DH's Struggling

What level are you talking about? Do you break the DH numbers out?

Is it at all possible that your DH’s just aren’t very good this year?

Good questions. I am at the Varsity level and the DH's are indeed very good players. I will probably start making them more active in the game. Having them warm Outfielders up and even doing soft toss during the game. I was just wondering if there were some other recommendations.

quote:

Originally posted by nodderman:
Good questions. I am at the Varsity level and the DH's are indeed very good players. I will probably start making them more active in the game. Having them warm Outfielders up and even doing soft toss during the game. I was just wondering if there were some other recommendations.

Don’t mind me. Before people start looking for things to change to make something “better”, the 1st think I always look for is proof there is a problem, and how big that problem is.

Take a look at http://www.infosports.com/scor.../images/runprod5.pdf

What that is, is just our DHs for this season in the 1st 3 pages, then the other pages are our DH’s since 2007. I find that when you break things down as much as possible, it’s a bit easier to see both bad trends and good ones. I just like to see whatever effort is put forth to correct something, directed at the problems, not done in general.

FWIW, I’ve seen a couple teams where the DH is made to run to the fence and back every inning. I’ve seen one team where the DH acted as the bat boy, and a couple who did as you suggested. But I think the best one is a school where the coach really used his noodle. He put a treadmill and a stationary bicycle that were donated to the program, in the dugout!

I can’t say that they’re only used by DH’s, but I know that whenever we play there, it seems like every time I look into the dugout, at least one of those things is being used.

There’s a lot of things people try that hopefully keep their DH’s head in the game and therefor operating at top efficiency, but prolly the best one is having great players to do that job!

When I coached at SSU, I had our DH and PH hitting off the "high tee" behind the dugout and in the bull pen tracking the pitches by the relief pitchers.

They can also swing a "heavy" bat and work on their arm and finger strength. Squeeze a rubber ball. Ask the DH "how will the pitcher pitch to him".

Bob Williams

Have your DH improve their hitting?


Bob

If I had identical twins on my team, with identical talent, I would expect the twin who played a position to hit better than the twin who was the DH--because of the obvious mental challenge of justifying your existence based solely on your batting.

Personally, I don't see how hitting off a tee or running on a treadmill between innings addresses this. You'll get better results by providing him with his own bag of ranch seeds every game and a stadium cushion to insulate his butt from the splinters--telling him, non-verbally: I appreciate you've got a tough job.

The best way to deal with tough jobs is gallows humor.

A happy-go-lucky free-swinging air-head would be an ideal DH in HS.

freddy,

The truth of the matter is, everything depends on the individual. There are players who even though they have solid skills, just can’t DH and be very productive, just like there are pitchers who have great stuff but just can’t succeed as a starter.

So, while maybe for the kid you have DHing can produce with just a bag of seeds and someone telling him jokes, its entirely possible that the kid on the opposing team uses a tee or treadmill and finds success that way. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, other than not putting someone in that spot with little talent and fewer skills.

quote:

Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:
freddy,

There’s no right or wrong way to do it,

And that's where we agree to disagree.

Being a fulltime DH is a lose-lose.
If you hit...well, you're the DH, you're supposed to hit.
If you don't hit.....

The way you deal with lose-lose in the military or the construction trades is by making light of your situation.

Perhaps it's different in your line of work, and in your experience as a coach.

quote:

Originally posted by freddy77:
And that's where we agree to disagree.

Being a fulltime DH is a lose-lose.
If you hit...well, you're the DH, you're supposed to hit.
If you don't hit.....

The way you deal with lose-lose in the military or the construction trades is by making light of your situation.

Perhaps it's different in your line of work, and in your experience as a coach.

Actually, my entire family was in the trades, my dad being a carpenter/cabinet maker, and I’m a Viet Nam era retired disabled vet who’s been married to two different wonderful women, one an NCO in the Air Force, and the other an NCO in the Marines. On top of that, I have been watching DH’s and following how they perform since the rule was put in in ’73, so I think I’m qualified to at least speak on the topic.

People who don’t like the DH rule have all kinds of things they say about it that aren’t very flattering, but the fact is, its in OBR and almost every other baseball rule book has followed suit. For you to say being a full-time DH is a lose-lose is really a pretty silly thing to say, considering there are probably several million players who at one time or another DH’ed as the only thing they did, and at least some percentage of them did pretty darn well at it, while helping their team a lot.

What I’m saying is, it doesn’t need to be a lose-lose situation, and the ENTIRE situation will dictate how things boil down. IOW, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

quote:

Originally posted by Stats4Gnats:
freddy,


So, while maybe for the kid you have DHing can produce with... someone telling him jokes,

Read posts carefully.

I specifically wrote, "telling him non-verbally"

Big difference.

Telling jokes to players to enhance their performance may or may not work, I don't know.

But non-verbal communication can be huge. Bring an extra Gatorade to every game and hand it to your hard-working dirt-eating catcher. No words exchanged. Just a glance and a nod.

Napoleon said something to the effect that, an army travels on its stomach. My translation is, feed men and you own them. Women know this, intuitively
. Put a good meal on the table every night and the guy will bust his butt 10hrs a day to bring home the bacon.

freddy,

I don’t understand what the heck you’re talking about. I wasn’t addressing you saying anything about verbal or non-verbal, but rather your comment about gallows humor being the best way to deal with tough jobs.