Playing Catcher

[Direckshun]

This is a bit of a weird thread idea, but I had a huge conversation with a big baseball guy today about catchers.

I guess I never spent time thinking about it, because I don't really follow baseball. But catcher is a really weird position in sports, is it not?

Anybody on this board play catcher? And I don't mean in your beer league softball team. I mean seriously.

Wear a shit ton of padding. Spend 85% of the game squatting, invariably leading to shit knees later in life. Constantly making calls and having the world's most passive aggressive arguments totally by finger with your pitcher. Have to have a rocket arm and amazing reflexes. And have this weird sibling-like relationship with pitchers.

It's just a weird kinda position, and it usually brings with it some pretty great stories.

Have any catcher stories, stories that are either just amusing or reveal a little bit about the nature of the position?

Like I said, random topic, but I'm pretty interested in it tonight.

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

I caught for 9 years in summer softball, and it definitely leads to knee problems.

[DMAC]

Originally Posted by Dante84

I bolded the parts that sound gay

[OnTheWarpath15]

Caught from Age 8 through high school, including some traveling teams that played ungodly numbers of games per summer. My knees are complete ass.

Two stories, both from HS:

My sophomore year I split time between catcher and 3B - usually only caught to give the starter, who was a senior a day off. Started the last 10 games of the season after he took a foul ball to the no-no-zone, which shattered - yes shattered - his protective cup. Doctors spent a few hours picking shards of hard plastic from his groin.

Then my junior year, I was the full-time starter, and coach had a "strict" no dip/chew rule. Everyone pretty much did it anyway, and was smart enough not to load up and make it obvious. I threw a wad of Red Man in my mouth and went out for the first inning.

FIRST ****ING PITCH: Fouled back, hits me in the chest, right under the throat protector. Swallow the chew. Spend every half-inning we're batting behind the dugout puking. Coach gives me the "Hardhat Award" for going 4-5 with the GWRBI playing while sick. Dude thought I had a stomach bug or something.

[Demonpenz]

I have to give credit to major league catchers. They throw a good ball back to the pitcher 150 times a game. I was always due to short hop the pitcher on the throw back once in a while leading to people yell at me.

[loochy]

rule: you must be stumpy to play catcher

[seaofred]

I played catcher from the time I was 9 until my sophmore year of HS. I only quit, because it became pretty obvious I was going to play football in college and it was starting to hurt my knees already. So I moved to LF and would come in and play 1st base when our 1st basemen pitched.

When I was catching, I would just randomly flip off the pitcher, but that told him to bean the hitter. The coaches never knew I would call it, but I would just randomly do it.

My senior year, our catcher shaved his head, well one day I talked him into using Nair instead of shaving. It gave him a major chemical burn on his head. Later that day, we had our district championship game and everytime he took off his helmet it was like scrapping his head with sandpaper. It was funny as hell.

[wutamess]

Originally Posted by Chest Rockwell

My intention was for him to get clipped pretty good, not get cracked in the hand. But I can't say I felt too bad about that.

"Sorry. He crossed me up."

"**** you! You went to the mound right before that."

"Yeah, we clearly need to work on our communication skills."

The dude who came in to replace him had a much more reasonable strike zone. I don't think it had anything to do with the situation, just saying it worked out for everybody.

Except for the guy with the broken hand, I guess.

My pitcher was too scared to do it.
I'd call timeout and say. Not this pitch (so it wouldn't be obvious) but the next pitch afterwards I want you to fire one right at his face.

Fuggin pussy!

[Chest Rockwell]

Reviving this thread because this is what it's like to catcher:

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by notorious

Thread title...........

Originally Posted by Direckshun

God I hate you.

So......

......much.

It burns.

[Baby Lee]

Oh, and if you're getting shit knees, something if amiss.

[Baby Lee]

Baseball wasn't in the cards for me. I had a dog attack me and chomp off the tip of my ear 4th of July when I was nine. Surgery took me out of the season that transitioned from teeball to baseball, and by that fall I was WAAAY into soccer.

[Frazod]

Played catcher on my command softball team back in my Navy days. Obviously not as involved or hazardous as doing it in baseball, but it was fun. Didn't do it long enough to hurt my knees. I liked being involved in every play - I remember one inning where I made all three outs - caught two pop-ups and tagged out a runner at home. Nothing better than tagging somebody out when they're trying to score on you. I always tried nail them in the head, too. Accidently, of course.

I wish now that I'd stuck with it. Oh well.

[seclark]

always played catcher. older brother pitched, and i caught him all the time, so i just kinda grew into it. broken nose 3 times catching, along w/a thumb and 2 fingers. got to my junior year in hs and started bitching about always having to catch, so they'd put me at either short or 2b, but not very much.

it was a pretty cool place to be when talking to the batters on the other team. ump told me one time i could talk to them, but i couldn't bring their mothers up in the conversation.

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[Lex Luthor]

I started in Left Field for my High School team, but I was also the emergency (3rd string) catcher. What sucked about that was that I had to do all of the extra conditioning (mostly running) required for pitchers and catchers while my outfield buddies got to skip it.

Playing catcher requires so much more work than playing in the outfield that it's like two completely different sports. I strongly preferred jogging out to my position in Left Field and then catching the occasional fly ball while thinking about my next at-bat.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by seclark

always played catcher. older brother pitched, and i caught him all the time, so i just kinda grew into it. broken nose 3 times catching, along w/a thumb and 2 fingers. got to my junior year in hs and started bitching about always having to catch, so they'd put me at either short or 2b, but not very much.

it was a pretty cool place to be when talking to the batters on the other team. ump told me one time i could talk to them, but i couldn't bring their mothers up in the conversation.

sec

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