Here’s another catching tip….

The other day somebody asked me a question I’d never heard before. The question was, does defense slump? Interesting. Maybe discussing this might help someone.

Heck yes, defense slumps. Geez, just ask Steve Sax, Mackey Sasser, Chuck Knoblauch, or anyone who’s ever had that throwing thing. That’s the most obvious kind of defensive slump. But even if it’s not that dramatic, we all go through defensive ups and downs.

For us catchers, let’s take throwing out base stealers for example. Since success in this arena is so timing dependent (just like hitting) we’re all prone to hot and cold streaks. In addition, there are so many variables that are out of our control (the baserunner’s jump, the pitcher’s delivery time, etc.) This might be similar to a hitter enduring a period where he’s centering the ball but constantly lining out.

I considered myself as good a receiver, game-caller, and blocker as anyone in my day, but I definitely had times when my thumb hurt because I was miscatching the ball. There were also extended times when I had no idea what to call…every number I put down got crushed (bad fingers). And most of the time I knew the ball wasn’t going to get by me, but there were streaks where I felt a step behind and doubted my ability to block the ball.

So I say all of this to (hopefully) ease your mind. Yes, just like your offensive game, you will go through defensive highs and lows. Because the fact is, failure is built into every facet of baseball…ups and downs, ins and outs, hot streaks and cold. It’s just a matter of accepting this truth and figuring out a way to persevere and have fun.

My advice is don’t get too giddy when you’re good or too low when you’re bad. Just remember, this too will change. What shouldn’t change is you’re zeal for the game.

Maybe this quote from Dave “Hindu” Henderson will help you understand….

“We’re ballplayers. We fail most of the time.”

Till next week, good luck, have fun, and keep your eye on the ball.

Brent Mayne is a 15-year MLB veteran, catching 1,143 games between 1990 and 2004. His .993 fielding percentage behind the plate is 4th best all-time, and he owns the most perfect pitching record in baseball history (1-0 with a 0.00 ERA). Brent writes regularly at his website “The Art of Catching,” which can be found at www.brentmayne.com. He also authored the book “The Art of Catching.” His weekly catching tips will appear here at Dugout Central.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 10th, 2010 at 5:19 am and is filed under Instructional. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.