“Baseball is a cruel game.”  I have heard that venerable adage my entire life as a baseball player, coach and fan. Usually the statement is spoken as a universal truth by a losing manager or coach or by a player who did not succeed when success mattered most.  I considered the phrase to be a method to avoid acceptance of personal failure:  if baseball indeed is cruel, then the Game must have caused the bad result, not any personal failure by team or player.  For me, baseball seemed to be a simple game with no inherent cruelty:  get 27 outs and score more runs than the other team.  One of the defining moments of my baseball life caused me to reflect, however, on heart-breaking events inextricably interwoven with the 27th out and to wonder if there is truth to the adage that the Game itself is cruel.Read More

The best time of my life began with a disappointment.  Although my 1997 Austin McCallum High School Knights returned starters at catcher, shortstop, second base, and right field, a front-line reserve at first base, and a bonus baby-major-leaguer-to-be pitcher/third baseman, we finished third in our district.  Fortunately, for the first time the Texas University Interscholastic League allowed three teams from each district to advance to the playoffs leading to the State Tournament.  After barely surviving a scary game against a weak opponent in the final district game, the Knights clinched third place and prepared to enter the playoffs, thanks to the UIL’s new rule.  The season that began with so much promise escaped being a disaster by the smallest of margins, and although we were a 17-8 playoff team, my disappointment in our finish was almost tangible.Read More

Author’s note:

I coached HS baseball for a total of nine years at Brenham High School and at Austin’s McCallum High School. Before that, I pitched at the University of Texas under the legendary Bibb Falk, and I coached for one year at UT under the equally-legendary Cliff Gustafson. The outline posted here expresses my baseball philosophy and the system I used coaching high school teams. I used a scaled down version of this system while coaching my son and his contemporaries in youth baseball leagues. I do not pretend that this system is innovative or the only system. My coaching philosophy evolved from what I learned from those two outstanding coaches and from my Dad, who was the best pitching coach I ever had. I encourage readers to review the outline and to use whatever seems suited to your individual coaching situations. Good luck to you and to your teams.Read More

Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.

The favorite sport of many who call themselves fans of the Houston Astros does not appear to be baseball.  Their favorite sport seems to be “Jimy-bashing,” and it looks like a very easy game to master.  To be an accomplished practitioner, one has to take note of decisions or moves Jimy Williams makes during games, keep absolutely silent if the decisions work and, in the most strident tones possible, rail at or ridicule the ones that do not work.  There is no way the Jimy-basher can be wrong because he or she only points out decisions that have not turned out well for the Astros.  The refrain is if Jimy had only … everything would have been different and better.  Jimy-bashers have raised second-guessing to an art form and are infallible.  To confirm this, just ask them.  Jimy Williams gets bashed in Texas and other Astros environs, but second-guessing a baseball manager or coach is part of our national fabric.Read More

Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
Much has been written about the ability of a catcher to “handle pitchers.”  If a catcher cannot relate well to his pitching staff and does not have their confidence, he cannot help them to maximize their performance and his value to the team is diminished substantially.  Generally accepted notions are that “calling a good game” is the main component of being a “good handler of pitchers” and that calling pitches is what makes a catcher valuable to a team and its pitchers.  Although it is true that the catcher-pitcher relationship is important to a pitcher’s success, calling pitches rarely is a significant aspect of a catcher’s game.  The purpose of this article is to examine the attributes that contribute to a successful relationship between batterymates.  Many of the skills which endear a catcher to his pitching staff may go unnoticed by the casual fan, and if a great catcher is not a run-producing hitter, many fans may not appreciate his worth to the team and may not consider him to be great at all. Read More

Editor’s note – This article originally appeared on AstrosConnection.com.
Baseball traditionalists, who may be a dying breed, would much rather watch a game dominated by pitching and defense than watch today’s home run derby contests that are represented to be major league baseball games.  A well-played defensive game consists of beautiful choreography; the players move to the ball and to other positions relative to the ball according to rules that are well-defined and much-practiced.  The movements that implement the rules must be practiced so often that the defenders recognize situations and move to their respective places without thinking.  If the rules are executed properly, all of the defenders will be in motion when the ball is put into play, and no player, including the pitcher, will be a mere spectator, no matter where the ball is hit.  This article examines the rules used for various defensive situations.Read More