Outfielder pet peeve.....

[90210]

That's all good. Coaches may coach. I'm talking about girls who literally don't move unless they are coached. They don't size up the hitter or keep track of where the opposing team is in the batting order or remember what a player did the previous at-bat, or notice the player's swing, etc. They treat the 80-pound slapper and the 160-pound slugger just the same. They have a happy spot where they like to stand and don't move unless instructed. A couple of years ago, DD was playing LF. We had never played this team, but we knew one batter, and DD had seen her hit a bunch of HR in the past. When she came up, DD was playing shallow. I asked her after the game why she was playing so close against 'Cameron.' She says she positioned herself based on where the CF was. Really? Cameron burned the CF. I thought of having DD hitch-hike home.

This is mine as well.

In defense of outfielders who make catches flat footed and cruise to catch balls, the way a human eye and brain work make it much easier to track and catch a ball using the aforementioned bad habits. (check out How Baseball Players Catch Fly Balls). Notice that MLB outfielders basically always cruise unless they will likely need to make a throw, and it's not even all that rare to see a flat footed catch when a throw is necessary. I would bet that if you made cruising/flat footed catches a benchable offense, you would get a decent amount more dropped "routine" catches.