Quote:
Originally Posted by rockymtnchief
I played catcher from 9 to 23 in baseball and then 5 more years in fast pitch softball. I was actually going to be assigned to a AA team somewhere in New York when it was decided I wasn't big enough to catch at that level. Coaches tried to convert me into a an outfielder. I was aweful. I could chase down pop flies, but line drives directly at me, froze me in my tracks.
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That's pretty much my career path as well, but I was probably actually a better outfielder than a catcher. I ended up playing everything from jr high legion ball to college. I liked catching and outfield the most, so it sorta worked out for me. Line drives can be hard to judge. I was sort of lucky that tracking balls just came naturally to me. I don't know what it is, but I always had the ability to get a good jump on the ball. It's like I could just tell where it was going pretty much as soon as it came off the bat. Which was a blessing, because I'm slow as ****.
I have no idea how they actually let me catch my first couple of years of college. When I graduated high school I weight about a buck thirty-five. And I'm 6' tall. I'm a definite ectomorph. I still go between 155-165 depending on how much training I'm doing (I finally figured out I was made for endurance sports about 5 years ago). They put me on about a 10,000 calorie a day diet (I have no idea what the actual specs were, I just remember eating a sht ton and drinking protein shakes every 2 hours) and got me up to around 2 bills. Then promptly moved me to the outfield.
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No worries though, it probably extended my career (I feel like I could have caught on as a catcher as well, but being able to play any outfield position, despite my lack of speed, definitely meant there were more roster spots available to me. I also think the ability to be an "emergency" catcher if needed helped.) and definitely saved me knee issues.