Rambling On About My Glory Days: The Fast Moving Mental Game of Baseball

Many sports enthusiasts complain that baseball is boring and too slow. I certainly do not agree with them nor do I argue or try to convince them otherwise. I am thinking to myself though, “If only they knew what good baseball people know, they would not think it boring or slow.” There are so many little things that go into every pitch and every play that make the game so fascinating, intriguing and exciting.

For example, here are some catcher’s thoughts before each pitch:

1. They quickly check who the hitter is and recall the book on the hitter - the book is the hitter’s tendencies that advanced scouts forward to the team before each series and the general knowledge of the hitter that the team has accumulated over the years. Experienced catchers get to know hitters over time but may not know how hitters are swinging lately.

2. They try to recall the hitter’s previous at-bats (this night and series) to determine if they want to pitch him the same way or try a new approach.

3. Before putting down a sign the catcher checks to see that the defense is aligned correctly (bench coaches do this too) and looks to the dugout for any last second instructions. They check the hitter’s setup in the batter’s box to see if he changes his normal stance. Hitters will sometimes change their positioning in the batter’s box slightly to help them hit a certain pitch or to try to entice the pitcher to throw a certain pitch.

4. Now the catcher thinks to himself, “How do we want to get this hitter out?” It may be with inside fastballs because that is the player’s weakness, but the hitter knows that too so they don’t start them with an inside fastball but save that pitch for later in the at-bat. This approach may work or may be a mistake.

5. Now they consider the pitcher on the mound and what pitches are currently working and if he can get them over the plate.

Finally, the catcher is ready to put a sign down, making sure he has reviewed the signs with the pitcher, especially with men on base where they will use different set of signs to make sure the runner on second base is not relaying the pitch to the hitter.

6. After all this quick calculation, the pitcher may shake off the pitch and the catcher has to readjust all that thinking. Once they have agreed on a pitch and location, he sets up for the pitch, but not too early of course, because he doesnt wa’nt to tip off location to the batter.

Now that is only the defensive side of things. Hitters have their own set of thoughts that they calculate very quickly, like the following:

1. What team are they playing? Different teams may pitch players differently. In my career, for example, the Tigers used to pitch me inside, whereas the Orioles would pitch me away consistently.

2. What is the game situation and is it likely coach will put a sign on? Intelligent players will anticipate being asked to do something in certain situations and will prepare accordingly.

3. They decide if they want to be aggressive early in count or plan on seeing a few pitches? This approach is often determined by the overall team strategy and/or based on the pitcher they are facing.

4. What pitches does this guy throw, how fast and what is his best pitch? If he is the dominant type, hitters will be more aggressive early in at bat; if not they may be patient knowing the pitcher can’t strike them out, usually.

5. They will recall their previous at-bats against this pitcher to recall their success or failure and whether to adjust or keep the same approach. Past at-bats may tip them off as to how they will pitch him this time.

6. Based on all this information, they decide if they want to look for a particular pitch (i.e., fastball, curve) and or look for a ball in a particular location, or they may decide to be ready for any pitch that looks good.

Believe it or not, all of these calculations take place in about 15 seconds before every pitch and then it all starts again. Of course, some of these thoughts are begun before the game also and are the fast moving mental calculations that I miss, and what I enjoy trying to figure out when watching baseball. The next time you start yelling at a pitcher for throwing a certain pitch or a hitter who fails to swing at a ball right down the middle, remember they did all that thinking in 15 seconds.

Former major leaguer Jack Perconte is the author of The Making of a Hitter ( http://jackperconte.com ) and has a baseball instruction site that can be found at www.baseballcoachingtips.net . He has recently published his second book Raising an Athlete – How to Instill Confidence, Build Skills and Inspire a Love of Sport