Brent Mayne

Catching Action Photos

So I told you I was going to get some catching images for you some day.  You’re probably tired of looking at statues and food.  Well here are a few to wet your appetite.  I hate to advertise, but to really understand these positions and my terminology you need to BUY THE BOOK. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed and your game or the people you coach will improve.  Even if you don’t play or coach, you’ll become a better, more informed fan.  And if that weren’t enough, it will make you better looking.  Well maybe not that….it’s not that good.  

This first photo is a fine example of a solid sign stance.  Notice the perpendicular back, knees pointed straight at the pitcher, relaxed.  The only thing I see that could be improved would be to have the glove shielding the signs from the third base coach a little better.  The last two images show excellent posture again (no hunching over, “stacked body”) and great receiving technique with the glove above the elbow in a position of strength. Both of them also have their fingers towards the sky.  Hope you enjoyed.  Arrivederci.

Catcher communication

 At this academy I’ve had the pleasure to instruct with and learn from Australian coach/scout Peter Gahan. He told me that they teach their catchers in Australia that there are 12 situations requiring action/communication.  There are probably more, but these are a really good base to work from.  I’ll tell you what, in baseball, you never stop learning.

1.  A bunter at the plate:  ”Stay alive”, etc.

2.  Left Handed Hitter up to bat:  ”Be ready to cover 1B.”

3.  Ground ball to the right side:  ”Get over!”

4.  2 out, runner on 2B:  ”Diving, keep the ball in the infield.”

5.  2 out, full count, runners moving on the pitch:  ”Going over to 1st base on a ground ball.”

6.  Empty base at 1st, runners on, good hitter at bat: make sure you and the pitcher are on the same page, tell the pitcher “make him hit your pitch.”

7.  Clear assertive call when pitcher fields a bunt.

8.  Clear assertive communication on 1st and 3rd plays.

9.  Before the game, make sure the pitcher knows the signs for controlling the running game (five series).  Throw over, step off, pitchout, etc.

10. Before the game, sort out what signs you will be using with runners on second base.

11.  If pitcher throws 3 or 4 consecutive balls to a hitter, go see him:  ”Hey, lets keep it simple.  Forget everything else and get the hitter.”

12.  2 outs or any 1st and 3rd situation especially with an average runner on 1st:  ”Stay alive for the delayed steal” with appropriate hand gestures.

In keeping with the food theme, I’ll leave you with an image of the drink of choice here in Italy.  I promise to get some baseball action photos soon….till then….espresso.

Grinding it out

We’re in the dog days of this camp.  People are starting to get on each others nerves and guys are tired.  It’s funny how in every baseball team I’ve ever been on, there comes a point in the season where you sincerely hope that you never see any of them again.  Ever.  Then it mellows out and a couple of weeks after the season is over, you miss every one of them.  This is kind of like a mini season and we are at the ‘hope I never see any of them again’ point.  Classic.  I’m leaving you with a picture of the Best Pizza I EVER ate. Amazing.

Pro testing day

Today on the field was “pro testing day”.  That is where each kid gets timed in the 60 yard dash, fields ground balls, throws from the outfield, pop time from catcher to second, etc.  This is all done by pro scouts.  So basically what happened from a catching standpoint was the catchers all ditched the throwing techniques that we’ve been working on and just went about a billion miles an hour in an effort to throw the ball to second base in one second or something.  It was a good lesson for them because they all are capable of having a “pop – time” of 2 seconds or below; however, they all saw results in the 2.2 range and were not that accurate. I think as an instructor, I made a mistake in not timing them up to this point and giving them a feel for the natural tendency to rush when you’re on the watch.  I just thought they needed to learn proper technique first. I felt mixing the pop time concept into the soup too early would just confuse things. Oh well, now I know.  And the kids know too, because we will time them in a week or so and I’ll show them that they don’t need to rush to have a good time to second.  Throwing to second base effectively is a lot like hitting.  It’s all about the timing.  You don’t necessarily have to swing harder or move faster to hit the ball farther or squarer.  Ditto that for throwing runners out at second and having a good pop time.  Its all about attacking at the proper time, under control, with proper technique. So thats that.  I will leave you with a picture of my favorite statue of the many I’ve seen so far. Fat guy on a Turtle. Ciao.

About half way through

Somewhere around the midpoint of the camp and things are going well.  We had an addition to the coaching staff today.  One of the all time great pitchers (closer) Lee Smith is here.  What a character.  With 430-something saves he has alot to offer to these kids.  From my end, the catchers are doing great.  They absorb everything I say and I see them all trying to incorporate the teachings during the games.  A pleasure to work with.  Here is a photo of the kids on the disabled list.  Part of their rehabilitation is washing the coaching staff’s cars.  Like the Karate Kid….wax on wax off.

.T