A Skilled Illusionist Behind the Plate

[Tyler Durden]

A good read for any Catcher. Point #5 is especially surprising.

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_ ... n-magazine

[Eric F]

For the catchers I work with (including my 9yo DD, my instruction has always been to "squeeze it, and freeze it" and "keep strikes looking like strikes". It's really easy to talk an ump out of a strike if the catcher allows her mitt to be pushed around by the impact of the ball. Catch it out front (rather than close to the chest), and keep it in the zone. Trying to take a pitch well out of the zone, and pull it towards the middle of the plate is (generally) not looked upon kindly by umps, and will often lead to not getting the benefit of the doubt on borderline pitches.

That said, my DD has been told by an ump - on two different occasions - that he would have called a pitch a strike if she had pulled it into the zone. If she ever hears that again, I have told her to get a LOT more aggressive about her glove work.