playing baseball

yeah, that's what i meant -- you definitely don't want to be moving to your right, and a total spin takes time and will fuck you up. but maybe guard the line a little bit at third/circle the ball a little bit at short so that you're at least moving toward first. still have to turn slightly to get your arm clear, but it's not at all insurmountable

From what I understand playing 2nd is harder than 3rd at major league level, but from personal experience, mainly because of the throw to first, 2nd base is easier.

in rec leagues/beer softball leagues etc playing third is much more difficult because the majority of right-handed hitters pull the ball and the fact that there are very few double play opportunities

VHS - send me a webmail! I'll give you all the details. we're playing sunday at 11am :)

I remember 3rd being the most nerve-wracking position I played in my yout' and 2nd being the hardest work.

yeah the ball comes in a lot hotter and it's a tough throw because you don't get much time to get set and it's way too easy to miss the 1B and give up an extra base.

i have recently once again started to play baseball, in the back of our house with our six yr old. We started by playing catch with those sticky flat velcro mitts and he's throwing apparently extremely well for a kid his age. i had no context for it until his teacher told me he was really good.

he imitates Kris Bryant at the plate now. Last week he had a breakthrough w/r/t keeping his right foot fairly well-planted and he's started sending lasers past my ear. he's also demanding that i throw my sad imitation of "fastballs" and he's starting to hit those pretty well.

we're using a small foam baseball, so we don't kill anyone or break anything, and i keep telling him it's good to try and hit the smaller ball since it's helping his hand/eye coordination.

it's fun! i get all misty like field of dreams sometimes but that's just a dad thing.

time for some switch-hitting!

sounds like he's getting pretty confident – might want to send a little chin music his way!

I already told him that when a player is hit by a pitch, sometimes they attack the pitcher. He seemed mortified but then I plunked him and he chased me around waving the bat.

has he been to a batting cage?

they often have special machines for smaller kids that pitch relatively slowly and/or use softer balls

hmm i should check that out. i'm still trying to get him out of the occasional habit of diving forward as he swings, he's hit the ball a couple times off his hands.

he tried switch-hitting a couple times and hit the ball, i didn't start from the left side til i was in middle school so he's way ahead of me.

<3

omar, wd like to see footage of kid goin' Piazza on your Alejandro Pena

ha speaking of Mike, after he chased me around (as described upthread) i told him that whenever a batter fights someone he's not supposed to bring his bat (i didn't talk about Marichal) but mentioned once a pitcher threw a bat at a guy "on accident" and he said "i think it was on purpose."

lol otm

Wanted to buy two new non-used gloves, one for a gift and one for myself but boy these are very expensive.

nice gloves are so expensive. i got a nokona amg 1200 a few years back on super clearance (i think it was like 75% off) from a random sports store that was closing. consider myself lucky on that one.

I use the same glove I've had for ~25 years, but the Brooklyn Cyclones' pregame catch on the field promos appear to be over for the season, so it may not get used this summer.

yeah if you invest in a nice glove hopefully it's a one time purchase that lasts a lifetime.

I've had the same glove I've used since high school. it's holding up well but I'd be devastated if I had to get a new one!

i had a wilson a3000 -- technically an outfielder's glove, but i used it in the infield -- that ultimately fell apart on the inside, and it was gonna be more to fix than get a new glove : /

sad

Have a really big (like 15 inch?) Mizuno I got at the swap meet for about 20 bucks and it rules. I do use it to play infield sometimes.

good for first base!