foot as he makes the catch. Then he steps in the direction he wants to throw with the left foot. On an inside pitch, he steps to the left with his left foot and moves the right foot slightly to the rear of the left foot as quickly as possible. Once again, he steps forward or in the direction he is throwing with his left foot as he throws.

FIG. 29(c). At the proper distance from the batter, the catcher assumes a comfortable stance with his feet spread slightly wider than the width of his shoulders. He is centered behind home plate, holding the glove down as a reminder to keep the pitches low unless the catcher has signaled for a high pitch. (Low pitches get the best results against most batters.) His throwing hand is relaxed and half-closed with the back of the hand toward the pitcher and close to the mitt so that it can cover the ball quickly.

When left-handers are hitting, he steps to the left to catch the outside pitch and to the right to catch the inside pitch. He catches pitches above the crotch with the mitt up and below it with the fingers of the mitt pointing down.

As the batter swings at the ball, the catcher's arms should move forward rapidly. In case of a foul tip, this will give him a better chance to catch it before it changes direction too much. The body should go forward with the arms in sort of a "rocking chair" motion until he starts to catch the ball.

THROWING TO BASES. Once the ball reaches the mitt, the catcher should bring his arms back toward his right shoulder so that he can use the overarm motion with an elbow and wrist snap to get a backspin on the ball for better carry on all throws. He must learn that accuracy is more important than power.

FIG. 30. The catcher should shift into a throwing position the moment he receives every pitch as this catcher has done. He should attempt to catch each pitch in front of his body, not to one side. He should step sideways to get in front of wide pitches.

A catcher who can grip the ball and release it quickly and accurately without taking an extra step or a big windup in throwing often gets more assists than a player with a stronger arm who takes a longer time to get rid of the ball and then tries to throw so hard that he sacrifices accuracy.

The catcher should aim his throws at the left knee of basemen who are preparing to tag runners trying to advance. If the baseman hasn't reached the bag, the throw should be aimed at the corner of the base to which the runner will be sliding and about one foot above it. If the runners are caught off base at first or second, the throw should be aimed at the right knee to let the baseman make the tag with a minimum of effort and a maximum of speed. Throws to first and third bases should be made inside the base lines to avoid hitting the runner and the basemen should stretch into the infield to give him a target for such throws. If a catcher's throws are short of their target, he should lengthen his stride in throwing. If his throws are too high, he should take a shorter stride as he throws.

BLOCK LOW PITCHES. A passed ball can cost your team a run. To make sure that a low pitch doesn't get past the catcher, he should drop to his knees, while keeping his head down, and smother the ball.

POP FLIES. In shagging a pop fly, he should notice where the ball has been hit and toss his mask in the opposite direction to avoid stumbling over it as Hank Gowdy once did in a World Series. He will find it easier to catch pop-ups with the face of his mitt up at about the height of his chest. He should get: under the ball as fast as possible. Only frequent practice will enable him to judge the ball hit straight up, because it will spin toward the infield as it comes down. It is a good idea to let infielders catch fly balls hit about halfway between them and the catcher. It is easier for them to judge the flight of balls hit toward them.

TWO HANDS FOR BUNTS. The catcher should rush forward to handle bunts hit in front of home plate. If the ball is halfway between him and the pitcher or first baseman, he is in a better position to make a throw and to see where to throw the ball. He should stop bunts with his mitt, scoop them up with his bare hand and make a snap throw in what seems to be almost one continuous motion. Using both hands helps him to make the play with much less chance of bobbling the ball.

PLAYS AT HOME PLATE. If the catcher has time on plays at home plate and if the throw is accurate, he should catch the ball in front of the plate and turn so that he has the ball gripped in his mitt and bare hand—with the back of the mitt between the runner and the base—and brush tag the runner as he slides into the base. He should be sure he is low enough to keep the runner from sliding under the tag. On throws from right field or the second-base side of the diamond, he should stand with home plate between his feet to take the throw. If the throw is from the left-field side of the diamond, he should be beside the front of home plate and facing the runner. He must tell the cut-off man (generally the first baseman on throws from right and center field, and the third baseman on throws from left field) to "Cut it off! Cut it off!" or "Let it go! Let it go!" depending on whether he has a chance to make a play on the runner.

FIG. 31. As he awaits the throw, the catcher should move out of the runner's path so as not to block the plate without possession of the ball. It is against the rules and could lead to injury. Runners should run across the plate, as demonstrated here, because they can run faster than they can slide. Slide only to avoid a tag at home plate.

FIG. 32. Here an alert catcher has made a forceout at home plate and immediately shifts into throwing position for possible play at third base

FIG. 33. This catcher has moved out to get in front of low, wide throw. Note his good fielding position, with low center of gravity as he is prepared to pounce in any direction for ball if it takes a bad hop. The base-runner shouldn't jump into the air and throw up his hands because he slows his forward progress. He can move faster by maintaining his regular stride across home plate.

On force plays he should stretch for the throw like the first baseman does with his right foot on the front edge of home plate. The catcher has no right to be on the base line or home plate unless he has possession of the ball, and the runner is entitled to advance a base if he is blocked by a fielder who doesn't have the ball. Be on the safe side and keep your catcher off the third-base line.
BACK UP FIRST. When there are no base-runners in scoring position, the catcher should get in the habit of racing into foul territory behind first base to protect against overthrows on throws to first base. When a runner is on first base and the ball is bunted to the third baseman, the catcher should cover third base.

FIG. 34. Here a catcher in Little League World Series directs play on the field, holding up hands to show that there is no chance to get the runner at home plate.

HELP THE PITCHER. The catcher must know his pitcher and how to work with him. His throws back to the pitcher should be chest-high. He can slow up or speed up play, as seems desirable, by taking his time in returning the ball or snapping his throw back in a hurry. Unless the pitcher has exceptional control, he should encourage the pitcher to make every effort to get ahead of the batter in the ball-and-strike count before worrying about pitching to a batter's weakness.

It is important for the catcher to study the opposing hitters during their batting practice to discover what pitches they seem to like and what pitches they hit with the most power. Noticing where they stand in the batter's box, whether they crouch or stand up straight, whether they hold their arms away from their bodies, or whether they have a hitch in their swing will be helpful in deciding how to have his pitcher pitch to them.

As an example, it is common knowledge that most "hitch" hitters (those who move their bats down and up as the pitch is coming toward them) have trouble in hitting a good fast ball, but have good success hitting "change-up" pitches because the slower pitches give them time to level off their swings after the hitch.

If a batter moves around in the batter's box from pitch to pitch, the catcher can adjust for this movement, too.

CATCHING DRILLS. With beginners, it is a good idea to spend a few minutes each day in having the boys walk through the movements they will use in signaling, giving the target, shifting to the left and right, and throwing. Then balls can be tossed to the catcher to his right and to his left to give him practice in shifting. The catcher should wear all of his equipment in practice to simulate an actual game situation.

During batting practice, he can be instructed to throw to the bases, throwing to first base if the first batter misses a pitch, throwing to second base if the second batter misses a pitch, throwing to third base if the third batter misses a pitch, throwing to first base if the fourth batter misses a pitch, etc. If he throws more than one time during the batting turn of each hitter he will delay practice too much to make the drill practical.

Special drills should be set up for fielding fly balls, hit straight up from home plate. It is difficult to fungo such fly balls and amateur managers and coaches may have to stand beside the plate and throw such balls into the air even though they don't have the same spin as a ball hit into the air. Few catchers get enough practice in fielding foul flies despite the fact that this is the hardest play required of a catcher.

During play-situation drills, it is a good idea to let the catcher practice the defense against the double steal with runners on first and third bases. Roy Campanella always would glance at the man at third. If he was too far off third, he would throw there to pick him off. Otherwise, he would throw to second in an effort to catch the man coming from first. To be sure he will make an accurate throw, the catcher should be sure he is looking at his target before he throws.

Practicing the run-down play also pays dividends. A good fake often will trap the runner without a single throw. Mack Burk, while catching for Wil-liamsport, tagged out a rival Eastern League catcher 15 feet from third base without releasing the ball after catching it at home plate. His opponent had taken a big turn at third base so Burk went through the motions of throwing to third, looking past the runner and striding and swinging his arm forward with a good simulated motion. He began to run toward third with his motion as the base-runner shifted his weight to head for home as he believed that Burk was throwing the ball. When the runner saw Burk coming toward him, he changed directions again, still watching Burk. Again Burk faked a throw in the same way and the base-runner again changed direction, making it simple for Burk to tag him.
 
This is the play Mr. Rickey taught his catchers at St. Louis, Brooklyn, and Pittsburgh, and it was so effective that Mr. Rickey could use it to trap Jackie Robinson in a practice drill one spring at the Dodgertown training base. Robinson was in his prime and Mr. Rickey about 70 years old at the time.

To teach the catcher to block pitches which bounce into the dirt in front of him, have your pitcher toss balls at half-speed so that they will land on or near home plate. When the catcher learns to smother or catch balls bounding directly in front of him, have the pitcher throw to either side of the plate to give the catcher practice in blocking wide pitches, too. In play-situation drills, the catcher should also be given an opportunity to tag runners at the plate, and back up throws at first and third base.

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