Have you ever

#1

Well, you’ve just pitched four beauties … right down the pike, and WAMMOOO … right over the GEM Razor Blade’s sign!

I walk out to you, and you know what I’m about to say… in fact you can bet even odds at Vegas.

So, have you ever been in a situation where you know your coach is about to rip you off the mound … BUT, you’re thinking …" I can talk him out of this!"

Have you? Have you ever talked your coach out of taking you out of the game, off the mound, to the showers with ya?

What did you say …?

Coach B.

#2

That never happened to me—but do you remember that game where Pedro Martinez was obviously out of gas, and Jimy Williams went out to the mound to remove him? Pedro kept insisting he could go one more inning—and so, against his better judgment, Williams left him in. And we all know what happened.
Some pitchers, even when they know they’ve had it, insist on staying in the game—and next thing you know, they blow it. I’ve seen this happen again and again, particularly in the major leagues. Some folks never learn (sigh).

#3

In the 2009 ALCS you could see John Lackey saying “This is my game, my game, my game coach my game.” He still got taken out but it gave the commentators something to talk about.

#4

This last fall I had an inning that I really struggled, gave up 2 walks and 1 hit, they scored 1 on me and I really didn’t like it, my arm was a little sore but I told the coach that the next inning was mine too, I didn’t want him to say that I would be replaced and I wanted to finish that game on a high note.

#5

My boy had pitched a near perfect game against Tim Tebows HS and at the 120 pitch mark…going into extra innings he basically begged his way into the 8th…lost 2-1. Threw very close to 160 pitches and me and his HC came a cats whisker away from throwing punches at each other :shock:

#6

I had a situation of the last game of the season and we really did have to prove anything - losing was losing no matter how I looked it.

Our Skipper took his stroll to the mound and signaled me to send in yet another. Then I watched him stare at our guy in total amazement!

After the game, we all settled in to close out the year, clean up and say good bey. I had to stop by his cinder-block corner and ask him what was the meeting all about with so-n-so.

He said he was walking up the mound when the man said…
“Skip … I know I got just one more homer run in me!”

Other quick thinking remarks that I’ve heard were:

Pitcher> Skip, leave me in for just one more … my mom fly all the way in from Albany just to watch me pitch.
Skipper> Son, we’re in Albany!

Pitcher> Skip, it’s 9 to 2, I can afford one more.
Skipper> Son, we’ve go 2, THEY’VE GOT 9!

Pitcher> I swear I’ll keep on the corners from here on out, coach.
Me> It’s not the corners that I’m worried about - it’s the last for batters that have taken every pitch of yours OUT of the park!

Pitcher> After two straight pickoff throws to first that went over the first baseman’s head into dead territory…
Me> I’m convinced that todays just not your day, son.
Pitcher> Can they move first a little closer over here?

Pitcher> I’m trying the best I can to pitch in this sun.
Me> Well, in five more minutes it’ll be 10:30 PM, I’ll have’m turn the lights down a bit!

I started keeping a small notepad of all the crazy stuff that these guys would throw at us, I’ll try and find some more.

Coach B.

#7

My coach came out to get me in a tournament this past year after i’d let them tie the score at one in the seventh. he said i looked tired and these guys coming up had seen me before, but i talked him out of it by telling him what they had done to me, which side of the plate they hit from, and what pitches they hit or didn’t hit and how i’d get them out. he kept me in to finish the seventh, and we won in extras :smiley:

#8

My guess is that in the course of telling your coach about your strategy, how you had studied the hitters and how you knew how you were going to pitch to them, you got your second wind. Good for you! Sometimes all it takes is a couple of minutes for this to happen. And he let you stay in the game, and you got the side out. :slight_smile: