What the Snake said about whining...

When I was starting out with my DD in pitching, I met a guy known as "The Snake". He pitched in Aurora, Illinois during the glory years of men's fastpitch. He was my DD's pitching coach--kind of, sort of. He was one of the most unique people I've ever met.

One day, I was whining about my DD's team not fielding well behind her. The Snake, as he so often did, went off on me.

"So what? Of course, the SS is going to let the ball go between her legs. Of course, the CF is going to drop the ball. Of course, the #4 batter is going to strikeout with the bases loaded. What does that have to do with your DD's pitching? The only thing she has control over is the ball. Her job is to throw the ball the best she can on every pitch. If she throws the ball the best she can *EVERY F*** PITCH*, then she has done something--win or lose.

"How many girls did your DD walk? Two? So, your DD let two people walk down to 1B without doing anything, and your b**** because the SS made an error? At least with the error, there was a chance the batter could twist her knee swinging the bat."

I miss snake......

This is good advice. Focus on the stuff that you can control. As well as pitching, my DDs play the infield. Sometimes they make a pretty good throw that doesn't get caught or it is bobbled. I tell them, "Don't worry about it. Just make your play. You can't catch the ball for them!"

I may have to use this during my next "motivational speech" with my DD!!!

Two years ago, I had a conversation with a parent of a 14 year old pitcher that went something like this:

Mom: "I thought Janie pitched well today. It's too bad the team made so many errors behind her. We should have won that game."

Me: "I agree that the team made too many errors today. I also don't believe we pitched well, either."

Mom: "What are you talking about? She only gave up five hits and walked two. It was errors that caused the loss, not my DD!"

Me: "Look at it this way. One of the five hits she gave up was a triple off the fence right after our SS made a low throw to 1B that the first baseman couldn't scoop. She floated one right down the middle to their #4 hitter and there was two on when she did it. Another hit was another triple that one-hopped the fence that she gave up with two on and an 0-2 count. Yet another hit was a homerun to center field that she gave up on the first pitch to a hitter after she had just got through walking those two batters. She took something off that pitch and put it right down the pipe to a girl who looks like Mike Trout. I count seven RBI on those three lousy pitches. We lost 8-6."

I like this Snake dude.

Is the Snake on the motivational speaker circuit?

rdbass said:

I miss snake......

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I heard you were dead

rdbass said:

I miss snake......

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You heard what they did to Bob, huh?

Do not confuse The Snake with The Dude.

Snake was a straight shooter to be sure.