elhector1

Props to the Indians for a great effort tonight. They played team ball. To my Bears...you went in as a team, you played as a team, you lost as a team. We can talk about errors or other things all night, but the fact is, even without that error in the 3rd, you were still down 2-1. If you don't hit the ball, you don't get men on base, and you don't score. Mitch Todd pitched a great game, and we stood by and watched a lot of strikes go by on 3rd strikes. Calling it "junk pitches" does not lessen the fact that it is a strike. A pitcher's job is to throw what you can't hit, and he did his job. What now? Leave it behind, take lessons from it, and improve. In the words of Gunny Highway from the movie "Heartbreak Ridge"...Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. We have every confidence in you!

The only thing I can figure is that there are not enough arms available to the coach to pitch, that let's the ball be put in play to finish off those 6 outs. If he was pitching in the top of the 4th, he was on the field while we batted, so that might have come in to play. That being said, the best thing that can happen is for there to be someone out there who can take the kids willing to pitch and work with them. If Cnetral's coach has other duties that prevent him from doing this, I bet there are at least a couple of volunteers that he can get to do this. The only thing to prevent it would be a restriction on volunteer participation as per the district.

Love your enthusiam....See ya in the playoffs. ;D Sounds like a plan Eagle...but I won't forget about the regular season, and the fine crop of teams we will have to battle to get there...

I beleive the proper words to instruct a young high school mind who beleives hs right to free speech is contingent on making his displeasure known to an umpire at least a decade his senior are.... ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? wait for it.... ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D with the finger right next to the thumb pointing in the general direction of the exit from the field of play... now coaches arguing...that's a different matter ;D ;D

It's good to see all those Dookieville (Deweyville) Pirate boys dialing 011 for international long distance...lol. Saw most of them play at Twin County Little League as they were growing up, and summer ball in LL Junior League and LL Senior League. As for my Bears...we need to put a GPS receiver on some of the baseballs, just to make it easier to find them afterwards... TEAM!

A football coaches responsibility is to build a football team, whether during the season or the off season. A baseball coach's responsibility is to do the same. The problem is conflicting needs. If you have a big guy that is a lineman, you are going to build him as such. This means that you are going to build bulk, and not arm. If he is also one of the pitchers of the team, this is going to conflict with what is needed for the baseball team. Problem is, the head football coach in most of the area schools is also, TA DA...the AD. So guess who gets hosed? In addition, probably the majority of weight training workouts specify alternating muscle groups on alternating days to prevent injury, and allow for muscle growth and regeneration. It's a physical reality, especially for developing muscles in teens, where not only is the muscle involved, but the bone growth plates as well. I'm sure many of you know of a kid who was threw heat at 11 or 12, was ridden hard by his volunteer coach as his "ace", and ends up having a "rag arm" by the time he gets to high school. It wasn't his genetics, it was over use. So what does this boil down to? A good coaching staff puts the health of the kids first and foremost. A good coaching staff doesn't have identified "aces". they have developed a lot of kids at the pitching position, and are ready no matter who they play. A good coaching staff develops their team in all positions, and has a kid ready to go, if one of the others is hurt. A good coaching staff doesn't need a couple of "ironmen" playing hurt because they have the whole team ready to play ball. A good coaching staff has workouts that meet the needs of the kids, not the ego of the coaches. A good coaching staff doesn't need a UIL rule, because they already had that idea of taking care of the kids foremost in their mind. I am proud to say that where my kid is...we have a GREAT coaching staff, and they have developed the epitome of what baseball is...TEAM...

"LCM: LCM has enough pitching to dish some out to every team and still have more than every other team. Thompson is a very talented lefty, Matt Johnson is also very good, and has a bat to go along with it. LCM won district last year which means everyone wants to beat them that much more. They have a solid chance to win district this year and need to take advantage of it." Actually, Thompson is a very talented RIGHTY...lol LCM's pitchers are: Tim Barry Danny Briseno Dallas Brown Stefan Cloeren Matt Johnson Ben Jones Stephen Maldonado Taylor Thompson Shane Waddell the list is alphabetical...in case you didn't notice...lol I'll let you find out abilities and who the lefties and righties are during the season...

actually, they played a good part of the bottom of the 4th...LCM had about 6 or 7 batters come up, of which 2 were hit by the pitch

Kenny Allison didn't pitch badly...the Bears just got hits off of him. Central's second pitcher started off throwing high, but then started to get his rythym going, however, the Bears also hit off of him. Central's third pitcher struggled in the last inning and had struck at least two batters before Central's coach decided that it was time to end a long night for the Jaguars. Besides the score, I beleive that he felt his pitcher didn't have enough control of his pitches to keep from hitting batters, and as a result, wanted to avoid an incident. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

because the ball never got past 1st or 3rd.

I guess the question about the blocked base path is if a player goes around an infielder without the ball, but awaiting the throw, and those extra steps result in being tagged out, is this a cause for appeal? In avoiding the "run over" does the player attempting to avoid a collision get penalized?

Come on Coach...midnight bowling, midnight baseball...they both involve balls and strikes, ditinct uniforms, and funny shoes, along with a lot of "oh, just missed it" and freindly camraderie...

thanks Mr. Ump. I can see the situations you have talked about, especially at the sub varsity level... My expereince is pretty much Little League, where strike zone was as much teaching as anything else. I always expalined my strike zone to the coaches beforehand, and usually had no problems... If I called someone out or awarded a base based on obstruction or interference, I would usually call out the reason. and explain the rule, loud enough for parents to hear... Nothing compared to the dealings you guys have...but interesting none the less...

One of the reasons VOP...but not the whole reason... I don't expect a perfect strike zone...just a consistent one. Each umpire has a unique perspective and a way to call a zone, but if they call it both ways, I have no complaint at all. I don't expect a perfect call on safe or out on base runners...they have a perspective that I don't... I don't expect to not be penalized on the rules...but I do expect the same umpire to enforce them evenly... Our boys realize that they have a lot of responsibility in the 2 losses. The umpires were only a part of those losses, not the whole reason.

thanks Mr Ump for a great post.... Does the umpire have discretion in calling the balk or warning the pitcher?

actually, DaBears, in the beautiful West Texas town of El Paso, I threw 105... of course, I had a 60 mile per hour wind at my back, and the sandstorm kind of confused the umpire and the gun a little bit... then in college...wait...I didn't go to college... in the semi-pros, I had a wicked "33 finger cheeseball" which I could always count on being called a strike...'cause it stuck to the bat.... and my "45 finger chili heater" always caused quite a stir...and frequent trips to the dugout, so my catcher could change out his glove, to keep from rubbing his eyes and gettin' them to water... all in all, pretty interesting...

true...

I now understand why DaBears karma sits at -38...lol

co4ch... the new rule on the balk which was called on Jones in the Brenham game, was being violated by the Bryan pitcher in today's game. The Bears coaching staff brought this up to the 1st base umpire, who was the same exact one who called it on Jones. Result? A warning to the Bryan coaching staff, reminding them of the new balk rule.... Yesterday's game was a strong win for Mangan, He is an excellent pitcher, and did well for his team. His strong pitching resulted in a 10 run rule, and needless errors by our team contributed. Today's game against Bryan hopefully got the error bug out of the Bears. Though they lost, they fought till the end. The maturity level is increasing, and it bodes well for the team. Good talking to you...

actually co4ch, the balk came in the 1st inning...it was this that gave Brenham the 3 run lead in the 1st inning... but Mangan was strong tonight...

the 2 check swings, the same check swing calls we didn't get, the balk on a "new rule" which was foot placement more than trying to fool the runner,... all that contributed to a loss of mental concentration... but... Mangan pitched a fine game...so he beat us more than the umpire did... and I think you would get an argument from a lot of pitchers that we have faced in regards to them being characterized as "poor"...

actually, it was the umpire's pinky that got hit... the first 2 innings WERE a nightmare because of "home cookin'"...but also because Brenham had their ace up there as well...the 2 combined took the Osos out of their mindset...which in a way is a good thing to learn before district...how to remain focused... the Battlin' Bears are nowhere near done...this was one game in a reaaly early season... replacement umpire was a welcome switch to balanced consistency...but our bats still struggled... Briseno for the Bears came in and did a fine job for the last 2 innings...

Got a phone call from the missus... LCM 18 Manor 9 WP Thompson LCM, Maldonado in relief for the last 2 innings Yeah, that Maldonado kis is mine, and no, I don't feel bad for being a proud dad... Heading out there this afternoon...

the coaching staff at LCM...Griffith, Stephenson, Martin, Brister, and others... Why... Consistency, Consistency, Consistency and Results, Results, Results

my apologies Woo Woo mom...you are correct! the Bear fans were quite "beady" looking... ;D