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I don't mind the catchers talking to the batters down here. They just can't yell or scream while the ball is in the air or the pitcher is in her motion. Down here, the bigger girls know a lot of the players on the other teams. I would a whole lot rather them say "Hey, Rach, how'ya doing?' than something a lot worse later on.
Now, I'm not above making a joke or crack if something happens, like the batter tripping on her way to the plate. I might say something like" Don't worry, no one saw that." This is only if the game is an easygoing, congenial thing. Now, I always talk to the catcher and toss the ball to the pitcher at the start of each inning. it's too hot not to watch the pitchers and catchers carefully. I always tell the coaches at the plate meeting to be careful of the heat and if they see me talking to the catcher, I'm just trying to get to know her attitude, actions and speech patterns. If any of these change, in my opinion, I'm calling time and cleaning the plate. I'll ask the catcher if she's OK. I don't care what she says, I want to see how she says it. If she's been hyper and talkative and all of a sudden gets quiet or lethargic, I'm calling a coach out there. Anything that I see differently during the game about the pitcher or catcher, I'm calling time and getting a coach out there.
I was calling a game in the PONY Nationals 2 years ago. The reading on the dirt in the infield where the pitcher stood was 122. In the 5th inning, the catcher walked to the backstop and got the ball. Now, she'd been hustling all game long. I'm looking at her pretty closely when the pitcher asks her if she's OK. The catcher said the ball hit her and it hurt. Now, that ball was 3 feet wide of the plate and never touched her. This was the 3rd batter of the inning. I noticed the girl was barely sweating at all. I called the coach out and told him about it. He said she was OK, she was just upset because she threw up twice in the dugout. ?????? I turned around and called for the EMS immediately and got the rest of the girls off the field. The catcher couldn't walk to the dugout, she had to be carried by me and an assistant coach in the "chair" position. We got her in there and the paramedics showed up to take care of her. I pretty much lost my professionalism when I saw the girl was being attended to. I called my partner over to me and called the coach over, out of earshot of everyone. I ripped him apart for letting a girl play in this heat, after seeing her exhibit symptoms of heat exhaustion. He told me she was his only catcher and he had to play her. It was no big deal, she was tough. I looked at the girl who was unconcious and being administered to by the EMS. I asked him for his substitution for the catcher. He told me if there was anything he could do about it, she was staying in the game. I ejected him. Then called the asst coach and asked for a sub. The catcher spent 4 days in the hospital with heat stroke. Not exhaustion, stroke.
But, this is the only reason I talk all the time to the catcher. I just talk to her and toss the ball to the pitcher. I always watch the pitcher warming up and pay close attention to them while pitching. If anything changes, I'm talking to them and a coach quick. No reason to take chances with a player in this heat.
[Edited by TexBlue on Jun 13th, 2004 at 05:01 PM]
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Rick
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