What I've Learned From Baseball by Coach John Peter
The game of baseball is infinitely more complex than most give it credit for. Most that I have learned about baseball is common sense.but each lesson took someone with more common sense than I to point it out.
For Hitters
If you think you're too good to bunt, your ego is getting in the way of your highest potential batting average. Also, coaches love guys who know how to get it done right.
For Pitchers
When learning a new pitch or grip.throw to a tarp, wall or fence, not to a catcher.Why?
Because you are not working on location at this point. You are working on things like mechanics, touch, feel and movement. Build up to location!
For Coaches
Ask questions from any and all coaches.
Nothing sticks out more than the guy who never can be taught anything and acts like he knows everything during a coaches pow wow. Your peers offer a best way to learn.
|
|
Featured Article
How to Best View and Select a Video by Coach John Peter
Want to know the easiest way to teach and learn winning, fundamental baseball? Instructional videos help coaches tutor young players. Why do we suggest videos? Quality repetitions!! Learn at your own pace and on your own time. A remote control lets you slow it, repeat it, absorb it and understand it...year after year. Trust yourself to learn. If you are a dad or are coaching a team, you are your kid's best chance of learning about the game.
Read the full article
|
|
Featured Product at BaseballTips.com: Newsletter Only Specials
Baseball's Believe It or Not
The Seventh-Inning Stretch
For those of you who subscribe to Sports Illustrated, you may have noticed in the October 7th issue the brief reference to the advent of the seventh-inning stretch in the rankings of "America's Best Sports Colleges." The college receiving credit: Manhattan College in New York City. The reference: "seventh-inning stretch invented by Jaspers baseball coach in 1880's."
For a more in-depth review of the stretch's origins, I turned to the official website of Manhattan College Athletics, and the following tale is told:
The unique nickname of Manhattan College's athletic teams, the Jaspers, comes from one of the College's most memorable figures, Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., who served at the College in the late 19th century. One of the greatest achievements of Brother Jasper was that he brought the then little-known sport of baseball to Manhattan College and became the team's first coach. Since Brother was also the Prefect of Discipline, he supervised the student fans at Manhattan College baseball games while also directing the team itself.
During one particularly warm and humid day when Manhattan College was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy as Manhattan came to bat in the seventh inning of a close game. To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called time-out and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed.
When the college team played some exhibition games at the Polo Grounds against the New York Giants, the students did their seventh inning stretch, and thus it started to catch on at the major league level.
Fact or fiction? The term "seventh-inning stretch" can be traced back no further than 1920, but the earliest reference actually appears in an 1869 letter from Harry Wright of the Cincinnati Red Stockings to a friend: "The spectators all arise between halves of the seventh inning, extend their legs and arms and sometimes walk about. In so doing they enjoy the relief afforded by relaxation from a long posture upon hard benches."
And in some circles the stretch's beginnings have been credited to President William Howard Taft, who on April 14, 1910 began the tradition of throwing out the presidential first pitch on opening day. While every President except for Jimmy Carter has opened at least one season since, millions of fans have participated in the seventh-inning stretch, although the exact inspiration of that tradition remains as cloudy as the invention of baseball itself.
|
|
The E-Zine Link: Sport Specific
Speed training, power programs, agility drills, exclusive discounts, and the latest strength and conditioning tips from the top strength coaches in the world!
Looking for a great place to develop a baseball training program? Check out sportspecific.com. They offer lots of FREE info plus a very reasonable subscription with so many benefits we can't even list them. This is for the serious athlete looking to get stronger and quicker without the expense of a personal trainer. Check them out!
|
Famous Quotes About Baseball
It's designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything is new again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains comes, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone.
A. Bartlett Giamatti, former Comissioner of Baseball
A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz.
Humphrey Bogart
The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love.
Bryant Gumbel
Nothing flatters me more than to have it assumed that I could write prose, unless it be to have it assumed that I once pitched a baseball with distinction.
Robert Frost
You teach me baseball and I'll teach you relativity...No we must not. You will learn about relativity faster than I learn baseball.
Albert Einstein
It's still the best game in town because you don't have to be big to play, and everybody plays. Even your grandmother probably played baseball.
Tommy Lasorda
|
It's Free
The price is always right, so take advantage of our free services:
Instructional Articles - There are currently 65 articles available covering all aspects of baseball.
Message Board - Become a part of our baseball community by asking your questions here. Receive answers and different perspectives from the many coaches and players who take advantage of the Baseball Tips.com Message Board.
Stat Calculators - In our stats area you can use our calculators to compute your batting average, earned run average, and slugging percentage.
|
|
Your Turn - Submit an Article, Drill, or Comment
|
Got an article or drill you want to share? Maybe there is something that you would like to see added to this newsletter. What product or information would you like us to add to the Baseball Tips.com website? Please fill out the form below and press "submit comments." Thanks - Coach JP.
|
|
Instructors Section
|
We are beginning a FREE resource for players and coaches who are interested in personal instruction in all aspects of baseball and softball.
National in scope, any instructor can simply add their credentials and specialties to our database, which can be viewed by all visitors of Baseballtips.com. A brief example follows:
| Type of Instruction | Location | Instructor Info |
| Coaching Fundamentals, Hitting | Atlanta, GA | Coach John Peter
770-487-9798 |
|
|
|
|
