Catcher chatting up batters

[knightsb]

Last night DS had a baseball game 9U. After the second inning our best hitter just struck out and was in the dugout having a mini rant. Our batter indicated that all during his at bat the catcher was talking to him, asking him "Did you like Kung Fu Panda?, I did.", "Do you like pizza? What do you like on your pizza?", and the list of chatter and questions continued during his entire at bat. About that time, all of the other players who had an at bat indicated the catcher did the same thing to them. I thought it was kind of funny given the age appropriate questions he was asking. Since we were clobbering them, nothing was made of it, but it definitely effected some of the kids more than the others. I asked my DS if he thought the Ump heard it, and he said he was pretty sure he did, given the ump was snickering.

Have you ever experience something like this, if so how do you handle it? Should the Ump have put a stop to it?

 

[quincy]

We actually had an umpire doing this to our batters 1 game, I told the batters to ignore them and hit the ball.

 

[NorthMS]

I played catcher and always talked to the batters. After playing the same people many times, you learned who it worked against and who it didn't. I'm not sure if I did it at 9 YOA though. lol

 

[knightsb]

I read on another forum a coach, with the same problem, told his batters to kick a little dirt in the direction of the catcher each time they got in the batters box.

 

[andyh64000]

I played catcher and always talked to the batters. After playing the same people many times, you learned who it worked against and who it didn't. I'm not sure if I did it at 9 YOA though. lol

I did too. I even goaded one into trying to steal off of me after he walked and threw him out. His coach was pretty miffed .

 

[Richards]

Prepares them to focus on what they will need to focus on later in life........DISTRACTIONS. I caught as well and made sure that every kid got a different question each time at bat. That's the life of a catcher......especially when you're getting your rear end kicked!

 

[SoCalDad]

In high school I used to ask chatty catchers, "can you tell your mom I will be by at 9 tonight?". That usually shut them up. Probably not appropriate for a 9 YO.

 

[chinamigarden]

My son played with a kid who would talk food the whole game.

Hey batter, do you like cheese? I love cheese. All kinds, cheddar, american, swiss, colby, monterey jack, grilled cheese is my favorite sandwich, do you like sandwiches....

 

[FPMark]

When I caught, I never realy talked to the hitter, I would talk to the pitcher, things like "This guy can't hit. He's looking for a walk. Just throw 3 by him and let's go hit." Anything to take their mind off what they should be thinking about. Mad hitters are bad hitters. I thought all catchers did that, but that was a long time ago. Maybe it's not that common these days.

 

[Hoover's Dad]

I caught all through high school and was none for the junk that I said behind the plate. Some times I just made fun of my own team and coach.

Our dugout talk and antics would make the other teams so mad. My all time favorite was the old leather boot on a rope that we would throw out of the dugout and drag it back saying Boot-Boot-Boot- Boot -Boot-Boot whenever an infielder on the other team would BOOT a ball.
Or we would all line up in front of the dugout when the other team would change pitchers, every warm up pitch he would throw, we would all say OOOOHH or Awwww at the same time.

God I miss highschool ball so bad!!!!!!