I’ve noticed that on my son’s team, the better pitchers tend to receive less help from their fielders than the less talented guys. Is it normal for a team to disappear when their best pitcher takes the mound? Why does this happen? I’m sure there’s a psychological issue in there somewhere. Dropped fly balls, booted grounders, terrible decisions and horrible throws…why would these things happen to good pitchers when they don’t happen with the others?
Opinions?
Hose
ive noticed this too…unfortunately its the fate of the pitcher who is better than most.
two types of good pitching both suffer this until you get to like 14-15 baseball or high school(or at least from what ive noticed coming thru the various leagues)
He gets lots of people out on strikeouts: the pitcher suffers from sleeping infield which is basically everybody doesnt want to do anything due to the pitchers ability to miss bats so they miss the ball is hit to them
or he gets lots of groundballs: the pitcher suffers from an unknown condition to me 
. where the defense seems physically incapable of making any plays what so ever.
but thats just my experience i dont know about others experiences.
Greg Maddux, Fergie Jenkins…What can you say…they’ve likely lost more 1-0 2-1 games than 10 or 20 marginal pitchers will ever win in a career…I think it’s kinda like they used to do for Micheal Jordan…they just expect victory so they stand around and wait for it to happen…Andy lost a 8 inning masterpiece just that way…no one thought they had to hit…2-1. I have found though that as the compo gets higher and higher…they actually find folks that can field your normal grounder…Yes I know it makes the poor “old man” sitting in the crowd think mayhem :shocking: Lord knows I’ve become a master at cursing up my sleeve…whattya gonna do? It helps if your guy is assertive in an aggressive way occasionally…just once in a while…put a little fear of God into em…nothing serious mind you just a bark when it all gets way too stupid…
The only pyschological things I could see are the bats as JD mentioned, or late in the game in a tight one just hoping the pitcher can finish the game off and not wanting the ball.
that happened to me in a few games during my school season (junior high). i was so pissed at one kid for making errors only when im out there i wouldnt talk to him at all until 2 weeks after the season ended.
[quote=“yanksneeddice-K”]that happened to me in a few games during my school season (junior high). i was so pissed at one kid for making errors only when im out there i wouldnt talk to him at all until 2 weeks after the season ended.[/quote] Weeeooooh. That’s what I’d call one hell of a grudge.
How ironic…Andy lost one today on a past ball and 3 errors…even when you got the cream of a million plus population city it can go wrong :pullinghair:
It just has to be kept in perspective I guess…If Nolan knows he’s throwing well, he’ll just have to find comfort in that…and put some tabasco sause in someones jock… :lookup:
when im kept getting the loss its gonna be one hell of a grudge, especially when he was a freakin gold glover when i wasnt on the bump. i talked to my coach about it he got him out of there when i was pitching. he was cool with the better players giving him some suggestions about positions and whatnot.
when im kept getting the loss its gonna be one hell of a grudge, especially when he was a freakin gold glover when i wasnt on the bump. i talked to my coach about it he got him out of there when i was pitching. he was cool with the better players giving him some suggestions about positions and whatnot.[/quote] He was making errors on purpose or what?
Here’s a topic worth writing down in your notebook. An issue that finds itself on every single club at the JV and Varsity level (high school) and your other talented levels.
Let me set the stage for my comments here by eliminating two (2) myths:
1st myth: Winning and losing pitcher – there’s no such thing in amateur baseball. This issue is strictly for statistic and scorekeeping purposes and goes not further. If not – we’d consider the rest of the eight embers on the field to be nothing more then cardboard cutouts. (no wise cracks now… be nice)
2nd myth: Good pitcher, bad pitcher – there are no good and less then good on an amateur ball club. You’re all the same …. but, with some bringing a better package then his/her contemporaries. No one on a town league’s high school, Legion, AAU, All-start roster has the compliment of professional assistance to the degree that is matched in kind, with comparable fielding expertise.
Now consider this:
Obviously there are youngsters that have talent over and above others – that’s a given. The only qualification to that statement is the time and place of that talented youngster where he/she is at that moment. Pluck that youngster out of that space in time and drop him/her elsewhere … even at the same level of play… but with a different fielding unit and you could run into a horse of a different color. If fact, more often then not, this IS the case.
Why?
Amateur baseball does not address the time and resources to match fielding – pitch by pitch, like the highly skilled college game and definitely not like the pro’s. Even some of the most hapless Minor League clubs have skull sessions where the fielding units are coached on being WITH the pitch at the moment. In other words, there should be no surprises for anyone on the field at any point in time when a pitcher is about to release his delivery. And this comes about by a coaching staff in conjunction with the level of talent that has been screened, reviewed, cut, traded, reassigned, re-reviewed, re-screened and so forth. So a short stop has a better than average chance of getting the fielding position right and what’s going to happen next so he’s in the right spot for the right play 95% of the time… if the batter makes contact. And when the pitch is to hit… he/she BETTER be at the right spot 100% of the time. If not… he’s/she’s gone – period.
So, enjoy your amateur town ball either at the high school, Legion or other level because it’s only a game. The youngsters out there are not coached to be on the same page as you, nor are they under pressure to perform or their gone. These youngsters, like yourself, have other things in orbit that’s appropriate for their age… and your age too I might add. Also, I know of no team that anyone is a member of on THIS WEB SITE that practices the defense for a typical batting order… and why, or
practices as a team… what are the pitching and relative outcomes for at least five game scenarios with and without runners on…… runners on the corners… or four of the basic batting stances and hand postures with and without runners on…. and on the list goes.
How do I know this?
Over the years I interview prospects for the clubs that I’ve been with and I expect a certain level of proficiency with respect to knowledge of this craft of ours. And year after year I am disappointed in the competency with the player population. In fact, when I’m asked to sit in on a hash-session with fielders I’m left wondering… “what are these kids learning out there?” Even the simplest question like… “you’re a third baseman, and the catcher moves tight inside on a right-handed batter with an open stance, hands held shoulder high, and this player is sixth in the order and is a regular roster player, and there’s nobody on. It’s his first at bat … so you have nothing to go on from prior innings. Where would you want to position yourself? Tell me… deep in on the grass, midway on the skin, deep on the skin, how many feet off the bag (3rd) , do you move in relation to short, where, why?”
Year after year I’ve sat in the background and I’ve watched a blank expression … like a deer in the headlights…… and this from a guy who was the best of the lot that showed up!
Now some advice to those of you have experienced some less than stellar performances from the crew behind you: It’s gonna happen whether you like it or not, and there is very little if anything that you can or will do about it. I know it’s frustrating, but it’s not a job, you’re not contracted, you’re not on a trading card whose value is plummeting as we speak, … it just happens.
So don’t go ripping up friendships, making guys feeling worse than they already are, and causing a stink.
I was an assistant coach with a club that though we had a dynamic roster of all the tools. We ended up 62- 5, and if you think anybody could have been more disappointed… well, there wasn’t. And all the reasons of being a very young team, low on resources ($), a lousy stadium, a very poor market base, and a ton of other reasons made the feeling any better … they didn’t. And the more I thought about it at the time… the amateur playing field where everybody went home afterwards regardles of the outcome, didn’t seem all that bad.
Coach B.
Wow. Very well said. :clapping:
Amateur ball is a time for everyone to get better. No one is being paid, and no one is being traded. Take it easy, enjoy the game, and make yourself and your teammates better.
I know you’re probably very competitive and want to win every time you go out, but lets face it, even the best of the best lose. Don’t take it too hard or you’ll burn out. Sit back and learn from your mistakes. Go back through each at bat and say to yourself, “Was that the right pitch in that situation?” Or, “Should I have thrown a CB or a FB there?” Give it some thought, and then throw it into the back of your mind. Come out ready for the next start. Don’t blame a loss on your SS because if he wasn’t playing there he would have missed the other two or three ground balls that came his way.
Good luck.
when im kept getting the loss its gonna be one hell of a grudge, especially when he was a freakin gold glover when i wasnt on the bump. i talked to my coach about it he got him out of there when i was pitching. he was cool with the better players giving him some suggestions about positions and whatnot.[/quote]
So you might be a good player, but you would be a lousy teamate. Further, a coach that lets players decide who plays when and where has lost his team and needs to step down, Ian.