MLB Catchers

I saw that too!! Last night, even the HP Umpire was doing it!! CRAZY......
GED10DaD

They did the same thing during a Swisher AB and when hit the ball, he blinked at contact. I would imagine this happens most of the time and think it's simply a reaction that can't be prevented. Just like blinking when somebody snaps their finger in your face....you can't help but to blink. We just don't see these super slo-mo closeups during the regular season so we don't realize they happen?

I was kinda hoping someone who caught or had a son who did could tell us if this was a natural reaction. Surely it's not.

Anyone?

I bet pudge rodrigez doesnt blink on a pitched ball.

I am a catcher and whenever the batter swings i blink. If its just a pitch without a swing I do not.

I think it may be more common than not and I agree with catcher 7 that it probably is more prominent when the batter is swinging. After getting hit in the mask a couple hundred times with a 90+ foul tip, I can't really blame them.

Blinking when catching the ball is very common. Totally a natural reaction, and it is no big deal because it happens in the split second of the catch. Has no effect on anything.

I remember when I was learning the catcher position as a kid, my father (who himself was a catcher, and was a HS coach) asked me if I blinked when I caught the ball. I acknowledged that I did. He laughed, and said it was natural and almost everyone did it.

I have never asked my son if he blinks. Never crossed my mind, because it doesn't matter either way.

I never asked my son if he blinked when he caught. I did ask him how he knew where the ball went when it's crushed. He said he could tell by the location of the pitch, the speed of the swing and the reaction in the field. He said the only time he had no idea where the ball was (other than he knew it was gone) was when a kid hit a ball so far none of the fielders bothered to move.

you are going to see a lot of things with HD slo motion than you ever saw before.....blinking is a common reaction........An eye blinks at 300 to 400 hundred milliseconds per blink.....and over 22,000 times a day....

I wonder how many catchers blink and don't realize that they do it. We run drills with our catcher to attempt to keep them from blinking. I know it is probably not a large affect, but I do believe that it does affect holding on to foul tips on strike three.

You can't teach a catcher to catch foul tips off the bat with anything other than tracking the glove to be in the position to catch the ball if it is a missed swing.

On a foul tip, the human body cannot physically react to shift the glove in the time it takes from the ball hitting the bat to the catchers glove. That time is roughly .01 to .03 seconds. A batter has like .3 to .4 seconds to decide to swing.

All caught foul tips are the result of the catcher having the glove open and in position to catch the pitch. Blinking has nothing to do with it unless the catcher is closing his eyes when the ball leaves the pitchers hand, and leaves them closed.