Catching in the heat!

I have before, sometimes 2 games in a row, in upper ninetys to hundreds. I can't this summer unfortunately, injured knee, but it gets pretty hot around here. Just standing outside is bad enough, let alone catching.

On the hot days like that what is the best way to keep from getting cramps? I know Gatorade helps some but when you play a double header in 90+ degree weather even gatorade doesn't help. Any suggestions?

WATER!! A towel.

One thing I did yesterday was I waited as long as I could to get my uniform on. We played at 2PM but were at the field at 12:15 for BP and such. I didn't get dressed until right before infield and warming up the pitcher.

My catcher son is about to play in the Junior Olympic tournament in Arizona, where it will be 110 or so in the mid day.

He's occasionally had to catch in 100 degree heat even here in Oregon. Whenever it is warm, I make sure he gets properly hydrated well in advance of the game. It is too late to do it on game day.

I'll make him drink water all day the day before, and of course prior to the game. A cooler with ice-water for soaking a towel to drape over his head in the dugout is also verhy effective.

But always drink LOTS of water the day before.

Last year in Junior Olympics it was about 100 most days but then we got rain at night, humidity went up, heat up to about 120! It was miserable, one player on another team was packed in ice, hospitalized, and in critical condition. We found wet towels, misters,lots of water all the time, even @ night @hotel, and Gator-aid. On our team the players that did Gator-aid and water(including my son, catcher) faired better than just water. Good luck and enjoy a great tourney.

the good news is that the umps move the game along.

Don't look at the pitches.

We have 5 games this week,and the lowest temp is supposed to be 96 degrees!

Ill do the best I can,but boy does it get hot in the gear.

Years ago, we would keep one specially marked cooler with ice-water laced with aqua-velva. Soak that towel and drape the catcher between innings. Evaporative nature of the after shave aids in cooling, and he smells better too!

cooooooool, no pun intended. thats a neat idea, just make sure no one uses the ice for water.

i might be a lil sick for saying this but i actually love catching in the heat. i dont care if it gets to 100 i just like feeling loose and all. yeah it sucks being sweaty and when i got up to bat its tough but "catching" i dont mind on a hot or cold day

yeah, it's not too bad. It's pretty dificult to get started in the heat, but once your going, it gets easier, just like running triangles on the field, the first three or so suck, but the rest 15 aren't so bad because your body is coping with it.

I have caught a number of dbles in the heat...best thing I have ever had was a cold wet towel soak in ice water and spirits of ammonia...do a google search or ask at your local drug store...its about 3-4 ounces in a bottle---put in a cooler or jug your not ever going to drink out of again! Soak the towel..ring it out over your head as you hold your head over the bucket (conserves some for the rest of the gang or game) then drape the towel over your head and breath in through your nose....you wont believe how good you feel after! Be prepared for a good ole brain freeze feeling!!! ITS GREAT

for my double header the other day i had the hose from the concession stand with a spray nozzle left hanging on the fence near the dugout and as soon as i ran off the field i drenched my head with water, and before i ran out i drenched my head in water. my body cooled down an unbeleaviable amount, i wasnt at all uncomfortable, at one point i was even cold.

I odn't think I ever caught in the "heat" you guys are talking about- upper 90's to 100! But, low 90's I have and I love being able to warm up faster, and never worrying about just arm feeling tight between innings, and really only having 1 throw to loosen it back up. But aside from always wiping the sweat from your face and your head, I like it. Especially when you take off the gear for an at-bat, you feel great.

Lots of water with lemon-- and simply SUCK IT UP

quote:

On the hot days like that what is the best way to keep from getting cramps?

Son is catching out in Arizona this summer where the temp is consistently hovering around 117! Re: the cramps...he says he has been eating as many bananas as he can manage, and it does help with the cramps. More importantly, make sure you keep HYDRATED!!!!

Now...keeping his weight up and not losing too much with the heat? THAT is another story.

Heat is once thing I am basically used to now, its something I dont even compalin about now because I have been catching all my life in the florida heat, so say oh its 3tiple digits in heat where I live but I live in Florida where its constantly 90-93 and the humidity is like nothign else!

I can't stress the importance of drinkng water early, beginning the night before a hot game, enough. Last weekend, we had an 18 year old pitcher suffer from heat exhaustion on a humid 106 degree day. Despite urging everyone to drink water between every inning, he didn't drink nearly enough and overheated badly. We had to put ice on the front and back of his neck, get him to drink cool water and some gatorade, get him to lay down outside the dugout in shade with a slight breeze and it took him a couple hours before he began to feel better. It was a scary situation to say the least.

Some of the danger signs were that he became dizzy and had a bad headache, and then quit sweating. When that happens with someone who stops sweating, you're heading toward a serious medical emergency and either need to get someone cooled down quickly or you'd better think about calling an ambulance. Take it very seriously, because the consequences can be dire.

Another thing to consider is that this player has a full head of long bushy hair. He retains more heat than most players who wear their hair short in summer. You lose over 70% of your body's heat through you head. Hair is a great insulator, not something you need in summer.

Hydrate beginning the night before and early in the day before a hot game. Sip water between innings throughout the game and Gatorade after the game. Things like wet towels and ammonia water work well too; like has been said previously on here, just be sure to not drink water that has aftershave or ammonia in it. Do that and you'll have a whole different problem.

My son will be using all the tricks to stay hydrated this weekend. He's got 9 inning games on Sat/Sun/Mon and the highs are supposed to reach 105+.

Not usual weather for Oregon.

We need to be like the pros (since everyone else makes an example of them) and have multiples of the same jersey so we can change during the game

There were a couple broadcasters talking about that with the Cardinals-Dodgers game I believe the other night. I think they were saying one of the pitchers had changed like 4 times during the game because his jersey was so wet.

Today was a good test for this topic. We played a double header with a jr. college team. The high temperature on my vehicle thermometer read 116 degrees when we left the field. Now that is in the parking lot but my truck was parked in the shade of a tree, so maybe the field wouldn't be that hot, but it was BLAZING today.

I had three cathers and rotated them throughout the day. Each guy caught 4 or 5 innings. Each drank lots of water, used cold wet towels when in the dugout between innings and stayed in the shade as much as possible. The catchers did fine, but darn it was HOT HOT HOT! I did have one pitcher who couldn't play at all due to the heat, he's red-headed and very fair skinned and the heat really got to him before we began the first inning. Two of my other pitchers had to come out after 2 innings each, as they were totally drained physicaly due to the extreme heat. We used nearly every available pitcher, and nobody threw more than 3 innings. At the end of the day, everyone was healthy and that is what mattered.

At least you've been able to play- out there on the West Coast! I'd rather catch in the heat than watch the rain from an AC'd house!