Great Mound Moments

Little League 10 year-old All-Stars. Son is on the mound to close a tight game and is a little too amped up in the 6th. Gets a little wild. To calm him down we yell from the dugout, "STETCH," meaning, of course, to go from the stretch.
What does JT, Jr do? Backs off the mound and STRETCHES (like you do in the morning--arms over his head and everything). We busted out laughing and he realized what he had just done and laughed, as well. Two batters later, game over--we won.

Hey...it worked didn't it?

That's good!

Two thoughts instantly come to mind. My son was playing second base in a playoff game when he was nine. At certain times of the year, these large moths descend onto the field drawn buy the lights during night games. At one time during the game this huge moth hit him right in the head, startled he ran to his right to get away from it. As he was running to his right the batter hit a hard line drive up the middle and my son was in perfect position to make the play.

Same playoff Series son is again playing second base when a hard ground ball his hit right at him, takes a bad bounce and hits him hard right in the cup. The pop sound it makes can be heard all over the field, he fields the ball from his knees throws the batter out then in slow motion falls on his back. The pitcher who was a 12 year old took a fit of laughing so hard the umpire (who was laughing also) had to call time out three times, because every time the pitcher would try to compose himself he would look at my son and they would both start laughing again. What a great time both my son and we as parents had in L.L.

Some good chuckles reading those sbbv...thanks!

Husband was coaching LL team of 11 and 12 year olds. Our 'ace' on the mound was a 12 year old and he was having one of those rough innings that none of us like to witness ... not throwing strikes etc. Husband walks out to the mound (those were the days the coach could actually step foot on the field to talk with his pitchers) and says something to the pitcher. After husband leaves the mound, 'ace' gets it going and finishes in fine fashion.

Our son asked the pitcher what his dad said to him when he came out ... and his answer was surprising. Apparently husband went out and all he said was "Seen any good movies lately?" It apparently was intended to surprise the pitcher and act as a distraction ... it worked.

To this day, when someone in our family gets frustrated with something, we just ask them if they have seen any good movies lately and they get distracted from their frustrations enough to get the job done.

My son's summer league coach is a real character. During a game a few summers ago my son was pitching and struggling. Coach calls timeout and son expects to be pulled. You've all seen the coach's long, slow walk to the mound, pitcher's head is hanging, ready to hand the ball over.
Coach and catcher meet my son at the mound and next thing we know, my son and the catcher are laughing, returning to the game. Son strikes out the next batter... inning over.

What did the coach say? He looked my son in the eye and said, "Why did the canabal refuse to eat the clown?" Son is confused and says he doesn't know. Coach says, "He thought the clown tasted funny." Coach turns around and walks off.
Of course, I hear all of this after the game when I asked Coach what were his words of wisdom. Coach says the pitcher knows what he's doing wrong, he just needs to relax a little. The joke did the trick. My son will never forget it.

BTW... believe it or not, our coach's name is Will Rogers!

These are great stories! I've mentioned before that a catcher is my favorite position to watch. One of the reasons is because I see him as the person to recognize and step to the mound when the pitcher is struggling.

I can remember when my son was younger and pitching in an all-star game, seeing the catcher (who he was and is great friends with) walk out there. Suddenly, my son had a huge grin across his face. I asked later, what Josh had said to my son. Son said "he told me to stop making the face I was making because I was ugly when I looked that way". I guess having to worry about his facial expression and appearing ugly to the gals in the stands took worrying about his zone, etc. away. A good catcher knows what to say to his pitcher on the mound!

lafmom ...

quote:

A good catcher knows what to say to his pitcher on the mound!

Don't you love it? And don't you cringe when there is a catcher who just doesn't seem to 'get it', who doesn't walk out to reassure the pitcher?

And you are right ... looking good is half the game, isn't it?

more in line with JTs post"

Junior was leaving some pitches up, late in a 10 YO game. He was short striding. Yelled out to him that he needed more leg..he proceeded to pull his pant legs up higher!! Us coaches are falling off the bench laughing, as are the parents - the kids don't get it!! No clue what the batter did [of course, I could say he struck him out to end the game, like everyone else], but that would be besides the point.