Archive for the ‘Catchers Mitt’ Category
Starting a Little League Team
Though as a parent you might not be able to form a sanctioned Little League team in your area, it’s always fun to gather up your children and their friends for weekly games or practices. Once you’ve built up a team and a few scheduled weekly events, you’ll be surprised how fast your team gets noticed. To get started, you will need a place to play, and a bit of baseball equipment. If you can find a baseball diamond which is unoccupied during certain hours every week, that will be ideal. In terms of baseball equipment, you can expect other kids to bring their own gloves, and sometimes bats. Equipment you will need to purchase includes two to three bats, catcher’s protective gear and catchers mitts, bases and a pitcher’s mound marker (depending on where you play).
If you can find a place and put together the equipment, you’ll be having youth baseball games and a lot of fun in no time.
Your Glove of Choice-(Part 7)
In choosing a baseball glove or softball glove or mitt, you need to choose a model that is right for your position and feels good on your hand. Remember, after you ‘break in’ a glove or mitt, it will feel much better than when it was new. It will take a little time, but hang in there-it is worth it. (Ahhh-the smell and excitement of a new glove! It just makes you feel good.)
Rawlings baseball gloves are still the most popular. I’m not sure why; maybe they were the first on the scene, but they certainly do make good gloves and mitts. (When you think of hamburgers, McDonalds always comes up. It’s hard to top a leader.) Whatever brand or type of ball glove or mitt you choose, just play to the best of your ability- and have fun…
Your Glove of Choice-(Part 1)
So, you want to play baseball or softball, or you already do-what’s your glove of choice? With so many brands and types of gloves and mitts to choose from, your decision may not be so easy. There are the “old lines” such as Rawlings, Wilson and Spalding through Mizuno, MacGregor, All-Star, and many others to newer companies like Akadema. Do you buy a glove or mitt because of a friend, coach or favorite major league star?
Usually, you buy what you know or hear about or a recommendation from a trusted coach or friend. Obviously, the position you play has a lot to do with it. There are infield gloves and outfield gloves; catchers mitts and first base mitts, not to mention all the colors and grades of leather. There are youth baseball gloves, slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball gloves…so many choices! Let’s take a closer look at several types and brands. See part 2…
Baseball and a Wedding-(Part 2)
…The article doesn’t mention if the bridesmaids will be given anything from the Pirates, but I suspect that they will give Laura a catchers mitt for the “catch” that she made. (Although, upon seeing her picture, Damon is really the one who made the catch!) The names of the people in the wedding party will be written on the lineup board near the main gate. The guys will be dressing in the home clubhouse and the girls will be in the visitor’s clubhouse, and all will have their names written on nameplates above the lockers.
There will be a Presbyterian Church glee club singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during their recessional, and then the reception for 165 guests will be held under a tent in the concession area. What a fun-loving couple! Now, if the weather doesn’t throw them a curve and send them into extra innings, Laura and Damon can get busy building a “team” of their own…
The 7th Inning Stretch (Part 2)
That was tradition number one. The second tradition that began that day was the first seventh-inning stretch. President Taft, as you may or may not know, was a very large man. At 300 pounds, he was the largest president our country has ever had. That opening day game between the Athletics and the Senators was beginning to drag on.
In the middle of the seventh-inning, President Taft just couldn’t sit still on that hard wooden seat much longer, so he stood up to “stretch his legs” and move around a bit. When he did that, everyone else did the same thing. Who knows, if he was sitting on a catchers mitt, we might not have a seventh-inning stretch today? At any rate, he didn’t-and we do. Now, for some other theories…
Time to Pass the Baton
With Little League baseball many decades behind me, I had a son of my own. When my son Andy became Little League age, he wanted to play also. We would play catch to improve his skills so naturally, the next step was to buy him a catchers mitt of his very own. Andy was a little excited about being catcher until he found out there was pain involved.
He managed to squeak out one season as catcher, but he really didn’t like it-not like I did when I was a kid. If you don’t like being catcher it’s just too hard a position to play and be any good at it. That was when Andy started his pitching career which I blogged about back in November. At least he was involved with a catcher…
My Catchers Career Ended Early
I got to play catcher for two years in Little League and then it was over. There was another kid on our team who wanted to play catcher, but I was better than he was so I got to be the main catcher. Being a kid, I didn’t know much about politics, but I soon learned. This kid’s dad decided to coach a team the next year and picked me to be on his team.
On our first day of practice, our “manager” took all the catchers equipment and gave it to his son and said that he would be the starting catcher. I asked the manager where I was going to play and he said I would be back-up catcher and utility player. Not only did I not get to play catcher that season, but no other position either! The next season, the same guy picked me again, so my dad pulled me out of baseball. Politics…
My First Season as a Catcher
After my first year of Little League was over, I couldn’t wait for the second year to begin. I was chosen to be back on the same team that year. I was on Nashville and playing second base again. In our second game, our catcher was up at bat and for some reason I tried on his catchers mitt. My manager saw me and asked if I wanted to be a catcher. Apparently, our catcher wanted to play another position-ANY position!
I said sure and the next thing I knew I was dressed in catchers gear and heading out to squat behind home plate. I was a natural. I loved it. Being catcher was my new favorite position. There was action on every pitch and I really looked like a ballplayer in all that catchers equipment. We finished in first place that year, but I was most excited about being catcher…
Kickball and a Big Head
When I was a kid I loved to play baseball and was pretty good at it. Another favorite sport was kickball that we often played at school when I was in fifth grade. I was even better at kickball than I was at baseball, and when teams were being chosen, I was picked either first or second. One day, I bet the girls in my class that just two of us guys could beat their whole team of girls. They took me up on it.
The game was scheduled for the following Saturday in the field next to my house. My best friend Tilton and I took on about twelve girls that memorable day. We used my catchers mitt for home plate and three other gloves for the bases. The game began and Tilton and I got pounded 15-2. I don’t remember liking kickball much after that…
Consider Professional-Grade Mitts
Catcher’s mitts can run you hundreds of dollars, so you should make sure that you’re investing your money wisely. Your new catchers mitt should not just grab your eye and wow you with its rich leather material. There are several other reasons that you should take into consideration when you’re selecting your mitt. These include the proper size, the level that you can play at, the amount you project to play, and of course, your budget.
For example, if you’re a hardcore participant who can’t think of being anywhere else on the diamond besides squatting behind home plate, then there’s no doubt that you should spend for a solid catchers mitt. So if you’re only looking for catchers mitts to mess about with once in a while, then you may consider a professional grade mitt which could be a bit pricey.