Baseball or fastpitch catcher's mitt for Dad

[Towny9]

In 2013 I coached the VA HS Gatorade POY. He was mid 90s with a lot of arm side run. Our senior catcher did a great job of catching him, but was having a recurring hand issue from getting thumbed early in the season. We tried to have our JV catcher catch him in bullpens, but it was just not safe for the JV kid because he wasn’t ready to handle that yet.

My assistant coach, and I started doing rock paper scissors to see who would catch him in practice to give our starting catcher some break. I was 32 yo and still playing some, but it was not an enjoyable experience. I could not imagine doing that now.

 

[ANNASDAD]

In 2013 I coached the VA HS Gatorade POY. He was mid 90s with a lot of arm side run. Our senior catcher did a great job of catching him, but was having a recurring hand issue from getting thumbed early in the season. We tried to have our JV catcher catch him in bullpens, but it was just not safe for the JV kid because he wasn’t ready to handle that yet.

My assistant coach, and I started doing rock paper scissors to see who would catch him in practice to give our starting catcher some break. I was 32 yo and still playing some, but it was not an enjoyable experience. I could not imagine doing that now.

I'm fascinated by watching MLB catchers, and just how easy they make their job look!

Scenario.....playoff game, or a very stressful game with playoff implications, late innings and the starter needs to be relieved, starter is smooth but hard throwing, very controlled, very predictable. Reliever comes in, throws straight gas at 100+, somewhat wild and known to spike pitches, one out with runners on 2nd & 3rd. Can you imagine a more stressful job in sports that the average fan, or sports fan never notices or doesn't have a clue what it takes to catch in the MLB. Someone like Molina is a one percenter!

CATCHERS EARN THEIR MONEY!!

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I'm fascinated by watching MLB catchers, and just how easy they make their job look!

Scenario.....playoff game, or a very stressful game with playoff implications, late innings and the starter needs to be relieved, starter is smooth but hard throwing, very controlled, very predictable. Reliever comes in, throws straight gas at 100+, somewhat wild and known to spike pitches, one out with runners on 2nd & 3rd. Can you imagine a more stressful job in sports that the average fan, or sports fan never notices or doesn't have a clue what it takes to catch in the MLB. Someone like Molina is a one percenter!

CATCHERS EARN THEIR MONEY!!

And it was even tougher when they called the games without all the binders and metrics they have on all the hitters today.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

So, I just took the mitt out for a brief spin with my older daughter, the catcher. I had her throw some to me overhanded to see if I could catch them without dropping them. Low and behold, I was able to catch them in the developing pocket. This mitt still needs a ton of work, but I can already tell it has a lot more padding than the Liberty Advanced fastpitch mitt I was using.

I don't know if it's common for the baseball mitt to have that much more padding, but my anecdotal experience says the HOH has a lot more.

A question I have is if there are many college catchers who use baseball mitts rather than fastpitch ones?

 

[ANNASDAD]

Found a pic of my All-Star from Dec 2016.

 

[Towny9]

I'm fascinated by watching MLB catchers, and just how easy they make their job look!

Scenario.....playoff game, or a very stressful game with playoff implications, late innings and the starter needs to be relieved, starter is smooth but hard throwing, very controlled, very predictable. Reliever comes in, throws straight gas at 100+, somewhat wild and known to spike pitches, one out with runners on 2nd & 3rd. Can you imagine a more stressful job in sports that the average fan, or sports fan never notices or doesn't have a clue what it takes to catch in the MLB. Someone like Molina is a one percenter!

CATCHERS EARN THEIR MONEY!!

You aren’t lying! I always wondered how many batting average points it costs a catcher just due to the fatigue of catching. The velocity wasn’t really the issue. You get used to it the more you see it. The issue with catching the MLB guys is the movement. When the ball runs in or down and in (sinker type action) it’s like a heat seeking missle that just finds your thumb. That’s the painful part. Catch just one on the thumb the wrong way and your week is ruined.

 

[_MIA_]

DD: “Dad, I want to be a pitcher”
Dad: “No you don’t”

(Multiple) Problem(s) solved..

 

[ANNASDAD]

DD: “Dad, I want to be a pitcher”
Dad: “No you don’t”

(Multiple) Problem(s) solved..

Lordy, tons of truth here! See, I was the stupid Dad, “hey Anna guess what, I just signed you up with the coolest pitching coach!” It’ll be a blast!

 

[jsoftballcoach]

DD: “Dad, I want to be a pitcher”
Dad: “No you don’t”

(Multiple) Problem(s) solved..

I fell for it.

We were basically practicing another sport for however many years.

DD was told to prepare to throw against teams like Florida and Northwestern, so maybe we did something right?


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[_MIA_]

I fell for it


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Well there has to be some suckers otherwise there wouldn’t be a sport