To get the baseball program started-and it’s never too early-the manager first needs to know: What indoor and outdoor facilities are available? How many assistants will be available? How much time can be devoted to the pre-season program by the players, coaches and manager? How much time can […]

Until a boy gets to be 13 or 14 years old, it’s usually pretty difficult to decide, in a final sense, the position he’s best suited to play. At eight, he may look like a good 1st base prospect. At 12, because of physical changes alone, he may look more like an […]

Good baseline coaches are invaluable. They are particularly important to the younger players. When a 10-year-old gets on base, he’s too inexperienced and too excited to do much thinking about his next move. He needs calm, clear, concise instruction. At the higher age levels, the base runner needs just as much […]

Ball players and managers “talk” with each other through the use of signals, which may be given by voice, or by body movements. However they’re given, the “Signs” should be both simple and complicated; simple for the team using them, complicated for the opposition. That’s a contradiction, of course. The point is […]

Objective The hit-and-run play is one of the best offensive plays in baseball. The team t bat employs it to move the defense from its normal position and-if a base hit results-to give the base runner or runners an opportunity to take an extra base. How it is Executed […]

Objective The Manager signals for the Sacrifice Bunt when he wants to move one or two runs into the best possible scoring position and is willing to give up an out to do so. How it is Executed With only 1st base occupied, it’s best to place the ball […]

Ball players say a team has to play “percentage baseball” to be successful. They’re right. But, what is “percentage baseball?” A Manager, first of all, is something like a checker player. As he directs the team on offense, he very often has a choice of moves. In a given situation, he […]

Sometimes when a runner is caught off base, whether it be by the pitcher, catcher, or any other member of the defensive team, he attempts to get free by dodging back and forth along the base line. The team without a defense for these antics, is a team that’s going to […]

The second baseman and shortstop have the responsibility of keeping the outfield “informed” on each pitch. If no sign is given, the outfield can assume the catcher has called for a fast ball. If the catcher calls for a curve, the infielder might make some natural movement-a hitch of the belt, a […]

Now we come to some of the more complicated defensive decisions-what to do before the pitch when the bases are loaded, runners on 1st and 3rd, etc. Here again, the defense has to decide, in advance, what it is going to do. A situation-by-situation explanation may help your understanding of this problem. […]