With spring training upon us it is fitting to write a post about my experience as a catcher in spring training. The first day of spring training was always my favorite day of every year. The is not much better than being able to go out to a beautiful baseball field every morning, inhaling the fresh cut grass, wearing your new kicks into the stadium, pulling out all your new bats and gear, breaking in a new mitt, and digging a fresh pair of spikes into the dirt. I can remem

Last time we talked about the catcher and the umpire. Now I want to take a look at another important relationship. The relationship between the catcher and his pitchers. This is a relationship that, as a catcher, we must give close attention. In this relationship, there needs to be a great amount of trust and fluidity. What do I mean by fluidity? Throughout a game, catchers at all levels will call at minimum 18 pitches. That is 3 pitches per inning for six innings, for

One of the most important relationships in sports is that of the cather and the umpire. Why is this relationship important anyway? In my nearly 20 years of catching, the one thing that remained the same with every umpire I had, was that they were all human beings. Yep, that's right, they truly are humans. That means they are imperfect and they have emotions. Some umpires are more imperfect than others, and some more emotional than others. But the fact of the matter is th