Touch all the Bases!
Jun 26, 2012 9:29:26 GMT -8
Post by Brett on Jun 26, 2012 9:29:26 GMT -8
deadspin.com/5921379/game-ends-as-raul-mondesi-jr-forgets-to-touch-home-plate-after-game+tying-home-run
Have you ever hit a game tying home run in the bottom of the ninth only to have it overturned because you forgot to touch home plate? Then you have something in common with Raul Mondesi Jr.!
In all honesty, kudos for the catcher for doing what the 1st baseman, 2nd baseman, shortstop, and third baseman need to do...watch the runner touch each base whenever they can.
As a first baseman, I always made sure that I would get inside the first base bag on an extra base hit when I could to make sure the runner touched first. Twice in my career a runner missed the bag, and twice we appealed, both successfully.
As a coach, this seems to be such a simple thing, but make sure you teach it to your infielders...any time they aren't positioning for a cutoff, backing up, etc., make sure they watch the runners and make sure they touch the bag. Especially at the lower levels of baseball, runners can get distracted watching a ball and they miss a base. Make sure they pay for it.
There are few things more satisfying than taking a run off the board or an extra base hit off the books because you paid attention and the runner did not.
Have you ever hit a game tying home run in the bottom of the ninth only to have it overturned because you forgot to touch home plate? Then you have something in common with Raul Mondesi Jr.!
In all honesty, kudos for the catcher for doing what the 1st baseman, 2nd baseman, shortstop, and third baseman need to do...watch the runner touch each base whenever they can.
As a first baseman, I always made sure that I would get inside the first base bag on an extra base hit when I could to make sure the runner touched first. Twice in my career a runner missed the bag, and twice we appealed, both successfully.
As a coach, this seems to be such a simple thing, but make sure you teach it to your infielders...any time they aren't positioning for a cutoff, backing up, etc., make sure they watch the runners and make sure they touch the bag. Especially at the lower levels of baseball, runners can get distracted watching a ball and they miss a base. Make sure they pay for it.
There are few things more satisfying than taking a run off the board or an extra base hit off the books because you paid attention and the runner did not.