4-6-3 Double Play

Here's a clip from 1996...

Knoblauch & Meares (Twins)

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Jason

I'm curious what people think about the way the 2nd baseman tossed the ball to the shortstop in each clip. In the first clip Baerga side tosses the ball to Vizquel. In the second clip Knoblauch underhand tosses the ball to Meares. Both seem to work but is one better/preferred than the other? If so, why?

Jason

A rule of thumb that we use that may be similar to the situation above is if you are moving toward the bag..underhand it, if you are moving away from the bag..side flip or throw.

I, personally, don't allow my middle infielders to flip like Baerga did. It may be a fraction quicker than the underhand flip, but is a lot less accurate. It is also harder for the ss to catch b/c he can't see the ball before it is on it's way to him. We work on flipping a firm "knuckleball" to the ss or 2b. Not literally a knuckleball, but w/ as little spin as possible. This makes the ball easier to see. And, make sure that they follow their toss for a few steps.

www.blastbat.com

Good MIF needs to be able to perform either type of flip. My 12U's have been working on both since they were 9 and can use either one of them effectively.

With no disrespect to you and your 12 year-olds, but I doubt that my 19-22 year old college baseball players are having more problems with that play than your kids. There really is no reason to flip the ball to the ss like Baerga did. All that play does is increase the chances of something going wrong.

www.blastbat.com

quote:

Originally posted by C_PEN_Bears:
With no disrespect to you and your 12 year-olds, but I doubt that my 19-22 year old college baseball players are having more problems with that play than your kids. There really is no reason to flip the ball to the ss like Baerga did. All that play does is increase the chances of something going wrong.

www.blastbat.com

I played MIF in college and flipped the ball that way all the time. It really isn't a big deal.

That type of flip actually increases your range of a flip which is much quicker than a toss.

quote:

Originally posted by C_PEN_Bears:
There really is no reason to flip the ball to the ss like Baerga did. All that play does is increase the chances of something going wrong.

www.blastbat.com

I respectfully disagree that this flip should never be used. In this play, I feel that was the best option for the feed. His momentum was not going toward 2B, so the underhand flip was not an option. Making a throw was also probably not an option based on where he received that ball. If he makes a throw from where he is at with any velocity at all, it could handcuff his shortstop and cause other issues.

In the Knoblauch clip, this is a perfect situation where his momentum is going towards second, so the underhand flip was the best option.

Although these balls were fairly similar, a lot of how each player made the play was based on positioning before the pitch. Baerga was orginally positioned more up the middle than Knoblauch was, which determined the type of feed used.

I teach all the feeds with my infielders, but the biggest thing I teach is get the lead out. I don't really care how they do it, I just want them to make sure to take the litle extra time to get set and make a good feed.