Convert MIF to CATCHER

Who says he doesnt project?

Who is "we" that thinks he can be a catcher?

I have a son in a similar boat--but making the conversion from 3B (HS team) to C (Legion) to MIF (Fall showcase team). His coaches thinks he projects more as 2B/C (positions he WON'T play in HS as he'll be at SS). If a player is a good enough athlete, he should be able to handle a conversion from MIF to C. I'm a big believer in versatility, but like TR, who says he can't play in the MIF?

Nobody has said that he can't play in the MI, just looking for a plan B to be able to allow him to continue to play, if he can't play MI in the future (for whatever reason(s)). He enjoys playing catcher.

If the boy enjoys catching let him but you talked how him not projecting as a MIF

There is no better training for a catcher than to have played middle infield.

And......Craig Biggio did pretty well at both.

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Young man on my son's college team went from inf to catcher at the end of his freshman year and caught the last few games...at the DI level.

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Jorge Posada, Victor Martinez are examples of MIF to C.

quote:

There is no better training for a catcher than to have played middle infield.

I don’t see the connection.

Catching is not like any other position on the baseball field. Being a hockey goalie emulates a baseball catcher more than a middle infielder. Prior to HS most of your better athletes will be at SS and pitching. In the lower levels of youth baseball, players are usually put at the catching position NOT because they have the quick soft hands, quick feet, durable bodies and strong arms, but because they simply “look” like a catcher, (whatever that is) and can’t run very fast. It’s not until high school (a few years earlier in select ball) that you start to see catchers develop. My son never caught until he started high school and then he would alternate between catching, 3b, 1b, and pitching. Like many young players he was a SS/3b/P in his younger years. To become a catcher, a player has to don the equipment and get behind the dish and get hammered. If he still likes it and shows some ability, he needs to get with a catching coach and learn the tricks of the trade. I might warn you... Catching coaches are few and far between. It’s NEVER too late to be a catcher. My son is playing with a player in instructional league in the minors that has never caught before. I don’t know any details but it seems as if the club is toying with the idea of making him a catcher. My son said this player caught two pens the first day and couldn’t walk.
Fungo

Brandon Inge had NEVER caught in his life before getting drafted by the Tigers. He was a SS/Closer in college. Tigers drafted him and told him, "You're a catcher, now." Thus, it is never to late, as he made the show as a catcher but got reconverted into a 3B when they signed Pudge.

Anytime we think of replacing a catcher, we talk about whomever is our backup SS. Years ago, I can remember a scout talking to a kid and then mentioned that he thought the kid (SS) was a catcher. Footwork is so very important to catching and so... We are looking at our sophomore SS and thinking he may be our starting catcher. That is what we are doing. To late? It is never too late if they want to play.

quote:

My son said this player caught two pens the first day and couldn’t walk.

Kan't cha just see that........?

ROFLMAO

You are too late for conversion if your kid doesn't listen well!!

I think the key questions are:

1) is the kid committed to "learning" the position and (i.e. its not someone else's idea he hasn't fully bought into)

2)does he have the mental and physical skills to succeed?

Otherwise you are wasting everyone's time and effort.

Tuzigoot : CollegeParent asks some very tough questions but they're absolutly necessary.

If your son answers no to either question then its definitely the wrong thing to do.

Good qustions CollegeParent! Judging by your moniker it would appear that you've 'been around the block' before.

My two cents (as the dad of a HS junior who has caught almost exclusively since he was 11) is "does he want to?" If he doesn't want to, then all the projectibility in the world isn't going to help when it's 90 and his pitcher can't keep his fastball out of the dirt.

JohnLex7,
I do understand what you’re saying but there are two different views here...My son didn’t want to catch as a freshman in high school. He had no desire to catch. He only caught so he could play varsity. The team needed a catcher and he was MADE into a catcher. It wasn’t until my son was a junior in college that he was asked to choose between pitching and catching and at that time he said he really WANTED to catch.

Fungo, I think you are right, I think that there are those who love the position right away, and those who learn to love it. Do you think that if someone had made your son decide earlier, would he have said catching?

Mine asked me when he was 10 if he could try catching. I said "don't ask me, ask your coach." As you can imagine, given that most 10 year olds don't want to do that, 30 seconds after telling the coach, he had the gear on and was catching during batting practice. He's loved it ever since.

I guess my point was to make sure that the kid was motivated to do it, for whatever reason. If he is, then that will go a long way.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fungo:
He only caught so he could play varsity. The team needed a catcher and he was MADE into a catcher. QUOTE]

These two sentences by Fungo say a lot more than any of us can say. So often a kid does not choose his position. His position is determined by the needs of a team, as well as by the natural ability and skills of the player.

There are many kids who played SS up to (and through) HS who moved to another position in college and beyond. No big deal.

When I was in college, 8 of our starting lineup were HS SS's. 4 of our pitchers were as well.

There are skills from other positions that are required for a catcher as well, so (in theory) there is some positive transfer. But IMHO the most important element would be desire. Perhaps to play, as Fungo said, or to play the position.

To say that catching is the most physically demanding position on the field would be an understatement. It's his job every day for nine innings. He's the most consistently involved with the game, he has to be thinking constantly, it's hard on the legs, and there are extremely foul tips. He plays psychologist to the pitchers and home umpires. His skills (or lack thereof) impact every pitcher's performance.

The conversion will only be successful if he understands what he will have to learn and wants to do it above any other position. It's not a place to go half-hearted.

I agree with Orlando. It is a little tough!
Here's a picture of my son's finger after taking a fastball on the fingertip.

quote:

It's not a place to go half-hearted.

Ditto.

Ouch!

Hey Fungo, I PM'd you.

Tuzi

Back to ya.

thanks everyone.

My son was converted from SS to C. It wasn't a choice, but a need for the team. The starting catcher quit and my son had caught some the previous season. So he was set as the starting catcher.

He done his job and only complained twice. It was hot.

mine made a "coerced" conversion from infield to behind the dish in 10U youth baseball when our regular catcher took off for YMCA camp

he was not too pleased about it at first, and he still insists that it was sweat I saw on his cheek thru the mask that first day

it became better as our catcher(s) got "double" ice cream or post game treats that the rest of the team got

then later he thought it was pretty cool to get offers from select travel teams allowing him to "make" their team as a catcher before the tryout

he continued to play other positions & pitch, but from that day always considered catcher his primary spot

it seems like just yesterday


fungo - ouch!
btw, wasn't that hand supposed to be tucked back?


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A little story which shows how times have changed but it relates to catching

In 1954 , I was a mere 12 years of age, our LL team got off to a 0-4 start with me at 3B and the catching position weak. On the bench was a 10 yr old who was later drafted by the Pirates after HS and the coaches felt that they had to get him in the lineup

After the 4th loss on a 100 degree Saturday I was politely invited to a neighboring field by the 4 man coaching staff to learn how to catch. 4 Hours later I was named the new catcher and that was that--- we won the next 12 games and ended up 12-4--not because of me but because of Glenn the new thirdsacker--- not only did we not lose again we ended up with 6 players from our roster on the Top 10 Hitting list

I took to catching like a duck takes to water even playing with jammed fingers and one broken one(extra padding in the glove to ease the pain) I loved it--I was THE MAN IN CHARGE behind the plate.

Incidently my dad, who joined the coaches that Saturday, was a fine semi-pro catcher in his day so I guess you can say it was in the jeans.

I dare say that if a LL coaching staff did what they did with me they would be brought up on "child abuse" charges-- but I fondly look back on that Saturday afternoon and remember it all--many other things are blurry in my mind but the memory of that day and the success it brought the team are vividly etched in my mind.

As noted above--you gotta love the position of catching to play it-- I had 4 great coaches plus an even greater Dad to teach me how to play the position and how to love it.


BEE

Back them we never tucked the hand--it was right beside the glove ready to go to work, not hiding and waiting

You gotta love being a catcher, especially here in Texas where we have 100+ degree weather in the summers. When I watch my son catch in these conditions, sometimes I question why anyone would want to play this position. Sweat rolling down into your eyes, dirt in your mouth and eyes from blocking balls, getting hit by foul balls, etc...Like I said you really have to love the position....which he has since he was 10 years old!

BEE, Good question about it being tucked away and it also bring up another good point. Having played infield before, he was taught to "field" the ball using two hands. Here's how the injury happened: Runner going.... ball in dirt..he used two hands to field the "grounder" and the ball took a bad hop and broke the finger of his throwing hand in the joint. From that it should be obvious we also have to "unlearn" certain things when we convert from infielder to catcher.
Fungo

fungo, well at least being in the dirt took a little off the pitch, but not much from the looks of it
that's an old injury, right?

TR, yes, and the way gloves were made back then it was necessary to 2 hand catch -
the vintage catcher's gloves I have are just a "leather pillow with a pocket"

quote:

I dare say that if a LL coaching staff did what they did with me they would be brought up on "child abuse" charges

you'd be pleased to learn that there are still "good" old-school coaches out there, but at the youth level they're mixed in with so many knuckle-heads that they're a bit hard to find


ps - guess that makes you "vintage" also, and it kinda has a nice sound to it



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Bee,
Yes an old injury...last game of the regular season 2003. Doesn't bother him at all playing baseball. He said the only time it hurts is when he had to write a paper in college.
Fungo

We tell kids they are going to play outfield. We tell them they are going to play the infield. He tell them we want them to work on pitching. We NEVER tell a kid he has to catch. You have to WANT to be back there to be good at it. You have to love it to be good at it. You have to have a passion for the posistion. I would never make a kid take the physical punishment that a catcher has to be WILLING to take. Not just the ball blocked or the foul tip. But the heat , the hard work in practice , the bp sessions that we require our catchers to catch as if it was a game. And of course bull pens. I only want kids behind the plate that truly want to be behind the plate. To me it is the first thing you need to know before you go back there. Because there is no need to go back there if your heart is not completely in it.

I thought you might find this interesting. Auburn University is converting an infielder to a catcher and the coach talks about it on a call in show this morning. He also talks about the 4 on 1's and fall baseball at a D-1.
Here's a link:
Auburn Head Coach Tom Slater

One more: Phillies drafted Bob Boone as a 3B - ended up with a decent career as a C

FUNGO - I like your reference to the hockey goalie in your first post on this thread - seems like that's pretty much what our HS team had last year - WAY too many kick saves and rebounds!!