| SOFTBALL TIPS |
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April 25, 2010 |
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| SOFTBALL LINKS |
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Make That Play Anyway
by Dave
Monday, April 26, 2010
You slide into second and beat the throw by quite a large margin. The SS or 2B gathers the incoming throw and tags you hard with her glove. You wonder why the heck she did that. It wasn't necessary. You were safe by a mile. Was she just busting your chops? Should you bust back? Hold the phone! Calm down, take a moment, and learn something.
The other day I was watching a high school game between two rivals. One was in the midst of a rally which just might have broken the thing open. A batter had just drilled a ball into the right-center gap, driving in 2 with what appeared to be an easy double. She rounded first, sprinted towards second and slid hard. The outfielder made a pretty good play on the ball, wheeled, and through a strike to second. The 2B was caught a little out of position, too far from the bag. The throw might have nailed the runner had she been there but as it was, she caught the ball just as the runner was beginning her slide. The 2B could have just gathered the ball and tossed it to the P but instead, probably with a little anger in her heart, she dove towards the baserunner. She didn't quite get there. She was a few feet short. But she dove nonetheless.
As eyes in the stands moved from the potential play at second back towards the center of the diamond and relaxed, something odd happened. The field umpire, who some feared might have become a cadaver, moved. The gentleman was, to be quite honest, a little too old, overweight, tired, and lazy to move into a better position to view the play. We figured he knew the play the 2B had attempted had little possibility of success so he remained unmoving because he just might be able to hold this position for yet another pitch. But he flinched. Then there was more substantial movement. We all gasped as it looked as if he might ring her up and ring her up he did. He punched that runner right out despite it not being a particularly close play!
You really never know what an umpire is capable of. Many are quite good and many are not. Some have exceedingly poor vision. Some are veterans of levels of play at which calls are made in approximation of what might have happened. This ain't the major leagues. And even if it were, there are some fairly odd calls made there too.
So the moral of the story is, it is never silly to put that tag on the runner. One should always conclude a play before handing the ball back to the P and getting set up for the next event. A ball player does certain things and never takes things for granted.
For example, a grounder is hit someplace in the infield. The runner sprints for the bag but the throw beats her by a good second. She sees the 1B make the catch well in advance of her arrival. She sees the 1B's foot clearly in contact with the bag. She could let up, break down her run and head back for the dugout. But she shouldn't. Instead, she should continue running as hard as she can, step on the bag and finish. Then she should turn to the ump and see that he or she is punching her out.
I have witnessed plays in which the 1B clearly had the ball for long enough for most umps to ring up an out and, then, in a terrible moment, the thing spurts free from the glove. At this point, it is 50/50 as to whether the ump will rule the catch as good or not. But if the runner stops and the 1B picks up the ball, all bets are off and the runner will be out.
That';s an easy one since most coaches at any level, from rec 8U up to college, will not tolerate this from their players. A more difficult one is when the runner is safe and then the 1B catches the throw. Most often, she turns to the pitcher and tosses the ball to her. Why? What's the rush? Why not wait for the runner to come back to the bag and then hit her with your glove? You may have seen her run through the bag, turn in the supposed right direction and in no way make any movement as if to go to second. On the other hand, you have no idea what the ump might have seen. That girl might have missed the bag or turned as if to go to second and the ump saw it that way. If you tag her before returning the ball to the pitcher, you may get a freebie for your team.
Similarly, on every single play in which a baserunner tags up, you ought to make an appeal as a matter of habit. Are you really that sure that the runner tagged up legally? Do you know whether the umpire perhaps harbors some resentment against your opponent, the coach's wife, maybe somebody in the crowd who he or she wrongly thinks is with that team? Did the ump see something you didn't. Did the ump hallucinate? Did he or she maybe suffer some sort of mental hiccup? We all can fall victim to this every once in a while. Give me one good reason not to appeal every single tag up that occurs in your games. What motivation do you have for not appealing?
We all have seen those times when an ump stands or squats motionless staring at the play while we wait for his call. He or she sees the ball is still in the player's glove, then and only then he or she rings up the out. The ump is merely waiting to be sure. They are watching your every move to see if you have the ball or not. Their view is most likely somewhat obscured. Even if the ball is out of your glove and on the ground, get it and then hold it up like you had it the whole time. Even if the base coach starts screaming the ball is on the ground, that doesn't mean the ump can see it. Grab it, quickly, and don't make any obvious moves that will validate the base coach's charges. Just pick it up and look nonchalant in the act.
When you don't drop the ball, before you so much try to get up, hold up your glove and show the ump that you have it. Get in the habit of doing that even when it should be obvious to anyone. You don't know when that idiotic third base coach is going to level his charges that "it's on the ground!" Show the ump you have the ball before that guy can so much as open his mouth. That goes for every play whether force or not. Show the ump you have the ball cleanly, ALWAYS.
Coaches, parents, players, have you ever been standing on base when all of a sudden you observed yourself make that most idiotic of maneuvers, you step off with the wrong foot? You caught yourself just as you did when you once dropped that cup of coffee or hot dog but you couldn't stop your body from moving. You think, "what was I thinking?" But you cannot answer the question. And it really doesn't matter because it happened before you knew it. Actually, in the grand scheme of things, this sort of thing doesn't matter to anyone EXCEPT the girl holding the ball in her mitt. If she has made a habit of always holding onto that ball for two or three seconds longer than she needs to and perhaps applying a tag or two, well maybe, just maybe, once in her lifetime she is going to have an umpire scream OUT or make a punching motion as he calls that runner out. if that is during a meaningless scrimmage, then so be it, although her coach may be impressed with her lack of ability to ever give up. That moment might just make her a starter. But what if that moment happens to be in a tight game during the sectionals, conference championship, travel elimination game or state playoffs?
Have you ever been involved with or close enough to observe a big play at the plate? I'm sopeaking of those plays which are not quite collisions but really just bump and fall incidents. Maybe the ball comes lose. Maybe the runner gets tied up into a knot with the C. I have seen many of these in which the runner never touched the plate or at best, just grazed it. What actually happened? How did the ump see it? Are you 100% certain about anything on these plays? If you are the runner, you should casually walk over and step on the plate with both feet. If you are the catcher, you should retrieve the ball, make sure nothing else pressing is going on and then sprint to that runner and tag her, EVERY time.
There are many strange plays in this game of fastpitch softball. We can't control many of them. But we should endeavor to get the out no matter what the cost might be to us in terms of embarrassment. Tag and tag again. Why not? Dive after that baserunner even if it is not that close. You don't know if the ump will see things in your favor bu8t there is no cost to you or your team of doing something like this. And sometime, a play like this is going to turn freakishly in your favor. So make a habit of these things! Make that play anyway!
 
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