Funny, I’ve played every position many times in both baseball and softball over the years.... EXCEPT catcher! Just never had the slightest interest in playing catcher..... I guess I’m a wimp.
Knees would kill me trying to squat like a catcher. I could crunch the ball, few times I played in school PE.
I was kind of relegated to it.
I used to always play outfield, primarily left.
Where most of the action was.
Some younger guys had better wheels than me, and I started losing the long throws. I’d be icing my shoulder and elbow 2-3 nights a week. It just wasn’t worth it.
Infield didn’t require as many throws and never as far.
I had sure hands, so it was either first or catcher.
My size and fearlessness made me a shoe in at catcher.
We had one game that had gotten a little testy.
We had a slide or avoid contact rule at home plate.
If there was ever the possibility for a play at home, my first reaction after a hit was to step out in front of the plate.
Unless there wasn’t a play, then I’d step off, to clear the plate.
Well this one time, one of the hot heads of the other team was coming in and he didn’t slide or avoid.
There was a throw to me but it came in a little to my right, so I had to turn a little and reposition my right foot.
Which gave the runner my left side.
The ball arrived a split second before he did.
Just enough to grab the ball hard and set my feet.
He came in square to my shoulder
And laid HIMSELF out.
The ump was almost laughing when he called him out and then threw him out of the game and then called his team to help walk him off the field.
We had one guy on one of our teams. He pitched baseball for the US in the Pan Am games, but he’d play left field or center for us.
ACCURATE????!!!!
A ball was hit out deep to him, he had to turn to run and catch it. He caught it about 10 feet before the fence and turned and threw it straight in, as there was a runner coming in.
I was one small step in front/over the plate.
The ball hit my glove about 6” above the dirt.
Maybe 1/10 of a second before the runners foot hit my glove.
I had to look in my glove to make sure it was there.
During warm ups, he was throwing the ball around.
He came to me as the game is starting and told me “my ball is trailing to your right, it’ll break about 6’ before it gets to you.”
“Don’t move!!! It’ll be there”
Did EXACTLY as he said.
Never saw anybody that dead nuts accurate, especially from the outfield.
ESPECIALLY DEEP in the outfield.