Quote:
Originally posted by David B
And just what's so bad about that interpretation?
FED doesn't want F2 drilling the BR in the head to make a point like kids in college or the pros would do.
I think for HS that's a good rule, and that's who FED is targeting.
Thanks
David [/B]
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One of the biggest myths is that coaches teach their catchers to
drill any runner who is out of the runner's lane. I assure you, they do
not.
Why hit the runner with the ball then cross your fingers and
hope the umpire calls him out when, the much
easier way to go is to simply complete the throw to the 1st for the
sure out?
Ask any big league catcher if he's ever
intentionally thrown at a BR to get an interference call. He'll tell you NO. In fact, you see BR's out of the running lane
all the time. And what do the catcher's do? They simply throw him out.
Catchers are taught to establish a throwing lane (usually on the
inside) and to make a throw
directly to the receiving fielder. If the ball happens to hit the BR, so be it. They should be called out. But the catcher never
aims at the runner.
Here's why: What if the catcher
misses the runner? Then it's just a
bad throw with no assurance that the umpire will call the BR out for interference. The umpire will likely rule that, although the BR was out of the lane, the throw was not of sufficient quality to make a case that the BR interfered with the fielding of the ball at 1st.
Fielders are NEVER taught to throw at runners. They're taught to establish throwing lanes.
This also applies to the myth that pivot men are taught to drill a runner who fails to get down. Not true. All they are thinking about is making an accurate and timely throw to 1st. If R1 happens to be in the way, yes, he'll get drilled. But there is
never any attempt to hit him.
Again - what if the pivot man
misses? Where is the ball going to go? Believe me, the defense is more intent on completing the double play than proving to the runner that he must get out of the way.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
[Edited by David Emerling on Mar 25th, 2005 at 01:54 PM]