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Thursday, February 14, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
SLIDING = WINNING BASEBALL
Base Running 2: How to slide head first, pop up and hook slides
Sliding is how we get into a base as quickly as possible while maintaining contact with the bag (i.e. not over running it and risk getting tagged). Sliding can be used to stop or redirect our momentum, break up a double play on the bases, or make a tag play more difficult by using a hook slide.
There are three types of slides in baseball: Feet first (or pop up), head first, or hook slide.Feet first or Pop up slide
How to pop up slide. Images by Frank Lauri
This is the most useful of the slides, and the safest.
When in doubt, go feet first.
This method of sliding can be used in any situation.
This is also known as the pop up slide because if you do it correctly you will be able to use your momentum when you hit the bag to pop up quickly and continue running if needed.
How to Pop Up Slide
- One of your legs is going to be extended and will make contact with the bag. It doesn’t matter which one you choose.
- Your ankle of your other leg will be placed under your straight legs hamstring. This will look similar to the number “4”.
- You will keep both your hands up. This is so when you make contact with the ground you will not slam your wrists in the ground and break a wrist.
- You will make contact with the ground with your bent knee and the upper part of the back of your straight leg.
Head first slide
Images by Frank Lauri
The head first slide may get you into the base a little quicker than going feet first,
but there is a higher risk of injury. Chris Dickerson slides into 2nd base.
Benefits. Head first is thought of as the quickest way of sliding into a base.
This is because you keep your momentum going forward opposed to having to sit back on your legs or back side.
It can also be beneficial because sometimes you can manipulate the slide a little by shifting your hands to try to avoid a tag.
Downsides. Head first should not be used when sliding into home plate at any time (the catcher with all his gear on can do some damage to your fingers and your shoulders if you come in head first).
Also, sliding head first when trying to break up a double play is illegal, and you and the hitter will be called out.
Sliding head first can be dangerous.
Some guys have broken fingers by hitting the base the wrong way, or if an infielder jumps and lands on them.
Also, if a infielder jumps and comes down on your arms or shoulders you can really hurt your shoulders.
Some teams are really starting to advise their players to stop sliding head first and to get used to sliding feet first.
How to slide head first, and tips to prevent injury
- As you are running start your lean forward.
- Extend your body forward and try to keep your forearms and hands out in front of you.
- Cock your wrist back so when your hands make contact with the bag, the heels of your palm will hit it and not your fingers. This will help to prevent finger injuries.
Hook slide
What is a hook slide?
The hook is a spin off of the regular feet first slide. The only difference is that instead of making contact with your foot, you will slide feet first but to one side or the other and grab the base with one of your hands.This is very useful especially on a play at home plate. It gives the defender making the tag less body to touch. Also, when done correctly you can move your hand so you can avoid the glove that is trying to tag you.
When hook sliding into home you can hit the back corner of the plate with a real quick hand movement that can be difficult to tag.
You can use this at other bases as well, especially if a throw is taking a defender to one side of the bag. In this instance you can slide to the other side of the bag and grab with your hand.
How to Hook Slide
The mechanics are the same as the feet first slide, except you’ll be sliding to one side or the other and reach back with your hand to grab the bag.You can also use the hook slide when trying to break up a double play at second base.
The rule in professional baseball, is you can make contact with an infielder as long as you can touch the bag with any part of your body.
Author: Doug Bernier
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Friday, February 1, 2013
COLLEGE BASEBALL: 'PLAY BALL'!
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DURHAM, N.C—North Carolina is No. 1 in Baseball America's preseason Top 25 rankings for the first time in program history. The Tar Heels, who have made five trips to the College World Series in the last seven years, return three weekend starters who posted sub-2.00 ERAs last year, headlining one of the nation's deepest pitching staffs.
Southeastern Conference teams occupy three of the next four spots, and five of the top 10. Eight SEC teams appear in the Top 25, leading all conferences. No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Arkansas each earn their highest preseason rankings ever, as do No. 4 Louisville, No. 6 Oregon State and No. 8 North Carolina State. Fifth-ranked Mississippi State enters the season with its highest ranking since it topped the 1989 preseason Top 25.
New Mexico, which checks in at No. 21, earns a preseason ranking for the first time in program history. The Lobos last appeared in the BA Top 25 on March 30, 2009.
Defending national champion Arizona enters the season ranked 24th after losing a slew of key players, while runner-up South Carolina is ranked seventh.
The Pacific-12 Conference landed the second-most teams in the rankings with five, followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference (four). The only other conferences to produce multiple ranked teams were the Big 12 and Conference USA, which each placed two teams in the rankings.
The staff of Baseball America determines the Top 25 rankings. Last year's records do not include ties.
| Rk. | Team | 2012 Record |
Final 2012 Ranking |
| 1. | North Carolina | 46-16 | 17 |
| 2. | Vanderbilt | 35-28 | NR |
| 3. | Arkansas | 46-22 | 6 |
| 4. | Louisville | 41-22 | NR |
| 5. | Mississippi State | 40-24 | 22 |
| 6. | Oregon State | 40-20 | 24 |
| 7. | South Carolina | 49-20 | 2 |
| 8. | North Carolina State | 43-20 | 12 |
| 9. | Stanford | 41-18 | 13 |
| 10. | Louisiana State | 47-18 | 9 |
| 11. | Kentucky | 45-18 | 20 |
| 12. | UCLA | 48-16 | 5 |
| 13. | Mississippi | 37-26 | NR |
| 14. | Texas Christian | 40-22 | 16 |
| 15. | Oregon | 46-19 | 11 |
| 16. | Georgia Tech | 38-26 | NR |
| 17. | Florida | 47-20 | 3 |
| 18. | Rice | 41-19 | 18 |
| 19. | Oklahoma | 42-25 | 14 |
| 20. | Florida State | 50-17 | 4 |
| 21. | New Mexico | 37-24 | NR |
| 22. | Cal State Fullerton | 36-21 | 21 |
| 23. | Southern Mississippi | 32-24 | NR |
| 24. | Arizona | 48-17 | 1 |
| 25. | San Diego | 40-17 | NR |
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Great Tournament, Great People - Better Cause!
Brian Crawford Memorial Benefit
PRESENTED BY TRAVEL SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oak Grove Park Grapevine, Texas
Register Online For This Event - http://www.
February 22-24, 2013
100% OF THE PROFITS FROM THIS EVENT WILL GO TO SUPPORT
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE BRIAN CRAWFORD MEMORIAL COMPLEX.
At the tournament. See tournament information & registration information below.
Kenneth Crawford
Brian Crawford Memorial Benefit
PRESENTED BY TRAVEL SPORTS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Oak Grove Park Grapevine, Texas
February 22-24, 2013
100% OF THE PROFITS FROM THIS EVENT WILL GO TO SUPPORT
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE BRIAN CRAWFORD MEMORIAL COMPLEX.
Please
help support the construction of this great Memorial Complex being
built in Brian's name. Brian lived his life for family and Christ and
continues to inspire people touched by his story years after his
passing. All games played at Grapevine Oak Grove Park (main baseball
complex only) or Southlake Bicentennial Park. These are all beautiful
well-kept ball fields that we are proud to utilize to host our events.
Oak Grove Park offers 9 fields, 11 full batting cages, 18 soft toss
stations, 10 bull pens and an onsite first aid station staffed by Baylor
Sports Medicine. Oak Grove Park is one of the top baseball facilities
in the nation. Southlake's Bicentennial Park has recently added four top
rated 40/60 and 46/65 fields bringing the parks total to 9 fields. The 2
parks combined construction cost is well over $30M and provides the
best tournament experience possible.
Awards for 1st and 2nd place teams.
Minors division is for AA for Minor teams only!
3 GG tournament with 2 pool play games into a single elimination bracket.
Teams needing schedule request, please use the app located on the main menu.
Teams supply 3 regulation balls per game, balls will be returned at the end of the game.
Bracket schedules will be available Tuesday at 12pm prior to the tournament.
TEAMS MUST PAY ENTRY OR GATE FEE BY MONDAY AT 8AM TO BE PLACED IN THE BRACKET.
BASEBALL 7U
|
$195.00
|
10
|
max teams
|
BASEBALL 8U
|
$195.00
|
10
|
max teams
|
BASEBALL 9U
|
$295.00
|
8
|
max teams
|
BASEBALL 10U
|
$295.00
|
8
|
max teams
|
BASEBALL 11U
|
$295.00
|
8
|
max teams
|
BASEBALL 12U
|
$295.00
|
8
|
max teams
|
BASEBALL 13U
|
$295.00
|
8
|
max teams
|
BASEBALL 14U
|
$295.00
|
8
|
max teams
|
GATE FEE $125.00
| |||
BRIAN CRAWFORD MEMORIAL
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
Backhands Made Easy
Baseball Backhand Catch
How to properly execute the backhand catch when fielding ground balls and line drives.
The baseball backhand is a critical defensive skill that all infielders should master.
Author and NY Yankee Doug Bernier backhands an infield ground ball
1. First step quickness
First step quickness is important. Try to beat the ball to a spot. Do not lazily meet the ball at a spot because you were timing the baseball. The quicker you move the better angle you can create to help field the ball a step or two closer to home plate. This will give you more time and a shorter throw.2. Foot Position.
When fielding a backhand catch, have your right foot in front of your left foot. Use this unless you have no other choice.
3. Take your glove through the baseball.
Once your feet are in a good position, it is now time to use your glove to work through the baseball. You want to try to field the baseball in between your thumb and pointer finger. Take your glove and move it through the baseball. This aggressive move gets your momentum going in the right direction.4. Starting Your Momentum.
Once fielding with this backhand catch, your feet are already in the correct position. Push off the back (right) foot and get some momentum toward first base to make a throw.When there is not enough to time.
The opposite foot position is used (left foot in front) only on balls where we can’t set our feet in time. After we field this ball (this is a long throw) we need to get some type of momentum and square our feet up to first base before we throw.Pro Fielding Tip:
Work on both types of baseball backhands during practice, because you will need both of them in the games.About the Author: Doug Bernier
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Monday, January 21, 2013
Ron Fraser, University of Miami HOF Baseball Coach
Ron Fraser, 'the wizard of college baseball', dies at 79
Longtime University of Miami coach died on Sunday morning, after a prolonged battled with Alzheimer's disease
Ron Fraser coached the national teams from two different countries, is a member of 10 different Halls of Fame, won two NCAA baseball championships and never had a losing record in a 30-year career with the Miami Hurricanes.
He'll be remembered for so many other reasons.
The longtime Miami coach – dubbed "the wizard of college baseball" – died Sunday morning after fighting Alzheimer's disease for many years, family spokesman Tony Segreto said. University officials said Fraser was 79, though a statement issued by his family did not divulge his age or other private matters, including a cause of death.
"The impact he had on our university, on college baseball and on the game itself worldwide is immeasurable," acting Miami athletic director Blake James said.
Fraser's legacy will be, as he once said, his penchant for "doing crazy things out there". He raffled car batteries, hosted bikini nights, threw nine-course gourmet dinners on the Hurricanes' infield, even is credited for helping bring batgirls into the college game. If any idea to drum up interest or money for his program came his way, Fraser wanted to make it happen.
"No one did it better," said Texas' Augie Garrido, the NCAA Division I coaching-wins leader.
But Fraser's finest moment may have come at the College World Series in 1982.
A few Hurricanes stuck fingers in their ears, the signal for the hidden-ball trick, known to this day as
"The Grand Illusion." Miami was leading 4-3 in the sixth inning of a winner's bracket game in Omaha, Neb., and Wichita State's Phil Stephenson was on first base.
With his team down by a run, Stephenson was going to try to steal; everyone in the stadium knew this, especially since he already had swiped 86 bases that season.
So the play, which was installed in 15 minutes the day before, was called. Skip Bertman, Fraser's associate coach at the time who went on to become a great at LSU, gave the signal.
Mike Kasprzak was the Miami pitcher, and made a few throws over to first to get Stephenson's attention.
Then came the moment. Kasprzak made another "throw" to first, one where Hurricanes' first baseman
Steve Lusby dove for the supposedly errant ball and, as the story goes, swore to further sell his displeasure. Several Hurricanes started chasing the "ball" along the right-field line, and others in the dugout pointed up the line excitedly, getting in on the act.
And what an act it was.
"He would teach the bat girls to scramble as if they were getting out of the way of it," Florida State coach Mike Martin said Sunday.
"They were sitting on a chair. He also had the bullpen and had a guy call it, 'There's the ball! Get out of the way!' It was theatrics at its best."
Sure was. Kasprzak tossed the ball — he had it the whole time — to second base, a stunned Stephenson was tagged out trying to advance, Miami won the game and went on to capture the national championship.
When the play was called, Kasprzak remembers exactly what was going through his head: "What if this doesn't work?"
"I'm not sure if every coach would have allowed their teams to attempt something like that," Kasprzak said Sunday in a telephone interview.
"He was always the showman type. Doing something like that on a stage as big as the College World Series was something that maybe only he would have attempted. That worked right into his personality and his approach to the game and putting on a good show."
Fraser took Miami to another national title in 1985, and wound up leading the Hurricanes to the College World Series 12 times over his 30 years at the school. He retired in 1992 with 1,271 wins.
But his biggest victories came through his promotion of the college game.
"I was more interested in getting the people in the stands," Fraser once said, "because I knew we'd never be really successful unless we made money."
Fraser also played a key role in getting baseball on national television. And now, the College World Series – the entire NCAA tournament, really – is a mainstay on TV, as are hundreds of regular-season games annually.
"Coach Fraser is the most influential person in my career and the man who put college baseball on the map," current Miami coach Jim Morris said last year. "He is like a father to me."
Ronald George Fraser was born and raised in New Jersey, then attended Florida State, where he's a member of the Seminoles' Hall of Fame.
His induction there really had very little to do with his athletic achievements in Tallahassee.
"Florida State University is proud to honor a former athlete who more recently has become a distinguished opponent," read the text of his induction into that Hall of Fame in 1981. "A brilliant promoter and coach, he has advanced collegiate baseball at the University of Miami, across Florida and across the nation."
That's how well thought of Fraser was: The Seminoles put an arch rival in their Hall of Fame.
"Heck, he used to wash the baseballs in milk because he didn't have enough money to buy the dozen or so baseballs he needed," Martin said. "So, he'd wash them in milk and use it as a cleaner. ... He was a character. And, he really was a guy who shared his knowledge with younger coaches."
"I'm going to miss him. He was a good man."
After a stint leading the Dutch national team, Fraser took over at Miami in 1963 with a $2,200 salary, a converted shower for an office and a cow pasture for a field.
He got the school's attention in most unconventional way – which seemed fitting for him. University officials said Sunday that Miami first noticed Fraser by his appearances on the television game show, "What's My Line?"
"He was the person who put college baseball on the map – not only in the crowds and the entertainment we see today, but in the competitiveness of the game itself," Miami trustee Paul DiMare said. "It was all him."
College baseball was not a revenue-generating sport, even for successful programs, so Fraser got creative.
Giveaways, parachutists, whatever he could think of, it all was part of Fraser's plan to entice more people to come see his team.
"My whole thing was to entertain the people. People said it was the winning, but I was trying to entertain the people so they would come back," Fraser said around the time his coaching career ended. "I did a lot of crazy things and it worked."
Attendance at Miami grew over a seven-year span from 33,000 a season to 90,000. And in 1981, the
Hurricanes set a record with 163,261 fans – over 3,200 per game. Attendance dipped below 100,000 only once for the remainder of Fraser's tenure.
After eight straight winning seasons to start off his tenure at Miami, the Hurricanes finally broke through with the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1971. In 1982, the Hurricanes swept through five games in Omaha, clinching the school's first national title with a 9-3 win over Wichita State.
Three seasons later, the Hurricanes won their second championship, beating Texas twice in three days for the 1985 crown. That team finished with a school record 64 wins.
And to think – Fraser's run at Miami almost didn't get started.
With the athletic department in dire straits in the early 1970s, the school elected to cut one program.
Football was lousy, basketball was worse and baseball – though far more successful than the others – didn't make money.
"We were going to have to let one of them go," Fraser said.
He fully expected baseball to be the program that got cut. So in a last-ditch effort, Fraser called in some favors.
Baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial (who died at 92 on Saturday, one day before Fraser), major league broadcaster Joe Garagiola and other notables showed up at a beach benefit banquet that impressed the school.
In 1972, the university dropped basketball instead of baseball.
Fraser made the move pay off, finally leading Miami to its first College World Series appearance in 1974.
"Coach Fraser had a tremendous impact on the baseball program at the University of Miami at a pivotal time in our history," Miami President Donna Shalala said.
"His love of the sport and the program can still be felt, years after this legendary tenure at 'The U.'"
Fraser is a former NCAA coach of the year and coached numerous U.S. national teams – including the 1992 Olympic team, and went on to work with many community and charity organizations in his retirement.
Miami officials said he had three children and five grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
"On the field and off, Ron Fraser showed how one man can make a difference," James said.
"The University of Miami, South Florida and college baseball are all better because of him."
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Saturday, January 19, 2013
Remembering Hall of Fame Manager Earl Weaver
In the 1970s, when female reporters were first allowed in baseball locker rooms, I was leaving Earl Weaver’s office one night after his smart, sarcastic postmortem of a tough Orioles defeat.
I realized that the only woman on the beat, a relative newcomer, had missed Weaver’s performance.
Entering his office as we all left, she looked worried.
Weaver dressed down reporters for dumb questions and at times demanded what you would have done — and why — before he would give his own answer.
His office was sometimes a funny place, but also electric with tension: Baseball spoken here.
Eavesdropping is a clubhouse sin. But I wanted to see how cruel
Weaver might be.
To that point, I’d never met anyone in baseball with
much grasp that a female journalist had every right to be there.
“So,” said Weaver, businesslike, “do you want it all or just the highlights?” And he started repeating his best answers as she wrote.
Earl Weaver died Saturday at 82.
Whatever you think he was, you’re right.
But he was probably also, to some degree, the opposite as well.
Whenever you assumed he was a man of his time, defined and limited by immersion in his sport, he often showed he was ahead of the times and also, frequently, ahead of his sport.
In death, we will see images of his tirades at umpires, be reminded of his funny wisecracks and of his sense of strategy that predated several “Moneyball” theories by a generation.
We’ll see a hard, smart man with a Chesapeake crab’s shell, little social polish and a need to overcompensate for his lack of size and ability as a minor league ballplayer.
We all saw that.
But in nine years of covering the Orioles beat, I saw another Weaver, one that doesn’t contradict the first, but rather broadens him.
He didn’t open up often, but when he did, you were floored.
He knew himself — why he was who he was and why he managed the way he did — as well as anyone I ever covered.
We knew he had examined baseball and hadn’t missed much. But he’d also examined himself and analyzed in detail everyone around him, too.
The distance Weaver kept from his players, with no desire whatsoever to be their friend, but rather to be their leader, was his defining trait to me.
That distance gave him authority and made every day at the park feel just a little bit dangerous.
What would Earl do? What might he not do, if he felt like it?
No contemporary team, in my experience, was on its toes in the sense that Weaver’s Orioles always were.
Reggie Jackson only played one season for Weaver but said: “I loved the little Weave. If you made a mental mistake, you saw him waiting for you on the top step of the dugout when you came back in. He’d just say one word, ‘Why?’ And you better have an answer. On his team, if you didn’t ‘think the game,’ you had a problem. He was right in your face.”
“We are all on speaking terms. We have a little rapport. Not too much,” Weaver told me, regarding his relationships with his players.
“You learn the lesson the first day in Class D [what the lowest rung of the minor leagues was once called]. You’re always going to be a rotten bastard, or in my case, a little bastard, as long as you manage. That’s the rule. To keep your job, you fire others or bench them or trade them. You have to do the thinking for 25 guys and you can’t be too close to any of them.”
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