playing baseball

First game rained out ;_;

that sucks

In our real first game I had to DH, and we lost on a walk-off grand slam ;_;

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/4/42/Arrested_Development_-_Good_Grief.jpg

DH'ing blows. I'd rather play defense and not hit.

I watched friend's son's Little League game last Sat, lol'd at "GOOD EYE!" when pitch is over the batter's head

Tried playing 3rd base today, it was my second game ever. It's harder than soccer if you ask me.

how'd you do

Batting cages, even at the highest speed, is a delight. fielding and pitching is hell on earth. Ted Williams was right, basically

nothing serious, just with friends and such.

once somebody was on the third base i had no idea what to do really, the shortstop and I were quite confused. no putouts.

i also tried pitching but it was under hand and I had no idea where the ball was going (it was softball), i'm okay with pitching more traditionally.

at bat, i'm pretty good to see balls/strikes and i'm a fast runner so it would be fine especially since fielding was generally shabby, but they don't call balls, still two singles and struck out once

. lots of fun anyway, i'd like to play in a beer league.

see i think i would have more fun pitching.

btw this Sunday is Pregame Catch on the Field Day in Coney Island

HEY MOOKIE

or MOD

VHS is it a weekly pickup game or is it organized? my hardball team just got booted out of the playoffs & i kinda wanna play some more ball & i kinda wouldn't mind if it were with a new group of ppl (need a lil' break from a few of those personalities).

oh i missed the part where you said nothing serious etc.
anyway we will probably start again with our overhand pickup games in like a week or two, i can let you know if that's more your speed (ha)

beer leagues are so fun. I think I played every position but 3rd in my last one. We were 2-10. Good times.

i only play OF on account of being left handed + there are like 4 people who are slower & better ball-catchers than me to play 1st

wish i could play 2b/ss/3b tho :( seems so fun

it would be a little awkward on balls hit to your right, but jeez it's not the majors -- make them let you play third or short sometime

hey Will M. can I come just to watch the game and see how it goes?

Speaking only of softball here. 2nd is my primary position and indeed it is fun. You don't get a whole lot of balls your way so you won't tank your team if you're having a bad night but you usually get like 4-6 plays plus you get to attempt double plays sometimes (key word here is attempt). Also the throw to 1st is much shorter which is important, you don't often sky it over the 1B's head like so many SS and 3B's do. In their defense a slow hit ball to the left side of the diamond is really tough to hurt into an out if the runner is fast at all.

it would be a little awkward on balls hit to your right, but jeez it's not the majors -- make them let you play third or short sometime

it's less the catching and more the turning my ass to the plate to throw the ball that makes it tough... i occasionally try it but it fucks w my throw pretty bad

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!