Welcome to the Complete Game Podcast where we're all about baseball with Ethan Dungan, owner of Glovehound Baseball glove repair shop, Rick Finley, founder of MDNI Baseball Academy and the creator of George Foster Baseball, the MVP himself, Reds hall of Famer George Foster.

I'm your host, Greg Dungan.

Now let's talk baseball.

All right, well, welcome back.

This is episode 23 on the complete Game podcast and we're almost complete with the first season.

So excited to have done that with you guys.

It's been a been a good ride.

We're lasting forward to it.

Today we're going to finish part three of our defensive directives.

It was supposed to be part two, but we had to break part one into two, so we're into part three.

So there you go, extra innings.

So today we're going to talk about getting outs with defense.

We spent a couple episodes talking about getting outs with pitching, and now we're going to talk about getting outs with defense.

We're going to talk a lot to coaches today, but also to players to kind of know maybe even what to ask your coach or what to encourage your coach to practice, you know, or what to practice on your own to be ready for challenging game situations.

So today we're going to dive in.

First thing I'm going to do is I did a little research and ask AI, a couple of AI setups what the statistically the play, the defensive plays that resulted in the most errors in youth baseball.

Yeah, I like this because George said a couple episodes ago that the team that wins is the one that makes the fewest mistakes.

They are.

And so I think we're going to get into some opportunities where defense can maybe get an extra out.

But the most important thing is just not screwing up the easy ones and not giving the other team more than three outs in the inning.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, we've, we've seen that for years.

I mean, when you would go and play in tournaments, it would almost always be the, the team that was most fundamentally sound, that didn't make a lot of errors.

They were the ones who usually came out on top.

So I'm going to list these off and then we're going to kind of talk about them briefly and then we'll move on to strategies for handling things like this down the line.

So, all right, so the five situations, number one, infield, ground balls and throws across the diamond.

So the idea that if you can create the play, if you're off on offense, you can create the play on the left hand side of the diamond instead of the right, you make that cross diamond throw.

That gives the opportunity for errors.

Especially the younger you are, the more likely that throw is likely to sail or go in a dirt or, you know, go, Lord knows, anywhere.

Also you're more right handed hitters, so there's statistically more of those that are going to happen and those are guys who are pulling the ball.

So there may be maybe a little more zip on them when they do that.

So your, your thoughts on infield ground balls and other than those factors, why that, why that breeds a lot of mistakes.

Yeah, for me, I think one of the, one of the big things I see is just players rushing too much, especially your third baseman, because that is, that's a long throw.

I mean you're basically, you know, same thing as a catcher trying to throw a guy out at second.

So you just don't have as much time.

But not trying to throw the ball before they field it cleanly.

And then if they do feel it cleanly, thinking that they have to throw it harder than, or rush the throw more than they need to, rather than letting the velocity take care of it.

And also a lot bad footwork.

So trying, trying to stand still with concrete shoes and then make the throw rather than let your momentum help you.

And that was something that I was really bad about.

I had lead feet, I just couldn't move.

I had a good arm though, but oftentimes I wouldn't set my feet or use my momentum.

And so I'm throwing with my weight shifting backwards and it makes for an errant throw.

And then another one that I think gets really overlooked is the tail on the throw.

Because a lot of times, especially for me, that ball would tail, arm, side, because maybe I didn't have.

Yeah, it was the finger orientation.

So it's going to spin kind of opposite of where your fingers finish, if that makes sense.

So if you're, if you're very true up and down, you're going to get a nice backspin.

But my hand tended to be a little more cocked to the side.

And so when my fingers come off like this, it would push the ball that way.

And so had I had a mind towards aiming or trying to get that throw a little bit more to the left side of the bag, let it come back.

I think I probably could have saved a few more runs.

But a thought along those lines, George, you've mentioned several times making throws in from the outfield, making sure you're throwing four seamers instead of two seamers.

Does that apply in this case as.

Well, especially when you're talking about rushing the ball, you're not gripping the ball in the right or correct spot.

And so you just got get the ball to just throw it.

So now your ball's moving more to first base than if your pitch is throwing home plate.

But it's making sure you have a good grip.

Having the four.

Four seamers.

Four seamer.

And practice that.

Yeah, you know, that's how, you know, just sitting in the dugout or driving in the car, just feeling the ball and get to the four seamer.

Yeah, I think.

I think the biggest.

The biggest rule for this one is I love the.

Was it smooth is fast?

What.

What is it, Rick?

Smooth, smoothest fast and fast.

I forget the name.

No, no.

Slow is slowest.

Slow is smooth, Smoothest fast.

That's what it is.

That's what it is.

But yeah, if I just slowing down and letting your.

Letting the velocity and the.

And the fundamentals work for you rather than just trying to muscle it over there.

Well, I'm taking note of the fact that, you know, when guys.

Guys who are playing short and third in the.

In the bigs, when they throw that ball never gets there till like right in the last second.

The other thing, they're not throwing a guy out by 20 steps.

And I will say that ball doesn't come across the diamond as fast as I thought it did there.

Sometimes they're throwing high 70s to right around the 80s.

For whatever reason, my mind just, oh, well, they must be throwing 90.

That's not always the case.

Sometimes it is.

And if it's a.

You know, if they have to.

But they're just better at the fundamentals and knowing the runner.

Quick release.

And so it's a. Yeah, quick release for sure.

And a lot of it is reading.

Reading hops.

Right.

And you.

You feel with your feet.

So your feet's got to be in the right.

Sure.

In the right position to feel and just getting a lot of ground ball work from.

From your glove side to the backhand side and staying on top of the ball when you throw.

Like George Sundays.

And there's three types of different throwing angles.

You got your do a dot, you got your natural here, and you got your three quarters here.

So practicing all three types of.

Knowing the difference.

Yes.

And knowing the difference.

And what George said, a four seam and stuff.

What I used to do, I still do it now.

Throw it up in the air and I catch it like that every time.

Your fingers are always.

Feel that.

Where that horseshoe is at.

Where he's on top of the horseshoe.

I think that's a really good point that you talk about practicing those different plays.

Just taking routine ground balls doesn't get you a feel for those tough plays and how to make those.

So the importance of.

Of practicing those harder plays.

Yeah, yeah.

Well.

And the other.

The role that the transfer plays right in this as well.

We haven't really mentioned that.

Yes, you do have that.

You do have that transfer going on same time.

Yeah.

And you just.

You can't throw it to your field.

It cleanly.

That's the biggest.

Yes.

There you go.

Just like in football, you can't take off, run until you catch it.

Yeah.

100%.

Same.

Same exact thing.

Okay.

Second one was force plays with runners on base.

Now, that's the one where you transfer.

Yeah, yeah.

And then there's.

There's one.

There's one where you're talking the number of times that, I don't know, I've seen teams, you take, you take infield, but there's never any.

There's never any runner on.

The coach will say, okay, well, there's a runner on third.

Now let's get to imaginary.

Well, you're not getting two if you're not getting a guy.

So, you know, there's difference between I'm gonna get two and there's nobody coming at me.

And like when I was watching game seven of the 75 World Series on YouTube last night, and you try and get two with Pete Rose barreling in on you at second base, that's a whole different.

Make sure your life insurance is paid up.

Dude, he came in for blood too, man.

I mean, that's the way it was.

Yes, that's.

Yes.

So putting that, putting that runner on base, making that happen.

Yeah.

You don't get that sense of urgency otherwise.

And so you don't get, you don't get that feel for the, for the game scenario.

One of the things we're going to see with all of these things is that it's the pressure that really increases the opportunity for error and mistake.

It's one thing if there's no pressure on you, but when you.

You got to put that pressure on yourself in practice to.

To really feel that game situation, I think.

But you got to have a shortstopper, second baseman having a lane, you know, and who's coming down.

That's about this down to second base.

Sorry.

If you're going to catch the ball inside or outside.

But sometimes, like Audrey Smith, because he can go, he can jump, he would go down the Middle.

But a lot of guys, they let him know right away this is on the major league level.

They throw down below.

If you don't get down, you're going to get hit in the head.

You get hit.

But the key though in the force play or double play is get the first out.

You're thinking too much about getting a double play.

You end up dropping the ball or missing the bag.

Make sure one.

Yeah, well, and that was.

You talk about trying to put your throw in a certain spot.

That was something that we didn't really.

I never really had anybody talk about until I got to high school and playing from third base, for whatever reason, I really struggle with that drop step.

With the drop step, throw to second.

And it's got to be.

And it's got to be in his chest or he's not going up.

Yeah.

He's not going to be able to turn it.

Yeah.

Start aiming to aim at the ball because you're going to aim higher than where you want to throw.

Aiming at the chest, you're going to be lower.

So aim at the forehead.

One of the things too that you were saying is as a second baseman, you're a third base.

You got to understand your footwork.

So if I.

When you practice enough, you understand where that second baseman want that ball at.

Yeah.

Because now like George was saying back then, they could slide in and take you out.

Now you can't do that.

You got to stay in the lane.

You got to stay in the baseline.

Yeah.

And then you can work, you can come inside the, inside the baseline to make that throw and step across.

We used to be able to hop over to run like George was saying, or you could step back and make it.

And so the step back was a safe one.

The other place I see this, runners causing that chaos is not knowing the order in which to get the force out.

So I see it a lot, especially ball hit to first base.

If the first baseman tags the baseball, then.

Then you got to tag the runner.

Yes.

So that's, that's a big one.

And not having that, not having the awareness to know if you need to put the tag down.

And also knowing if you got a lefty or a right handed first baseman because now you got to figure out, okay, if he's left handed and he makes the tag, guess what?

You're going to stay inside the baseline a little bit.

Because his ball, he's left handed.

So his.

When he turns the ball is here.

It's easier for you get versus a righty versus a right hander.

Depending on how that runner is, you can either go outside or inside, but you got to let them know, tag, tag, tag.

Yeah.

But even to throw to.

To first base, you know, the first base you got to know.

Okay.

Because a lot of guys here, right hander and the balls coming between, say, the mound and home plate, you don't put your right foot on the bag.

You put your left foot so you have a better target left.

A lot of times they're not.

And then a high throw and you can catch it and get off the bag, but they try to jump up and catch it, end up going, not getting down soon enough for the bag.

Or.

I've seen guys would get what pulls a throw inside.

Learn how to tag the guy and get out of the way.

Yes.

Yeah.

The other one is when you have to look a runner back, either not doing that and giving the guy a free base or doing that and maybe he's.

He's messing with you.

And then you don't know what to do.

And then you can't decide if you want to throw it or not.

So trying to.

Trying to navigate that situation as well.

And then also when you have.

When you have more than one runner on and maybe you've got a guy on, maybe you got a runner going to second and less than two outs and you know you don't have a chance.

Maybe the ball was.

Maybe you're playing third.

Baseball's too far, too short, and you're going to go ahead and get the guy at first and then leaving third base wide open.

So not finishing the play because you've got more than just the batter going on.

So having that awareness to then circle back or having maybe shortstop, shortstop cover pitch, somebody.

Somebody having the awareness to be there.

So that teamwork that has to get practice on all the time, that is missing, I believe.

Yeah.

And I.

You know, if you go back and watch.

That was one thing about watching Pete Rose play third base is he was so.

So fundamentally on top of everything.

Like he never forgot to look back a runner right before he'd make a throw somewhere.

It was just sometimes, sometimes he'd get the ball and he would just windmill just make a big old fake throw just to see if the guy would step off of there and nail it.

That's right.

He was just crazy like that.

But knowing, knowing where you got to go to do that.

You made a good point in a double play, you know, if you make a good effort at a double play and you only get one of them, you got it.

Now you did all right.

Right.

If you make an effort at double play and you don't get either one of them, then that's bad.

Yeah.

Thing too is kids need again, going back to.

Almost like playing chess, man.

Know what you're going to do before the ball is hit to you.

Patient.

Yes.

And I think that goes back to also knowing what the guy did the last time he was up and which I. I thought of something the other day, that if I were teaching, if I were coaching a young team, how would I teach kids to do that?

And I think one of the ways that you could do that would be to have each kid pick the other team, the person on the other team that plays his position, and he is responsible for knowing what that guy did last.

You track that guy, and then before everybody, before every at bat, you're the one that needs to yell out what that guy did last.

Not only does that encourage talking and encourages people to actually be vocal on the field, but it makes each kid in charge of one thing rather than nine things.

Yeah.

And it makes it easier to keep track of that.

And if you're roster batting, then that gives something for the guys that aren't playing the field to do.

Exactly.

That's funny you say that.

I made a huge mistake on a.

On a.

One of my things, man.

And so I had these two kids.

One was injured or the other.

So I gave a sign for a certain situation and they passed it on this.

So one of the kids said, hey, coach, that wasn't right.

I'm like, really?

Like, yeah, I like, okay, cool.

I gave you the fist.

Just testing, testing.

And it also creates a little accountability and a little peer pressure, too, because you're.

You're going.

The rest of your team is counting on you to shout out what this guy did.

So don't get out there and forget to do that.

Like, that's.

That's part of your job.

And so otherwise you get out there and somebody's up and I'm somewhere else in the field, I'm going, what do you do?

Right.

What do you do?

Who is it?

You know, so.

And it.

Let's say, let's everybody know real quick who was in charge of saying that, because he's the left fielder and you're the left fielder, so what do you do?

Last time.

Anyway, it was just a thought.

One last thing on.

On infield errors is.

Is sailing the ball.

So you can always.

If you keep the ball down low, you always give the first baseman a chance to pick it.

He can always go down, but he can't always go up.

So there's a limit to how high he can jump, and there's no limit to how much he can get down.

And you see a lot of guys now, even more when you had turf fields utilizing the bounce throw, that still comes into play.

Easier for that guy to block it up, even if he has to come off the bag, than if it sails out of play and the guy gets.

A free base and he can pick it with his foot on the base.

He can't jump with him foot on the base.

Exactly, exactly.

And that's why they should every time work on short hop drills, man, all the time on different surfaces.

But a coach must know you don't have to have the strongest arm to play short.

But being able to get rid of the ball.

A lot of times they.

The guy who has the strongest arm, you know, taking too much time and, and trying to, I guess, impress everybody how, how hard he can throw, but.

And then making sure to always make sure that the guys are in the right position in every situation.

The shortstop sometimes may play too deep.

Learning how.

And then you talk about footwork.

You know, how do you get the ball in the hole?

I mean, between short and third, and how do you get the ball going the second.

So footwork is very important, but how do you learn it?

By practicing it.

Yes, sir.

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The next one was the ever treacherous.

Picture covers first that happened in the World Series.

What Cole was telling the first thing you got, you got it.

Yes, but that.

That was one that we didn't.

We didn't practice specifically until we got to high school.

I didn't practice.

Didn't even know that was a thing.

But and I think one of the 11 one of the big deals with that other than communication as to who covers but when the pitcher is supposed to field it just rushing too much.

I mean be there.

You gotta be there.

You gotta be there.

Matt.

There's a certain angle too that you.

Take the banana as you cover the.

Bass and all that.

But.

But I'm.

When the pitcher feels it the tendency to just freak out and launch it over the first basement.

I mean I see that all.

That's one where I got to give some credit to Nick Martinez.

You talk the guy is just cool as a cucumber when it comes to fielding defensively.

Does a good job getting it.

Getting it over to.

To first even if he touch it behind his back.

That's why sometimes I think it's funny.

I feel like you see sometimes you see pitchers make that really athletic play on the ball hit to the third base side and yet that dribbler to the first base side.

When they have more time, that's when they mess it up.

And I wonder if it has to do with the amount of time you have because when it balls hit to the third base side you don't have time to.

To set.

You just have to field it and throw.

But on the first base side you have that time.

And so there it.

It's like it throws off your rhythm and so that's when you have to pause and then I don't know, maybe.

So it's all about timing.

And now what they're getting pitchers to do either if you got enough time is the underhand underhanded over get this close and be able to.

To start.

Start your start moving towards the base.

Use your momentum with the underhand.

Yes, but there was a play what team.

But they blamed the guy who threw the ball and not the guy who was covering the bag.

So the guy who's covering the bag, it was, he was at fault because you got it.

He was on the bag too soon.

So time the throw, he would have been sort of.

Oh yeah, throwing up, being behind the, the pitcher.

That was.

Yeah, it was.

No, the Reds.

The Reds.

Sal Stewart did that.

Okay.

So they blamed it on him.

But Martinez, he was on the bag instead of waiting for the ball.

Yes.

Like as any other.

Like you setting up like a regular play.

Right.

Just sit there.

Yes.

The one I saw last night when I was, I was watching that, that game from the World Series.

Ball goes deep behind first base.

Perez goes back to get it.

Now he's coming at the base.

Now the pitcher is going over there to do his job.

Gullets running over there to cover.

But doggy's got a full head of steam and he is coming to that base.

So you got to know when you're going to be out of that way because otherwise you're gonna get run over.

Because he has already decided in his head he is coming back to make that play.

He's not gonna it to you.

But you know your route.

Your route.

Same as when you after the catch ball being a pitcher, go inside.

Yes.

And someone go right down the middle and get ran over by the runner.

Yeah.

Then also talk about that's, that's the time for your right fielder to be moving inwards, just preparing for the.

There's a place you gotta be, sir.

So the next one was plays involving complicated mechanics.

We're talking hardliners, bad hops, fly balls to the fence, fly balls in the corner.

Things that involve complicated mechanics.

Drop step on a.

Bad hops.

I was gonna say what, what's your.

Learning how to drop step either to your glove side or.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Especially in between hops.

In between hops.

Those ones is going to eat.

But this is more of a. I know we talk about physical error, but it's more of a mental error.

And I know it's been taught though.

You know, they catching the ball on their glove side compared to the throwing side.

So it's going to take longer to, to get the ball and throw.

So I watch guys if they catch the ball on the glove side, I'm trying to make it get an edge by advancing.

But if you catch it on your throwing side then they have a better chance.

But a lot of guys see a right hander instead of stepping behind your left foot to throw, they're stepping parallel to it.

So they're not really making much progress.

So the footwork wherever you go is very important.

Yeah.

And something else, I didn't.

Because I didn't play much infield coming up.

I mainly caught and pitched.

Learning the infield was an adjustment and I had a hard time picking my hop because we were taught you either take the long one or you come up and get that short one.

Because when you.

Which I always.

It took me a while to realize why.

But when that ball bounces, if your gloves right there, it doesn't matter where it bounces your gloves right there, no big deal.

But I had a tendency of letting the ball play me rather than playing the ball.

And also too for you as a third baseman, being able to get that ball in a hole, the five and a half hole.

Yeah.

Being able to cut that off before a shortstop, be able to get there.

Because sometimes.

But work again.

Yes.

Yeah.

Because if you're, if you're able to grab that, it keeps the shortstop from making a throw 20ft longer, even if he can't get to it.

It becomes.

Are you going to shuffle over there?

Are you going to cross over?

Yes, sometimes shuffling get you there and now you're in position.

But if you cross over, then the ball take a bad hop here, it's on top of you.

And then you also say.

Would you also say that.

That staying low is important to be able to work under the ball?

The hops.

Yeah, read the hops lot better.

Okay.

Yeah, let's go do the hop.

Well, and would you, Would you.

Would you say, George, the, The decision that you have to make in the outfield as to whether you're going to.

Whether you're going to charge it and go for it or whether you're going.

To play the hop depends on the score, the inning, the runner.

Surface.

The surface.

Oh, yeah.

You playing on a dash turf.

You know that when that ball, if you don't catch it in the air, it's going to bounce.

Play you're going to be more defensive.

Defensive.

So that, that you can keep the, the batter, batter, runner at.

At second base or, or at first base, but you don't want that ball to bounce over your head.

And then if the, the turf is.

If turf is not only turf, it's wet.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

The best play I think I ever.

Made.

Really started to hit one hopper to me and the ball had a.

It was taking a spin towards the.

Down the line.

So I had my glove out there to catch the ball and the ball went into my bare hand.

But everybody said, wow, that's a great play.

It's a great play.

I don't know what happened here.

That's funny what George is saying about the being wet.

Outfielders need to do two things.

Check the elements.

If you're on grass, we always sort our outfit.

Pull up some grass, see where the wind is blowing.

That's one.

Check out the.

If it's wet or if it's bouncy.

You know, you got a lot of heels, a lot of divots out there.

Man.

The ball is going to do certain.

Different things, especially in those early games or those night games when.

When the deuce.

That's.

Yes.

Because there are various ways to catch a ground ball in the outfield.

Yes.

And say the ball is a field is uneven and you want to make sure that ball stays in front of you.

You're going to get down on your glove side knee to block it.

And you got to know when to play it safe and being aggressive out there and back.

We're talking about Astroturf in Houston.

They had zippers on the field where they zipped up the turf because they would take it up for football and put it back down for baseball.

So that ball is serpentining as it's going at you and you think you're going straight at it, but no, it's going.

Has a mind his own.

Well, and the other thing is the idea that early in the season, late in the season.

So you know early in the season when they've had all the time to get the field ready and it's nice and green, it's lush and thick and all that.

And then by the end of the season when half of it's dirt and you know it's not.

Not quite so right for.

For every game, before every game, I would go out there and take ground balls, fly balls.

It just to rehearse what I need to do.

Especially see the surface of the field.

If it's.

Hello.

Like in Atlanta, it's always hard from the Falcons playing on that field.

So it's hard.

It's hard.

And astroturf and then seeing how the ball like in Boston Fenway.

The ball bounces off the wall.

Yeah.

Because of different.

Different material.

You have the hard surface, then you have a soft surface.

Some going to come straight back and some are going to go straight down.

So you got to be.

Go out there and be.

Get yourself prepared for a game situation.

You could be in Chicago where the wall just eats it.

Oh, oh.

I'm not going into that ivy.

I don't know who's in that ivy.

What about candlestick Candlestick.

Did you like candlestick?

You have to be careful with the wind.

You never, the wind is swirling out there and I've known that balls that are hit actually over the fence, the wind blows it back in.

The shortstop end up catching.

So you gotta, you never plant your feet in Chicago or Candlestick, never plant your feet.

You always move it always on the move because you never know how that ball's gonna react.

So yeah, the other thing I thought about is, you know, making that judgment of, you know, so let's say, let's say you're doing well, you went back so that your first step is forward.

When you're in the outfield, you're back far enough.

Okay.

But then you take a few steps forward and then there's that moment where it's like, oh goodness, that's going over my head.

And you got to make that snap decision to turn around and track it and go the other way.

Thoughts on the decision making process?

Being prepared to do that?

Well, it takes place before it even happens.

A left handed hitter, you know, it's going to hook more times than I'm going to go towards the line.

Left, left, right, right.

So right hand.

I've seen a left handed ball, a left hander hits the ball and they breaking towards center field.

Then now they have to regroup.

But I tell them if you, even if you make a mistake in which side to go, make sure you play it off your front shoulder.

Whatever shows in front, play it off that shoulder.

And as you're going back, you know, you're doing a crossover step so that you're in balance.

Some of these guys run back and they don't have a bearing on where the ball is.

And so the ball ended up bouncing off the wall and the players jumping to one side and the ball's on the other side.

So he misjudged the ball.

Everybody said, wow, that was a great try, great try.

He needed GPS out there, but no one.

Then it starts in batting practice.

Have the coach hit the ball down the line.

How are you going to react?

You may make the catch, but you want to be able to make a catch in a position to keep the runner from advancing.

Yeah.

And again, knowing, knowing what the game situation is.

Where are the runners, how many runners, how many outs?

Where does this ball need to go?

When it gets my hand.

Yeah.

Another thing, talk about learning spin.

That was big for me.

Learning to play third base, trying to catch that, that foul ball, pop fly.

Because the way that it backspins, it's going to come back into play so I know that I can turn my back and let it come into me rather than chasing the spin.

Same thing with pop ups.

When you're playing catcher, you turn your back to the infield because you know that he hit the bottom of it and it's spinning like this and it's going to tail back into play.

So rather, rather than just, you know, you lose your bearing, being able to have that knowledge to set up better just really sets you up for success a lot better.

And also talking about catching, you got, talking with your mechanics.

Now you're dealing with gear on top of, on top of your fundamentals.

So you know, get that helmet off.

Though, when you're going.

After I had my, my catcher, he.

He threw his mass and he misjudged where the ball was and he ended up stepping in his mask and falling.

He didn't know he didn't throw his.

Bass far enough away from or did he should have kept it on.

I kept it in his hand before he, before he.

Right.

Well, and this is something I had to go over with Ethan when he first started catching because he was a young guy, you're probably 7 or 8 years old and you start catching back there and you know, we don't have those two piece get, get ups anymore.

Like when I was a kid, you don't have the batting helmet with the, with the mask.

So you've got that whole cotton picking stormtrooper thing.

You got to get off your head.

And so you have to practice that.

You have to practice that flipping on off of there.

Dads make sure that that gear is set up to stretch in the right spot and move in the right spot.

So that put some velcro on it.

Yeah, that's a, that's a big deal.

The other thing is, is, you know, practice doing that with your gear on because you know, you can practice taking fly balls and whatever, but it isn't the same unless you got to go out there, spin around, find it all that with all that stuff on your body, that's important.

And catchers, you know, you're the guy who, they've just taken 20 minutes of practice and he's like, oh, here, here's one for the catcher.

You know, you get one at the end.

You know, you don't really see you're gonna have to practice that on your own and, and do that and having.

Your gear on, practicing running to back up first base.

Oh yeah, but it's an angle had to go.

You don't want to go Straight down.

You don't want it.

The base path, but had an angle.

Sure.

One of the things I want to add to the outfield plays is I just posted on my MD9 Facebook page that Mookie Betts was going out, center fielder was coming in, and you can tell that as soon as the center fielder.

As a shortstop, you're taught go get everything center field until someone calls you off.

So he went out, center fielders coming in.

Guess what?

You know, they communicated just the way that Mookie retreated.

Got out the way.

And plus, he's an out.

Yes.

And you're a former outfielder.

He communicated my mama, whatever it is.

And he re.

And just doing that a lot.

I think Ethan brung up third base.

You know, I, I a lot of things that requires.

You said bad hops, fly balls, feeling for the fence at third base.

You going to the wall, feeling for it, man.

That a lot of people, kids don't communicate.

They'll sit there, watch a kid run, right?

No, but they don't.

They don't talk.

The coach don't how to.

You gotta practice.

Yes.

And how many times you.

Are you gonna call for it so that because in a stadium with a lot of people and it's noisy, you're not gonna say, I got it.

That's it.

You gotta talk about.

But the outfielders are in charge.

Yeah.

So the guy who's coming in is in charge.

And don't let the guy who infield going back to get the ball.

Well, I'll say one of the things that alludes to is deferring to who has the better angle, who can make the best throw.

So one thing we were always taught at third base is that you eat up everything to your glove side because your momentum is taking you towards first base, rather than letting the shortstop have to stop and then make the throw.

So same thing with those in between balls.

Outfielders have to be aggressive on those because you've got a way better chance of making a throw than an infielder who has to stop, pivot and find his bearing.

But coaches have to, or even parents have to.

You got to go out there on the field and work on those things.

Also wanted to bring up when George plan.

I'm sure at Riverfront, you had the warning track that had gravel, right?

Yeah.

So you knew when you was getting close to that wall then, right?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Those walls are put up to keep, not to run through.

No, but when Greg was talking about.

Or one of you said putting your hand there.

But I remember in aaa, you didn't want to put your hand on the wall because you didn't know you'd find a hole in the wall.

Those fences were really good material.

You don't know what's back there.

Well, this is another opportunity for young players.

If you're listening to this, be the guy who's loud, Be the guy who talks.

Be the guy who says, your coach will love you for it as long as you also do your homework and you're not out there shouting nonsense.

But even though you shout the wrong thing, unless you know it.

Yeah.

The coach knowing that.

Okay.

Where his mindset is.

But the biggest thing is kids are intimidated to make noise out there because everybody's watching.

Mom, dad, watching.

Everybody's watching.

And nobody wants to be wrong.

Right?

Okay.

Yeah.

Be wrong and be loud about it.

Yes.

You know, one of the things that I remember when I was in college, we were.

We all had to be part of this, an ensemble in the trumpet studio.

And we were.

There's like eight.

Eight trumpet players standing there.

We're all playing together.

And the art director would say, if you're going to make a mistake, make it loudly so we can find it and fix it.

Right.

Like, don't.

Don't make quiet mistakes, man.

That ain't cool.

So.

So if you're going to go out.

Out there and talk, be loud about it.

And it also gives your teammates permission because they see you do it and now they don't feel so weird about being loud about it.

But somebody's got to be the one who's out there jabbering, who's out there talking, who's out there getting.

Getting the communication happening.

Otherwise it doesn't happen.

And when it doesn't happen there, you.

You start to break down on the field, and there's less teamwork and more individual.

And that's when we lead to a lot of these mistakes.

I always tell the guys, it's not a library.

You can talk.

Now.

The last one we have is outfield throws and plays that require backing up.

Let's talk about that.

I think the place I see the most errors with this one is usually the pitcher not knowing what to do.

Yeah.

Especially, you know, it's his job to back up third because he's going to be the closest one there.

His job to back up home.

Any other situations but back.

Make sure you back up.

Don't be right behind or if you.

Got caught in between and don't know then in the middle and kind of track where the ball is going that kind of helps you a little bit too.

If you.

Not initially, you gotta.

The picture should be between third and third.

Get a chance and then finding out which runner they're going to make the play on.

There you go.

I like that.

I think the other one, it's a cut off.

You want to cut off to your glove side.

You want to turn to your glove side as the ball's thrown, but sometimes they turn into your throwing side and now you're off track.

Yeah, yeah.

Because they.

They're stuck.

Right.

They're here.

And this comes parallel.

There's no moment when there's a double cut.

You're knowing if the ball is going to bounce to you.

Let it go.

Let it go.

It's because you have a backup there.

But I had seen that once again saw the Reds do that.

But you want, you want Dela Cruz out there.

He.

You should know your outfield's arm.

Do you want the stronger arm first or second in line for the cutoff?

I like.

Yeah, I like the.

I like the first with the Reds because De La Cruz, he can.

He doesn't really need the second.

Second guy.

But you don't wait for the ball also.

But you have Lux out there.

You know, you got to go out there and get it.

Yeah, exactly.

Don't wait.

I think that certain managers or coaches, you know, they have their own philosophies on that.

So I don't really get into that.

As long as they.

They do it correctly.

Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure the default would probably be.

Depends on which side of the bag the ball is hit to.

But.

Yeah, but if you've got a drastic arm strength difference, you can overcome that.

And maybe a ball hit in the, in the.

In the corner.

Right field corner.

Right.

Dave Conception with us, he would go out.

Yeah.

Joe would be at a second.

Yeah.

One thing I wish I saw more was double cuts implemented at a younger level.

I think it's the line drill.

Do the line.

Yeah, I love the line drill.

I've got some pictures of me doing a line drill with our MD9, but I've done that a lot.

We always ran double cuts and I think we did that.

We started doing that at 12 because.

Like a game to the kids.

But you got to implement that in your practice.

You sure do.

But that's especially with.

I think it's because people look at it as just more of an advanced thing.

But when you don't have a strong arm, you don't have any shot at making a play on from the cutoff to, to anywhere in the infield.

And I like the, I've always liked the idea of sending, sending both of your, especially if I would say.

Yeah, especially on a ball hit to the outfield where you're guaranteed that the runner is going to go to second.

Right.

And you're trying to make a play at third or home.

Send both of your middle outfielder, middle infielders out there and let your first basem follow the runner.

There's no play to happen there.

So it, I just, I've always thought that was a more efficient use of your fielders to try to do that.

Yes.

Yeah.

And make sure your first baseman makes sure that the runner touches first.

Yeah, that's the first one.

That's the first.

They'll not only touch first, make sure you're standing inside.

Yes.

Because you get, you got to call for obstructions.

Yeah, that's true.

Another, another spot where you can, where you can gain out is when you're cutting to home.

And no, your catcher is supposed to let on a ball hit to the right side.

It's.

Your first baseman's going to usually take that cut coming home.

That's another center to left field.

It's usually your third baseman going to receive that.

And it's the catcher's job to line them up.

Yes.

And to tell that guy whether or not to cut.

And if he cuts, that guy needs to have the.

Or to let it go.

Yeah.

That guy needs to have the awareness to be, to pay attention to those runners and know if he can, if he can, you know, kind of salvage the play by getting an out.

Yeah.

And also your, your, your, your, the other players in the infield, they'll let, they should be able to let, you know, a cut and go three.

Then if you know that that kid is not that player, you're not going to get that play.

You know, if you're able to do that before the run scores, then you're.

Able to kind of steal an out there.

Yes.

Yeah.

You want to be informative but very succinct in what you're saying because you don't want to have it just saying cut.

If you don't say cut, you know, and letting it go, you don't.

Or say anything.

Code and hold.

Yes.

But you don't want, you don't, you don't need to have to say let it go.

Yeah.

George, let's talk about, let's talk about outfielders and backing up.

I know a lot of times you get young players and they get Put in the outfit and they, well, there's nothing for me to do unless somebody hits a ball to me.

And that's just not the case.

No, it's like Rick had said before, you're the last line of defense and wherever the play is, you got to back up.

And I had a great time been in left field and being in great shape.

The ball hit down the right field line.

I knew right away, don't wait, don't wait.

Right away I'm backing up third base and the third base coach does not see me there.

So once the ball get past third base, his first saying is go.

And by the time he said go, he wanted to say no, because I'm right behind, right behind him getting that play.

And there are countless times I have thrown a guy.

We made an out at home play because the guy, they got greedy and they wanted to go.

But if nobody's there now, the guy's going to score.

But I say there's a place that you need to go.

You got a left fielder, got a backup center or right fielder, got.

You got to back one another up.

You got to talk out there.

And then back to practicing before a game, we talk about how the ball is going to come off the wall.

So now when the balls hit, you guys don't go too far in because you know that you're already giving them a single, but you don't want to give them a triple.

So you go too far in, that ball bounces over your head.

And I've seen in Fenway, the ball hitting that corner and the center field had to chase it because the left field is not coming over.

You know right away that you're going to have problems how that ball is going to come off the wall.

So there's a place that you need to go and everybody has a place to go.

I want to follow up on what George was saying, you know, and, and youth and select and you could probably circle back around and I go to a couple of games and there's no coach in the, in the dugout that handles the, the outfield.

So my coaching staff and even the coaching staff, we knew who we assigned a coach to handle.

Okay, You've got pitchers and catchers, you've got the infield, you got the outfield, okay, I've been the guys where that man who's, who's got the outfielders, man, they're on their own.

So that's another thing too.

The coaches that's in there.

No, your role within the coach and that head coach Gotta let everyone know their role.

And then those guys kind of, you know, kind of work with those outfielders.

I think that's a really good point because especially the younger you are, the more likely you are to have unqualified dad coaches.

Maybe, but just say dad coaches.

But you don't have to be an expert to have the responsibility of positioning them.

You know what I mean?

Just by designated some.

By designated someone to have the responsibility of paying extra close attention to them keeps.

Keeps the man.

How would I say that?

It just puts more attention on it and it keeps them from getting forgotten about, I guess, if that makes sense.

So even if they're not an expert, it's just one less thing for the head coach to have to try to keep everything in mind.

And it's one more guy to give that one on one work with.

It also gives you the opportunity to teach them the importance of knowing what the hitter did last time.

Yeah, so.

Right.

Because yeah, that's it.

There's nothing for that coach to do until he knows what hit last time.

And that's what tells you where we're going to position them.

If you're just sort of evenly spacing them.

No, that's not getting you anywhere.

You gotta, you gotta position them according to what the hitter did.

But that doesn't take, that doesn't necessarily take, you know, years and years of experience.

That's something you can learn, which is awesome.

So the other thing I was thinking about, if so what we've, as we've gone through these, these five things here, what we've brought up are a few common issues.

Successful teams communicate.

They absolutely do.

They do not stand on the field in silence.

They talk constantly.

They tell each other things.

They communicate with each other while the game is going on.

If your team is not doing that, you are, you are missing a catcher.

Catcher goes out there to how many, how many outs or.

Yes.

What play to make or things.

And then they give signs on who's coming where things.

We'll do a first and third sign.

So one of the things.

And I've got all this written down, but one of the things that we did with our catchers that you've got here.

So this would be home, this would be first, this would be second, this would be third.

That's how we would do it.

So we'll go home first, second, third, and then our signs will go, our catchers will throw our signs through there.

So if we want, we got a first and third play and we want our second or shortstop to Cover, then we'll have that.

Or to cut the throw off.

We have that.

Yeah.

Successful teams communicate.

They absolutely do.

And your team needs to communicate.

So if you're on the field and nobody's talking, man, that should be a red flag going off in your brain that your team is not communicating.

This is a problem and you need to do that.

The other thing is successful teams think ahead.

Absolutely.

Think ahead.

You're asking yourself, what do I do if this happens?

What do I do if that happens?

What do I do?

Okay.

And that, that can change pitch to pitch, not.

Not just batter to batter.

Absolutely.

Because what the count is.

Yeah.

Whether he's looking middle in, whether he's looking middle away, whether he's.

What he's done that previous pitch.

Yeah.

You got a hitters count.

You got to, you got a guy who's now doesn't have one, you know, he's protecting the plate or he's being aggressive out there.

You know, if he's a, if he's likely to be a first pitch swinger, you know, these kinds of things go all going on.

If his stance is closed, if his stance is open, you know, if he's changed, if he was, if he's a switch hitter and he's going, he's on the other side now because you put in a different picture now.

What does that mean?

Mean, you know, so these kinds of things are all things to think about.

But successful teams think ahead, successful teams communicate.

I think is a good way to look at these, these five things.

Ethan is more than my podcast partner.

He's my son.

And like every baseball parent, my first priority was his development as a player.

Every year we'd start out with a new coach and a new team, making new promises only.

Only to end up playing the same old tournaments with little to no practice in between.

You know what I'm talking about.

That's why I'm so thankful that we found MDNI Academy.

I first met Coach Rick over a decade ago when Ethan was just a kid.

And I'll never forget the relief I felt watching his first lesson.

I knew right then that no matter what team he played for, my son would have amazing, consistent instruction from someone who cared.

Rick has trained baseball and softball players at the select, travel and even college levels.

So I knew that Ethan could continue his excellence through training approach.

For his whole baseball career, he learned hitting, pitching, catching, fielding, and more all in one place.

Most of all, he learned to love the greatest game in the world and how to play it with character and integrity.

So if you're wearing yourself out running all over town to multiple teachers or worse, you're counting on that new select coach to actually develop your child.

You need to check out MDNI Academy today.

Go to mdaiacademy.com and contact Coach Rick to learn how you can get all the baseball instruction you need from someone who cares about your favorite player as much as you do at MDNI Academy.

So now we're going to move on to some more interesting things.

I would say now we're going to move on to some more interesting things.

More things that are interesting.

Yes, yes, that's what I meant to say.

Say I have, I have a few more scenarios that don't get talked about as much and I want to kind of look at this.

So first of all, defense against a hit and run.

Let's talk about what are the key things to do when you, when you have first of all as your defense, you're in the field, how to recognize when you're likely to see a hit and run.

First of all, well, this, this goes hand in hand.

I've also got a something to add to that is talking about positioning when you're in a stealing count.

So I was always taught that the person that takes the throw is the opposite handedness of the batter.

So if you have a right handed hitter, you're going to have the second baseman take the throw and then shortstop takes it on a left handed hitter.

Is there any time that you wouldn't run it like that that you can think of?

Yeah, depends on if the guy who has the better hands.

Yes.

Because you don't want that throw to compounded guy steals the base and then end up going to third base.

But who, who's quicker and who has the better hands?

Yes.

Okay.

And then as far as stealing, are you.

Well, I know I was gonna say are you more likely to put a hit and run on in the stealing count, but you've mentioned multiple times where you put a hit and run on just to make the guy swing the.

Basket swinging because the comment, the guy would say I didn't like that pitch.

I don't care.

You got to protect the runner.

Yes.

Yeah, but we talk about getting the ball on the ground for a hit and run.

So yeah, got to put, I guess just.

What do you just be.

Just being prepared as an infielder?

Practice.

Practice as an infielder.

The infielder.

Yeah.

You knowing that what if the ball's hit over, you know, fly ball, it's out of your jurisdiction.

But.

And making sure that you get an out.

That's the key.

And out.

Yeah, yeah.

Because if you're.

If you got a hit, run, what use first and second, first and third or something like that.

First.

And let's say we got a man on first base.

So the key thing is if it's hit to your glove side, then.

Okay.

If your momentum is carrying you to first base, get down that first base, you know, because you need one.

You got to get.

Don't keep.

You know, now it's first and second, no house.

But get somebody out.

Get somebody out.

But understanding if you're in the same.

What would you do if you're in that situation, you're going to hit the ball on the ground.

And so now you put yourself on defense.

I got to knock the ball down and make the play.

Make the play.

And then also being prepared for.

If the ball isn't on the ground, maybe you get a line drive being.

Being mindful of where the runner is.

Try to double him up.

Double him up, but do not rush.

Take your time.

Do it.

Got the out.

Line drive.

You got the first right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Also think about, you know, you're more likely to see that.

You're more likely to see that hit and run when you have a fast runner.

If you.

If you got your.

You got your big power hitter on.

On base, you may not be as likely to see that happen.

Not.

Well, you.

You hit and run.

You.

The.

Is with a guy who's not.

Doesn't have good speed, who can't just steal out.

Right.

Right.

Okay.

So do you want to put the ball.

Put him in.

Put in motion and put the ball in play.

A guy who's stealing.

You.

You may.

I would.

I like the fact that you don't bunt, but pretend you're going to bunt to keep the catcher back.

Yeah.

But take.

So now you bunt after the guy gets the second base, but he has the speed to steal the base.

But if you have a good catcher, it's the same thing.

If you have a good catcher, you don't want him to strike a straight still.

So yeah, you implement the hit and run.

Cool.

So then bunt defense and how to take away the bunt.

First of all, when as you're.

As you're in the.

In the field, when should it go off in your brain?

Oh, I could.

I'm likely to see a bun here.

Man, we.

In high school, we were late innings.

Well, in high school, we.

We mainly ran a bunt defense.

Justin, just in case.

Because you never Knew I practice bunt defense like muck.

It may be boring, but it's effective.

Thank you.

Yeah.

And as a third baseman, I didn't always like standing right, right up there.

But that's, that's just what we had to do.

The one that the Dodgers did against the Phillies.

Yeah, I was gonna bring.

These are like, you know, they were back in grade school.

Like, what did happen here?

Yeah.

How, how did the third.

We wanted to bunt the third base, but he came in charging.

But you gotta be able to see sometimes that shortstop give you a clue if he takes off too fast.

But, but the key also is having a fast shortstop to be able to do that well.

And that one was so boneheaded because Castellanos just didn't.

He didn't run right away.

He waited.

They assumed that it's going to be the regular butt play.

Oh, I got the ball down and now I'm going to go.

But you, you know, when you're at second.

Okay.

Look and make sure the ball's on the ground and make sure that you have a chance to get there.

You do not have to go.

You don't have to go.

Exactly.

You don't have to go.

So what.

And that was, that was what we call a wheel play.

Yeah.

How often did you like to run the wheel play?

It all depends.

That's like a squeeze sometimes.

Yeah.

Surprise.

Sometimes.

Sometimes.

Depending.

Depending on who's the runner is and where we at in the game.

Like, they ran that.

They ran that to perfection.

Sometimes you might not.

You might want to keep the third baseman back in your, in your pitcher covering third base.

And depends on who's first base.

I don't like to say this name, but Keith Arandis would come from first all the way over to third base to make the play.

Well, but he was left.

He was left handed, right?

Yeah.

I'm just saying how aggressive he is.

Yeah.

But I also like what you just mentioned about whether or not you let the pitcher get it.

If you're putting on the wheel play and you got your third baseman crashing, the worst thing the pitcher can do is go get in his way.

Right.

Because he's hunting.

So if the third baseman's crashing, guess what happens.

Third baseman takes the first base side.

First baseman stays back.

Oh, okay.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

So they would, they would cross.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I have.

We have different signs.

Yeah.

Is there ever a time when you would not want to put a wheel play on?

Specifically.

If.

I mean, it's a risky play.

Yes, it is a Risky play.

Because if it's a bad throw, man, that dude's school.

Yeah.

That guy is going to score, man.

So, yeah, it all depends on you.

If you want to do the ordinary thing.

Yeah.

Basic.

Do the basic bunt defense, man.

That one worked to perfection, though.

The, the Philly, the, The Dodgers.

Right.

I worked.

The way they had Freddie Freeman then circle back around to follow that runner.

I like the way that they were able to.

To keep that for.

Keep him involved in the play long.

Dodgers and the Cardinals are known for the fundamentals.

They work on def.

When they're really, really good with Koufax and Dry Zeld and those guys, they focus on defense, pitching, stealing bases.

Yes.

Yeah.

Cool.

How about the runner on first and third scenario?

Especially when you're in, you know, you're in the younger ages and that was always so frustrating to me as a catcher because you got to run around first and third and the coach just says, don't throw it, no matter what you do, because.

And so you're just, you're just giving them a steal every time you got.

Somebody on first and just give them.

Like, is there something you can do other than proving you can throw accurately.

At the youth level?

Just make sure you, you vary your moves.

Throw over the first base.

Because if you have a catcher tonight doesn't have the arm strength, so it just let him have it, you know, instead of once again throwing.

Throwing it to second base and it goes out into the outfield.

Now the guy from first is at third base.

Yeah.

So limit the damage.

Especially you got second and third, then you depended on.

If it's less than one out, then you would bring your infield in.

And then I was gonna say, especially if you've got two outs and then you can worry about getting the batter.

Anyway, you're gonna, looking back, go one.

Yeah.

Then.

Then you can deepen up.

And it bothers me.

Two outs and first and first and third and they're trying to pick the guy out at first.

I say get the batter.

Just get the batter.

Let's work on.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Especially because if you don't nail him and you're, you're given that run up for free there.

The other one that we started to implement later was the.

Was whichever middle infielder wasn't covering would cut it and he's watching the guy.

We would, we were, we would run that.

But man, you gotta, you gotta have a catcher that can throw it hard enough to get to that guy quick enough.

And that guy has to be able to get rid of it fast enough to be able to get it home.

The pitcher must know, get out the way.

Get out the way.

Yes, but I played on some teams where we had that play and we were not, we weren't equipped to run it.

And so it was an option.

But very rarely did we ever pick it.

Sorry.

I've seen the, the pitcher didn't get down, he gets hit in the back.

I've seen that.

I've seen that.

The other, the other one that I think gets underutilized is snap throw to third.

Especially if you're going to, if you're going to let him have second anyway.

Snap throw to third.

But like we've talked about before, don't pump, fake it.

That's, that's the worst thing you could do.

But it's up to the catcher or the coach to see how the guy's going back to third.

If he's going back to third and foul territory, you have a chance, but he's going back and foul.

You know, don't take a chance because you got two outs now.

You're going to end up like with the Seattle, with the guy, it was a wild pitch.

Now you try to make a good throw and throws the ball out in the outfield.

There's another run there.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I guess it all depends on what the score is and if you can afford the run.

Yeah.

You know, you don't want to try to be a hero.

Yes.

Due to ordinary things.

Finally, let's see how to stop excessive base stealing.

You got 10 year olds, they're playing and man, your poor Kitcher or your poor pitcher is just getting run on.

Your catcher's trying to keep him from bursting into tears because he's just, they're just constantly running.

You got that knucklehead kid who's going, who's over there doing the bird coming back off of third base.

Yeah, it looked like Morris time.

Morris David time over there, you know, and I'm just.

How do you, how do you defense against that?

Just throw it back to the pitcher because they try to rattle you and if, man, they can't go, go past the guy in front of him.

So just let it, let it, let it go.

I mean, it could come a circus out there, but try to stay calm.

Throw it back to the pitcher.

That one of the things that drove me nuts as a catcher was my infielders not getting back to the base fast enough.

So even if I wanted to back pick, it wasn't an option because I didn't Have a fielder there and had I thrown it, it would have just gone into the outfield.

So that comes down to coaching.

Yeah.

Well, doing it more frequently with your.

Team, having your infielders be aware it's a possibility.

And if you, but again, if you don't ever practice it, then that's.

They're not thinking about.

Yeah, you're not practicing it.

And then you have a guy who hadn't played third before, played that position, he doesn't know his responsibility or, or what happens.

Especially third.

They get so far away from the bag that they can't put the tag down.

Oh, yeah, they don't know where to go.

Yeah, they're behind, They' behind the bag and you got right instead of standing in front.

And now it's a, it's, it's a.

Not a good throw.

That's a.

You're infield, you should be able to catch a one hop.

But being able to catch the ball.

Stop the ball.

Yeah, stop the ball.

Keep them from advancing.

Yeah.

Being willing to, being willing to think faster than the other team and just, you know, don't let them rattle you and you just make that decision quickly is, is great if you can do it.

If you're not confident in your ability to do that, then what George said, just, just let it go and, and worry about trying to get the bag.

So, Ethan, I think you're at third.

Okay.

I mean, third basement.

And what's your route from your position?

Do you come inside the bag or outside the bag?

To cover the bag.

You want to come outside, wouldn't you?

To me, it's faster to come inside.

Yeah, right, but you don't want to obstruct with the runner, but just faster to come in.

You're talking about with a runner on third.

Runner on second.

Runner on second.

Oh, on second.

Yeah, sorry.

Right.

So there's two trains of thought.

Some guys would straddle or sometimes if you straddle, then especially depending on if you can read that pitch and if God doesn't have a good arm, you can step inside, pick it and put the.

Okay.

Yeah, my, my default was always straddle because you don't have a, you don't have a lot of time to, to, to take a different route.

Yeah.

So mine was always direct to and straddle because I don't, I don't know that you always have enough time.

If you can take an angle, that's great because, because you're coming this way and the ball's coming this way.

And if you can get a little more behind it.

That keeps you from having to reach if you don't get there in time.

But I would think direct is better.

Yeah, direct is better.

Like you said, I just visualizing, if you come around, you have to reach.

Yeah.

And.

And now you're reaching the tag, but you're tagging the guy in the knee or the hip or the thigh, and his feet are on the bag.

So I thought you were.

At first, I thought you were talking about runner on third and, and, and trying to receive a throw from the catcher.

I'd like to get a little more angle on it to try to be behind that throw rather than going direct at it and trying to reach for it, if that makes sense.

Yeah, it just.

I know that with some of these catchers, they don't know what route to take.

Yeah, for sure.

For sure.

And the, the idea of being able to catch.

A really good catcher can lead the field rather than throw to where he's at.

And I had that problem a couple of times.

Yeah, that's, that's what caused the delay.

They're trying.

They're not leading the runner.

They're waiting for them to get stationary.

And that, that comes back to PFPs as well.

You got to be able to read that timing, because if you just throw it to the bag, you know, and he's not there in time, you know, you got to be able.

So he can catch it on the run and that whole thing, too.

Well, and I think there are, there are some, there are some things I would offer as hope if you're in a situation like that.

First of all, if you're getting run on like crazy and you know that your, your catcher may be in a.

May need to be in a position where he's going to have to let one fly.

If you're playing left field, be mindful that you need to be up behind third base to back that up.

Yes.

He may need to turn and make that snap throw to third base to get that guy to go back to the bag.

And if he does, you need to be there in case it goes wrong.

So, you know, being mindful of your backup responsibilities when you're in, when you're in the field.

The other thing is, if you're the catcher, when you, when the fielders throw the ball back to you, don't turn your back on the guy on third base to walk back to the mound.

Don't take it and just turn around.

Turn your back to pitchers, too.

Yeah, I meant, I'm sorry.

I Meant pitchers.

I'm sorry.

Catchers could turn their back, too.

I've seen that as well.

Yeah.

Well, yes, this is after a timeout, though, but sometimes maybe there's a throw to the catcher and he would go midway to get it.

Then now he throws it back to the pitcher.

It's not time out, so he's walking back.

It could happen.

Yeah, yeah.

You turn your back.

I've seen this a hundred times.

You got that guy down, halfway down third, and he's like waving at you, going crazy, crazy.

And, you know, somebody throws it back to the pitcher, and he turns around to go to the mound, turns his back on him, he's going to go, okay, so keep.

Keep that guy in front of you.

I got a rules question.

If the.

Can any player can call time at any point, right?

Yeah.

So if the.

If I don't hear time, it's still.

Live, but at the same point, if.

Does the.

Does the batter have to be.

Or does the runner have to be on the bag to call time?

I'm just saying if.

If you've got that kid who won't.

Just won't go back to the back?

Because I see that all the time.

And the catcher, you know, he just.

Just takes a few steps and the batter takes a few steps and they.

The runner just won't go back.

Can you call time to make him go back?

Hey, if you call time.

Right, right.

The umpire is up to him to decide.

Okay.

Yeah, but.

Yeah, use that if you have to, because I've been in.

I've been in some of those situations where the kid just won't go back.

Our infielders, man, if anything comes in or whatever you throw at the same time.

Yes.

Time, blue.

Yeah, I like that.

I don't think a lot of kids know that they can do that.

The other thing is speed up the delivery to the plate or slow it down.

Or slow it down, depending on what the situation is.

If.

If your pitcher is coming undone in his head because he's slowed.

He slowed down his process, and he's giving that kid time to get in his face, get in his brain and drive him crazy.

If you can speed it up and get into a little bit more quick rhythm of just bringing it to the plate, bringing it to the plate, bring it to the plat, then he can be a little more focused on what's going on at the plate, and that runner's not so much in his head, varying that timing.

I was bad about that.

Yes.

That's what I was.

I would get In a rhythm and forget about it.

And I was so focused on the guy at the plate that I wouldn't pay any attention.

One thing we used to do with our pitchers until they understood that we used to control that for them.

You know, we'll give the catcher a sign or we'll give the pitcher a sign, let them know when to step off or what.

Or varied in moves, whatever.

Until I think at 11 and 12 they start really understanding 13.

They should know that, you know, and.

I suppose if all else fails, get your left handed reliever in there so you can just stare them down.

Right?

But yeah, and catchers, if you're gonna throw, man, throw, don't do the fake thing.

Nobody buys it.

It doesn't accomplish the only.

All it does is eat up time in the ball game.

The only time I see the, I see the fake work is if it's, if it's one really hard fake and then a throw that immediately follows, no one buys the double.

That's ridiculous.

The only time you do that is if you're in a pickle.

You're your team out.

Yeah.

If you're, if you're running a pickle, then keep the ball up and you can do that.

And.

Well, maybe that's another one we need to talk about is the pickle.

Man.

That's.

Yeah, yeah.

You don't want to.

You want to.

That's when I see so often I.

When, when you get the runner in a rundown, not closing the distance, make.

Sure you're running back to the previous base.

That, that too.

If you, if you're gonna, if you're gonna concede, concede backwards, not forwards for sure.

And make.

After you release the ball, go inside.

Do not let that run or touch you.

Now it's interference or obstruction by far.

Just like how hitting the ball is by far the best way to move a runner.

Accurate throws are the best way to stop stealing.

There's just no way around it.

Accurate throws, if you can prove that you can jump to your feet and nail third base on an accurate throw, they will think twice.

If you can prove that you can put it on the second baseman where it needs to go, they will think twice.

And that's going to be your best shot at stopping stealing.

Accurate throw.

But you got to have the self awareness to know whether you can or can't do that.

If you can't do it, then don't try.

Right?

Yeah.

Because a lot of times I, My catcher, I know doesn't have a good arm.

I said after the Pitcher warms up, throw it back to the pitcher because don't let him see that you can't throw.

The second that goes goes back to showing your cards.

Right.

Don't reveal it if you don't have to.

But like Rick had said, a man on first and first and third and the guy at first base is jockeying off.

So step off, implement to step off and try to pick the guy at third.

Yeah, don't worry about the guy.

Don't worry about the guy.

The guy at third is like he's a threat.

You're not thinking about it.

Yeah, that's, that's the other thing is always go, always go to your weakest point.

If the, if the guy thinks you're.

Not looking or the double steel.

Yeah.

He thinks you're not looking at him.

That's, that's a better candidate for trying to catch him off guard.

And that's the shortest throw that can be made in that situation is pitch is pitcher to third.

I'm not embarrassed.

Another thing that happens too is that just thinking, get caught in a rundown, the kid and the kid goes back to first.

Okay.

Sometimes kids get a rattle, might not be covering second.

No one calls time, kid gets up.

I've seen that happen too many times.

Well, the other one is like the pitcher, the guy he does it on perfect.

The runner, he runs to get in a rundown.

Yeah.

I was about to mention.

And run after him and run after, after him.

Don't throw the ball, run after him.

But at the same time watching the guy at third.

But keeping in mind that that out is not worth just giving him home plate.

So don't.

Unless you had two outs in which that's not the time that they would run that play.

But, but yeah, don't.

Just don't fall for it.

Right.

And that comes back, that comes back to thinking ahead, knowing that what he might do prepares you to not, not get out out thought by the other team.

Go ahead.

And when you talk about the other thing we've kind of mentioned in passing here is when to, when to throw over to first try and keep the guy on.

If you think he's going to, if you think he's going to steal, you know, utilize your catcher in being able to help you realize when that's a good time to do that.

Because the catcher's got a full view of what's going on.

Yeah.

And your pitcher, if he's not left handed, he might not have that full view of what's going on.

But the catcher could Give a sign to say, okay, he's excessively off the base, go get him.

Yeah.

If you're, if you're particularly getting beat down by a, by a specific technique that the other team uses where they're trying to draw your attention one way or the other, then run it yourself in practice and try to beat yourself at practice and figure out a way around it.

Yeah.

Especially knowing you're going to play that team again.

Yeah, yeah.

That's just one of those things.

I know you go, you go through the phases of youth baseball.

You've got, you know, the coach pitch where you know it's nobody can hit anything and you're just trying to get to the end of the game and then you get that, that next stage up where it's like everybody can run but not everybody can throw.

So it's just a steel fest and then eventually everybody's bodies catch up and then you're back to playing baseball again.

But it's all about, should be all about learning and not winning.

And as I said many times before, winning is a byproduct.

But if the kids don't learn from it.

Yeah, it goes for not so making sure that they learn what they're doing.

Because I remember I had a parent said yeah, when are we going to start winning?

So I had to hold my breath and say, oh, in time.

But it's feeling getting guys to do the right, put them at the correct positions and doing it over and over and over.

Oh, Coach, why are we going to bunt?

Because I'm the coach and watching the game too.

I mean watch, gotta watch the.

How many hours?

I mean the basic.

How many outs?

Yes.

Yeah.

And again that's, that goes back to the, the communicating.

You know, great teams communicate and great teams think ahead.

Level swing, let it travel, wait for your pitch, be aggressive out there.

It's no wonder young players get confused at the plate.

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Apply at George Foster baseball.com and I think that hopefully we've given you guys some, some hope here on some of these situations.

If you're a coach coaching little kids and maybe, you know, you're, you're just, you're a dad helping out and you're just kind of coaching the team, maybe we've given you some extra strategies to use if you're somebody who's coached a little bit more.

Maybe we've reminded you of a few things today, things to go back now.

Yeah, hey, let's, let's tackle that this year.

And if you're a player, maybe we've helped you realize that there's always something that should be going on in your head and where you are on the field.

Everybody's got a place to be and something to do.

And when you get to that point where there's always something to do, then playing outfield isn't quite so boring.

And you, you realize that there's a lot that you can be doing to help your team.

So hopefully that's been helpful.

And we appreciate you joining us this week for our defensive, the end of our defensive series and next week is going to be our final episode of the, of the season.

So we're going to come in with a good dose of silly and nonsense, I have a feeling, but it's going to be a whole lot of fun.

So I hope you come back and join us next week.

Have a good time and close out the season with us.

Thanks so much for being with us.

As always, you can catch the podcast on all the places that you hear podcasts with Apple podcasts and Spotify and Amazon, all those places.

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