Coaches:

I saw a new training tooling called the Designated Hitter for baseball pitchers.. It helps coaches teach baseball pitchers how to pitch inside and get better control of their pitches in general.

Several big name colleges use it like UNC and Rice. Even some pro teams use it too. It was also named this year's Best In Show Pitching Aid at the 2007 American Baseball Coaches convention. The testimonials are impressive.

Perhaps one not so obvious advantage that I see from using this tool is that pitchers can now practice pitching with a batter in the box all the time without risking or taking practice time away from another player.

I'm interested in your thoughts on this product...

$325 for a product to help with pitching inside......not sure if it's worth it.

Maybe I can pick up the one used by the "Cleveland Indians" in the movie Major League.


(Gotwood maybe you can help with a pic - I have looked but can't find one. I am but a lowly student in your world of picture humor)

quote:

Originally posted by Sosa58:
Coaches:

I saw a new training tooling called the Designated Hitter for baseball pitchers.. It helps coaches teach baseball pitchers how to pitch inside and get better control of their pitches in general.

Several big name colleges use it like UNC and Rice. Even some pro teams use it too. It was also named this year's Best In Show Pitching Aid at the 2007 American Baseball Coaches convention. The testimonials are impressive.

Perhaps one not so obvious advantage that I see from using this tool is that pitchers can now practice pitching with a batter in the box all the time without risking or taking practice time away from another player.

I'm interested in your thoughts on this product...

just hire the neighboor kid for a dollar a bullpen

TG, I liked your advice--that's the same thing I've taught my son since about 9 years old: "If the batter gets HBP it's the batter's fault--he had enough time to get out of the way, but chose not to".

On the other hand, that DH-Hitter thing looks kind of cool for practice work but I wouldn't spend $300 for it--I can draw a little, I own a sabre-saw, and I think I'll go shopping for some 3/4" plywood. I don't really care if mine is not made of "space-age plastic"--prehistoric wood is good enough for us.

Sosa,
You are selling this product? I noticed that you have posted 3 times and all posts lead to the DH.

Appears like you have given laflipin a good idea.

I think you have a good concept, but live batters are much more inexpensive.

quote:

Originally posted by TG:
My son was taught how to pitch inside at no cost. When he started pitching at 9U I told him not to worry about hitting batters. I told him if he hurt a hitter that's the hitter's problem. My son has never had a problem pitching inside. In a wood bat tournament this weekend he (fifteen now) walked off the mound smiling after sawing off/breaking a fourth hitter's bat, "Just call me Black and Decker." I also taught him how to come up and in and hit a batter without getting him in the head.

That whole thing sounds pretty insane to me.

And very dangerous as well.

As your son rises to the next level - I would recommend a
change in approach - or a suit of armor.

Sounds like him - and/or his teammates - are going to need one.

Wow! Pretty impressive indeed. Learning to come up and in and hit people without hitting them in the head is an art. That is very impressive and Im sure something that every kid needs to learn. Wow!

quote:

Originally posted by TG:
When he started pitching at 9U I told him not to worry about hitting batters. I told him if he hurt a hitter that's the hitter's problem. I also taught him how to come up and in and hit a batter without getting him in the head.

WOW!!

I say wow to that too, takes pitchers years to learn how to pitch inside.

For young pitchers who pitch inside against wood, it is much easier and most good pitchers have no fear of hitting the batter. The fear comes when you pitch inside and make a mistake, in college with aluminum, it's usually out of the park, that's why many college pitchers (even the best) won't rely on the inside pitch in the college game. Young pitchers who pitch inside and rely on it, will most likely not in the college game after the first few HR's against them.

TG all young pitches start out worrying about plunking a batter. They are all tought that it is a part of BB. You are going to hit batters and if you want to pitch you have to ungerstand that.
I am somewhat puzzled at the saw bats off comment. Does he throw so hard that he breaks bats. If that were the case what about all the guys who throw a lot harder. They would saw off bats everytime they throw and then you have the batters who think they swung so hard they broke the bat ?

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
I am somewhat puzzled at the saw bats off comment. Does he throw so hard that he breaks bats. If that were the case what about all the guys who throw a lot harder. They would saw off bats everytime they throw and then you have the batters who think they swung so hard they broke the bat ?

BHD,
I was glad you brought this up, mine throws 90's, did in HS, pitches inside and broken wooden bats have comes far and few between.
About the Black and Decker comment, if I ever heard that from mine he would be black and decker by the time he got home. Or was that comment from you TG? JMO.

TPM,

How does your son deal with the HB thing? It is obviously disturbing to hit someone with a pitch, and the natural reaction of the pitcher is regret and some level of empathy with the hit batsman. On the other hand, I think pitchers need to be able to compartmentalize their feelings of empathy--their emotional response to the HB--and be able to focus on making their next pitch.

Since your boy is obviously playing at a high level of baseball now, I wonder if you'd be willing to describe how he developed to that point on the mental/emotional side of pitching, if that makes sense.

My best guess is he is like most pitchers. Mad they gave up a freebie.

Those Bolo/Rockem-Sockem toys might be a cheap surrogate. It seems appropiate to point out fundamentals of avoiding/getting HBP: roll front shoulder back towards catcher, ducking head, and lower bat.

quote:

I also taught him how to come up and in and hit a batter without getting him in the head.

I actually find this sad as I see this as something TG is proud of........This one statement pretty much tells me everything I need to know........

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
My best guess is he is like most pitchers. Mad they gave up a freebie.

Bingo! Hitting a batter could be the difference between a W or L.

Experienced hitters know how to get out of the way, but sometimes the 92-94 mph FB with movement trying to go inside gets away from ya, not intentionally.

And sometimes experienced hitters WILL get in the way on purpose. You'll find this often in the college game, trying anything to get on base. I remember first time son my plunked a batter, I read his stats later he had been plunked 19 times halfway through the season he had been struggling.

My son never hit a batter until college. In HS, most batters facing a pitcher with 90+ velocity are more afraid to get hit than the pitcher being afraid of hitting one. Never should a pitcher want to hit a batter coming inside on purpose, the object is to move them back off of the inside of the plate to make your job easier. It's part of the battle that goes on between hitter and pitcher as to who owns the strike zone.

This year I saw a first, hate to say, first time he went after the batter intentionally, trying to plunk him on the back, not the hands, he missed, sending the message. This player had been bad mouthing our team, in our house. He was unfortunetly the pitcher designated by his teammates to make the statement. Everyone knew it was intentional but the umpire let it go, because I think he also felt the batter's attitude needed some adjusting.

I agree pia, posts tell a lot about a person. Who teaches a young player to hit someone on purpose?

BTW, as a parent, I was livid that day, at son not at the batter.

Teaching a very young pitcher to pitch inside when he doesn't have the control (at 9) can do serious damage to the very young hitter who doesn't know how to get out of the way.

TPM,

Are you serious that your son never hit a batter before college? Please believe me, I'm not doubting your word here, it just seems incredible to me.

Over the past 5 years, LL to current his current Babe Ruth including regular seasons and Fall Ball, my son has hit perhaps 10 batters among the several hundred that he has pitched to over that amount of time. You only have my word for it, but I believe unequivocally that he has never thrown at a batter on purpose. Still, he does try to use all of the plate and over that 5 year period he has made some location mistakes, occasionally on the inside.

My son has never acted proud of hitting anyone, in fact quite the opposite, but it is of interest to me how more experienced pitchers deal with the stress of unintentional HBs.

Actually, it sounds like even more stress to be pressured by your teammates into making a retaliation pitch, although the rationale for it seems to be pretty well understood and accepted as a necessary evil by all in the pro game.

Just as an addendum, my son hasn't ever hit anyone in the head or chest area--his mistakes have landed on legs, butts, and a couple of times in the lower back (very painful, and distressing to witness).

After he got a fastball in the earhole (unintentionally, the pitcher was very remorseful) my boy started wearing a helmet with a cage to regain his confidence at the plate. Just last year, when one of my boy's teammates was hit in the face early in the season and really injured--out for 3 weeks and never really the same as a player when he came back-- my reaction was to try to get the LL to institute mandatory face guards on batting helmets. The local board "suggested" the face protection to everyone, but let it slide and never tried to make it mandatory.

For the 9 - 12 yo crowd mandatory face protection makes a lot of sense to me. I've heard credible baseball people opine that face protection ought to be mandatory at higher levels as well--mistakes do happen.

I don't remember one in HS at all, mainly because most hitters were afraid of him, same when he was younger he threw hard, they were afraid or it sounded like he was throwing hard. He may have plunked one or two when younger, but nothing that I remember actually. That's one of the reasons why he was able to learn to pitch inside the plate, most hitter stayed far back.

I may be mssing a plunk or two, but I cannot honestly remember him hitting anyone, even when he first started pitching, that was a long time ago (14-15 years). I do remember teh first time he plunked someone in college, husband and I turned to each other, both said, we've never seen that before.

This year he unfortunetly hit a batter in the head, suffering from tendinitous, he lost control of the ball. That was one of the reasons he was shut down, that's not his normal stuff. Most batters know that it is not intentional. After awhile the hitters learn about a pitcher, and learn to stay back if he has a habit of hitting pitchers. I do beleive that if a young pitcher hits batters on a continuos basis he maybe needs to be removed until he finds control or refines mechanics. Coming inside and hitting a batter is not uncommon but shouldn't be taught until he has mastered the other stuff. JMO.

I remember (my memory is not that bad) way back in when son was younger a pitcher threw a pitch right to the batters face (he didn't have good control), broken jaw and teeth missing. Those parents petitioned for the pitcher to be removed as he had hit too many before that. It was not done on purpose, and actually the coach should have been working with him or taken the ball away before that unfortunate incident occured. That poor kid never came back to baseball.