Playing Catcher

[Sofa King]

Yup. Fun position. Involved in every play. First time being the full time catcher in quite awhile. Was out in left.

[Archie Bunker]

I moved from 3B to catcher in Jr Babe and stayed there throughout high school. Loved everything about the position and looking back I wouldn't have wanted to play anywhere else on the diamond.

I always had a powerful arm but whether it was a result of small town 1A type coaching or a a case of the yips no matter how hard I tried or how many coaches attempted I could never harness any control as a pitcher so I mainly played 3B, SS, and a little CF but a couple weeks into our season our catcher broke his arm and the last 6 years of my playing days were spent behind the plate.

Loved the camaraderie with my staff, being a coach on the field, talking to the opponents and joking with the ump. Hell I loved the gear and coming to the plate covered in dirt at the age you just feel cool playing the part.

From the playing prospective I did see my hitting dip a little but finally my arm became a weapon instead of a bit out of control. Not sure if it was being less on display or if because of the nature of the position I didn't have time to think but throwing out runners or picking off a distacted runner a 1st got me a couple all conference teams and 3 district teams. It was just a position that suited me perfectly much like TE/OLB fit me in football.

Only downsides were a healthy obsession with Crash Davis that got my thrown out of a game and it didn't help my already shitty knees much but honestly if stumbled across a genie one of my wishes would be to be MLB catcher over any other sport or position. Just a unique position in sports and if you're good everyone from the umps to the opponents to your teammates respect you and will follow your lead. You're pretty much the equivalent to a QB and thats a powerful feeling and a bit of an ego trip.

[rageeumr]

I was chubby in elementary school, so I got typecast as a catcher. I actually got to be halfway decent, even though I never really had much of an arm. The things I remember are the constant bruises that I had all over my arms and how miserably hot it can get in that gear. Standing out in the sun waiting on some asshole 5th grader to throw strikes is enough of a pain in the ass without wearing 10 pounds of poorly breathing body armor.

I thinned out a ton in junior high, but still played a lot of catcher in the summers. Never played it in high school, though. The aforementioned ninny arm got me relegated to second base for my entire high school career.

My knees pop and crack like crazy, especially in the mornings, but who knows how much of that can be attributed to 6 or 7 summers' worth of squatting behind a plate. I don't seem to have any structural issues, though, so that's good.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

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

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

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

[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.

[Chest Rockwell]

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

[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.

sec

[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

Check this out!