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Barone Drexel and Harris - My Mentors, Teachers and Coaches
My life was always about playing ball, mostly baseball as I grew up. Therefore, I was always at the playground on Chancellor Avenue. This was a hotbed for sports activity in the Weequahic section of Newark. From Monday through Saturday there were...
NBA Notes (March 23rd)
Could the NBA regular season end a couple of weeks earlier? Yes. The season now ends on April 20 and the playoffs begin April 23. If the regular season ended on April 6 it would fit nicely with hoopla that surrounds the NCAA’s men’s Final Four...
The Anabolic Evolution of Modern Bodybuilding
Today, drugs in some professional sports have become mainstream. The hypocrisy of Major League Baseball serves as a wake up call for an American culture that indulges in careless living by risking its health through poor nutrition, alcoholic...
The Best Golf Exercises Are Very Simple
The best golf exercises are not complicated; you don’t need to be a member of a gym; and you don’t need thousands of dollars in equipment. Yes…there are new golf fitness machines coming out in the market that look respectable, but they want an...
The Penalty Box
Nowhere can an example of the corrupt capitalistic society be found more perfectly than in this NHL labour dispute. This is essentially a battle between the Haves and the Have Mores, who are scratching and clawing each other over their share average...
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My Office - Behind the Plate
My Office - Behind the Plate
I loved catching - I had the whole game in front of me. I could see everything. Placing the fielders was my job. Seeing whether long fly balls were fair or foul. What the pitcher had or lacked, I saw, as well. Did the pitcher need a break in the action because he was tired? If he did I would pay a little visit to the mound. The general on the field is what I was. A direct link to the coach.
My office was behind the plate. Having played all the other positions was great, but I felt the best place to be, was catching. I could cash in on all the activity that was in front of me. I had an opportunity to shape the game. I had power in my office that I did not have anywhere else on the field except for maybe pitching. I loved that responsibility.
Seeing a batter leaning one way and then calling the pitch that I thought would get him out was one strategy I successfully used. Striking out a batter was a joint effort between the pitcher and I. I felt it was
my job to study the batter and then relay any useful information I got, back to the pitcher.
My stock as a catcher increased when the pitcher pitched well. I felt I had to find the weakness in the batter. That was part of my job. And then calling the game was the essence of being a catcher.
If there was a background check on all the catchers that ever played, I think there is one thing that would be common. They all studied the game.
Johnny Bench, Roy Campanella, Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra are a few of my catching heroes.
About the Author
Aron Wallad has been a baseball lover for over 45 years. His passions have included; playing, watching, reading , evaluating, and coaching the game he adores. Check out his baseball ezine. Do you love inspiring quotes, unusual statistics and most of all, heartwarming baseball stories? If you love baseball you will love his baseball ezine.
Go here right now http://www.baseballsprideandjoy.com/index.php?tag=goart
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