BY FAN FUEL – BLUE JAYS INSIDERS
In this week’s edition of Blue Jays Central: Ask the Insiders, the Insiders answered several fan questions including why catcherrs don’t seem to chat up the hitters like Yogi Berra did; do they have any pre-game superstitions and how does the pitch tracker on the tv broadcast work.
Kathleen Hanson asks: Yogi Berra used to drive hitters crazy with his non-stop talking and tossing dirt on their shoes, etc. I don’t see that happening now. Are catchers allowed to do things like that these days?
Buck Martinez: Kathleen there aren’t any rules to prohibit a catcher from having a conversation with the hitters as they come to the plate but you are right, it doesn’t seem like there is much of it going on in the game today. It was one of the aspects of catching I really enjoyed. The banter between batter, catcher and umpire can be fascinating and cover a wide spectrum of topics. Where did you eat last night, how’s your golf game?, how good do you think our pitcher is? It really can be a very colourful part of the game.
Pat Tabler: Len, superstitions are everywhere in baseball! Players try to break the so called “back luck” that is surrounding them by doing something different that changes things up. If you are hot at the plate or you are pitching well, players will try to do the same thing everyday. Examples of this are wearing the same undershirt every time you step on the field, stay with your same routine in the batter’s box or use the same bat when you are hitting. If I was in a hot streak I always drove to the ballpark the same way. If I was in a slump I would try taking different routes to break out of it. By the way, I never met a ballplayer who stepped on the foul lines! Bad Luck!!
Jack Morris: Most of the catchers don’t do that because the hitters get upset and at that point the home plate umpire will step in and tell the catcher to knock it off.
Mike Wilner: Some catchers (and first basemen) are still pretty chatty, some not so much. I’m not sure quite how any of us would be able to see that stuff watching a game on TV, though, and certainly not in the stands. Anything to get a guy’s mind on something other than hitting!
Mr. Len asks: A bit was made of Jamie Campbell and Gregg Zaun sitting in different chairs when the Jays beat the Orioles. What were your folks pre-game superstitions? (Media included!)
Buck Martinez: I really don’t have any superstitions in the broadcast booth other than Pat, Scott Carson and I go through our pre-game fists bumps for a good telecast but that’s about the extent of any superstitions. As you might expect our habits in the booth have very little to do with the performance on the field.
Jack Morris: As a player I never had any superstitions or pre-game rituals. For most of my career I actually laughed and mocked guys that did. For example, some guys would refuse to step on the chalk lines. But I’d go out there, stand on them, look at the guys and say “See? This is not going to ruin my day.”
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Gregg Zaun: Jamie and I have no pre-game superstitions. They are doing construction in the studio background so it was necessary to move me to the other side in order to facilitate a single shot. LOL
Mike Wilner: I firmly believe that there’s not a single thing I can do from the broadcast booth that can impact anything that happens on the field. I get the fun of the “special chair” or the “don’t sit back down until they get out” if there’s a rally going and stuff like that, though.
Jamie Campbell: Mr. Len, Gregg and I switched sides at the director’s request; there was no superstition involved. I’m not superstitious as much as I’m a creature of habit. My only “must” before any broadcast is to brush my teeth.
Caolan Crittall asks: How does the pitch tracker work? How accurate is it? And why does it vary so much from the umpire’s calls? As far as I can see, the umpire is more consistent than that small box in the corner. Does it really catch the late action on breaking balls, sliders, etc.?
Buck Martinez: Caolan, the pitch tracker is a “representation” of the strike zone purely for the entertainment of the viewing audience. As you pointed out so well the umpires vary from game to game according to pitch tracker. I have worked with umpires for years as a player, manager and now a broadcaster and can vouch for the quality of the umpires overall. I think pitch tracker is most valuable to our telecasts as a tool to watch the pitcher attacking a hitters weak spots. You can see the patterns of pitches used to get the hitter out and when the plan goes bad the results are hits and runs. I suggest you use pitch tracker as another tool to enjoy the game and don’t grade the home plate umpires performance off of the pictures you see.
Gregg Zaun: In my mind, the pitch tracker is a terrible measure of the strike zone. The equipment they use is prone to human error during setup. They use electronic lawn darts, lasers, and cameras to calibrate the left to right of the strike zone. Any fixed equipment is subject to stadium movement due to the vibration of the stadium during games. It’s real. You’ve probably felt it. Cameras are held by humans and moved during the game. Then you have the differences in build of the players. After 16 years in the Show, I could call a game from my living room.
Mike Wilner: I don’t really know the technical details of the pitch tracker, but I believe that it shows where the ball is at the moment is “breaks the plane”, as it were, of home plate.
That would eliminate late-breaking action back across the plate, but I’m not surprised that it and the umpires seem to disagree so often, which is why I’m strongly in favour of robot umpires.
Jamie Campbell: MLB implements the pitch tracker technology in every park Caolan. As far as I know, it’s done with censors that extend from the mound to the plate. I’m told it is very accurate, which may accentuate the imperfections of the human beings standing behind the plate.
Robert Owen asks: In my over 60 years of following baseball, I have never known of a left-handed position player as a catcher, shortstop, or second baseman. Why is that?
Buck Martinez: Robert more than anything it is the way the game is set up and played. If the batter/runners ran around the bases from home to third, then a shortstop and second baseman being left handed would be natural as their throws to third would be in line with their bodies and not “across” them. Since the game is played with the runners going from home to first, the infielders having to throw to first to retire the hitter the right handed throwers make more sense. As for the catcher, most of the hitters that come to the plate are right handed and the catcher has the freedom to make his throws without the concern of hitting the batter standing in the batter’s box. With a left-handed catcher the throws with a right handed batter would always be at risk of hitting him or at least the feeling of hitting him and wouldn’t be as effective or consistent.
Pat Tabler: Robert, the reason you don’t really see left handed catchers or infielders (minus the first baseman of course) is the throw across the diamond is just too hard to make. You have to turn your body completely around to throw it to first base. You’ve seen a lot of “bang-bang” plays at first base over the years and if a left-hander is throwing the ball the runner would be safe. It takes too long. I know of just one left-handed throwing catcher in my time. I think his name was Haney and he threw left-handed. Just google him. I remember seeing his baseball card when I was younger and I thought that it was odd that the glove was on his right hand!
Gregg Zaun: I really believe you’ve never seen left handed shortstops, etc, because of the natural progression of the bases. Think how far one would have to turn to make routine throws. Shortstops would have a heck of a time turning two. Orient your body in whatever position you choose and imagine the plays you’d have to make while left handed.
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Mike Wilner: There have been a handful of lefty-throwing catcher, the most recent Benny DiStefano and former Blue Jays’ coach Mike Squires, but that was more than 20 years ago. It’s felt that left-handed throwing catchers have a lot more trouble throwing to third to catch someone stealing because of the way they’d have to turn their bodies.
On the infield, a lefty-throwing shortstop would have to do a 360 to get a throw off to first on a ball on the hole, a third baseman would have issues with having to turn his body after a play down the line and making the pivot on a double play turn would be next to impossible for a left-handed throwing second baseman.
Jamie Campbell: Robert, I have no explanation for the lack of left-handers in those positions. Everyone makes a big deal about Benny Distefano of the ’89 Pirates being the last left handed catcher, but the truth is he was a first-baseman who played a handful of games behind the plate. Read up on Hal Chase, a left hander who played several infield positions about a hundred years ago. He was a crooked, yet fascinating individual.
Sean Herbert asks: When Jose Reyes gets back would you consider taking Munenori Kawasaki and moving him to second for the defence?
Buck Martinez: Sean I don’t think that will be an option. I still believe the organization is weighing their options at short with Reyes out. Munenori has been ok at the position but when you compare him to the rest of the division he may not match up favourably. I think the Jays are concerned with the defence up the middle overall and if you think about the Orioles and the Red Sox up the middle they are much stronger than the Jays right now.
Jack Morris: I have no idea what the Jays are planning on doing right now. I don’t know it for sure, but my gut feeling is that there will be changes because of the way the team is playing defence.
Pat Tabler: Sean, as for Kawasaki moving to second base when Reyes gets back, I don’t have a problem with that. Defence has been a rough spot for the Jays early on. If you pitch and play defence, you are going to win a lot of baseball games. Kawasaki is a good enough infielder that I’m sure he could make the switch. Reyes won’t be back until July. Lots can happen between now and then. I still think Izturis and Bonifacio are going to be fine and they seem to be a better everyday option at this point. They both have longer track records at playing in the Major Leagues.
Gregg Zaun: I would definitely consider Kawasaki at 2B if he was agreeable. Always defence first up the middle in my mind. He needs to learn to pull the ball to stay in my line up.
Shi Davidi: Sean, Kawasaki has been a very, very good emergency sub for Reyes, but a platoon of Izturis and Bonifacio at second base is really a far better answer. Though he’s not hitting much now, a lot of players I’ve talked to privately rave about Bonifacio and say if given time he’s really going to emerge. Izturis has also hit somewhat better of late, and the combination of offence and defence they can provide should far exceed Kawasaki’s production, which most people you speak with believe is due to tail off.
Mike Wilner: Sean, as much as Emilio Bonifacio and Maicer Izturis’ defence have been found wanting at times, they both — when they’re not in a terrible slump — bring much more to the table offensively than Kawasaki.
Kawasaki made a tremendous first impression, but the bloom is already starting to come off that rose a bit. I think we should wait and see where things stand in July before figuring out what to do when Reyes comes back.
Jamie Campbell: Possible, but unlikely Sean. My guess is Kawasaki either goes to the bench or Buffalo.