Hitting and Hitters Discussion Hitting Batters???

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This quote was from another thread but it piqued my curiosity.

A very wise pitching coach (Ron Marstiller) once told our DD with respect to a particular pitch she was developing that if she didn't hit a batter at least once during a game, she wasn't throwing that pitch enough. It's not that Ron wanted her hitting batters;.....

Without incriminating yourself or anyone else, do you know of anyone who has called or does call a "hit the batter" pitch. I know this might be walking a tightrope on a dark subject because we are talking about kids, but I'm sure it happens.

No need for obligatory PC responses. We all know what what we should say.

 

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Knowing Ron's reputation, I'm thinking this was a misunderstood statement - possibly taken out of context. Lots of girls are afraid to throw "high and tight", or even inside for fear of plunking the batter. That's a fear that MUST be overcome to become a successful pitcher at the higher levels of the game.

My DD was reluctant to throw her newly learned backhand change-up in a game, even though she could nail it 11 out of 12 times in practice. Her pitching coach told her she didn't care if she threw it over the backstop- just throw it! It became her go to pitch for countless strike-outs.

Maybe Ron was just trying some psychological motivating, because I know he'd NEVER instruct a girl to intentionally throw at a batter.

 

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Ahh, I think it was me who wasn't clear. I didn't take it all that he called for a hit batter. His comment just got my wheels rolling down a darker path.

 

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I remember one game I called time and walked to the circle, told my DD to brush back the next girl in the side because she went yard the last at bat...... she GROOVED a fatty pitch and the young lady hit the ball 260 on to the street ;D ;D ;D ;D Just kidding..... ;D ;D BTW I do not believe any coach in there RIGHT mind would do that....... ( I hope)

 

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DD has been going to Ron for five years. I am sure his intent was to say "throw the pitch inside" not "bean the batter." You do have to push younger pitchers to throw inside to better control the plate.

Now to the question. I have never heard or seen any of our coaches - in several years of play - call for a pitch to hit a batter. (I will admit I have thought about it several times though.)

As players get older, I think it becomes more of a possibility that it will happen on purpose, but because the players think it is the right thing to do. Certainly in baseball it happens all the time (or at least that is what I hear.)

Hitting a player on purpose is an extreme measure. But there are way too many coaches that want to see how far they can push the rule and their players, so they will play that game, and lots of others, with the rules.

If you feel that one of your players has been hit on purpose, then take the words of Crash Davis to heart..."Hit the bull."

(Yup, I am saying if you want to retaliate, hit the person that started it, who will be coaching third when the sides change.)

How's that to throw a curve?

 

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wondering, and playing the devil's advocate as usual, what roger clemens would say if he had daughters playing softball instead of raising 2 boys...or even nolan ryan :-X

 

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It seems when we are talking about brush back pitches and hitting a batter its men doing the talking, its in our DNA, to be aggressive like that. I really think girls/women arent to comfortable with doing such things for the most part, I just dont think its in their make-up. They want to purposely hit a batter about as much as we want to go to the in-laws for dinner.

 

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We were playing last year at ASA B state tourny last year in Kettering. My dd who has a good bat was up. The coach gave her the sign to fake bunt to move the runner on first. She squares to fake and the pitcher gives her one inside. The pitch comes up and in under the face mask of her helmet and nails her right on the chin. If that wasn't enough the ump then said it was a strike as he said the ball also hit the bat. We all felt that what he heard was the ball hitting the helmet but he wouldn't budge. The girls in our dugout swear they saw her get a signal they believe was a hit the batter sign. (a couple of our girls knew this pitcher from previously playing with her) What was worse was when she came in after the third out her dad kissed her hand. I have to believe it was intentional.

 

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It doesn't take much for screwball to slide too far inside to hit a righty or a curve/drop curve to do the same thing to a lefty. If a pitcher is ever going to be effective they have to be able to throw inside without fear of hitting a batter. While I would hope that nobody is telling pitchers to hit people intentionally, I am sure that many people are teaching pitchers to get right in under a batter's hands. That is possibly what the coach was referring to in the originally post. If you are throwing these types of pitches often and effectively you will probably hit your share of batters, just because of where you are trying to put the ball.

As far as the original question regarding a hitting the batter sign. If you have to stoop to that level GET OUT OF THE GAME YOU DON'T BELONG!!!

This thread also took me down a little darker road of thought. As a high school baseball pitcher, we were taught that if there was a suicide squeeze situation with the game on the line, if the right handed batter squared early and we knew it was coming we should throw it right at their nose. This would prevent them from bunting and probably allow the catcher the opportunity to make the tag out.

I was wondering if this was a theory that was taught in softball also?

 

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msutt, we were taught the same thing on my high school baseball team. Our coach would throw BP and we'd work in squeeze bunts. If we sqaured too early, the pitch was coming at our head.

 

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im a catcher the only time ill throw a pitch to hit a batter is if the batter is continuously crowding my plate...it drives be crazy...with most batters, that i have face,if you hitt them once they usually get scared and back off....you may not agree but this is what i have encountered in my years of fastpitch as well as my sister's

 

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You'll probably take some heat for that answer luv2catch, but I bet your answer is closer to reality than most would like to admit.

 

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i really don't mind...because its the truth...but if a batter is over the plate and gets hit it is supposed to give the batter a strike i believe....the only problem is, is that most umpires won't call it...at nationals this year we hitt a batter two times in a row...the first time it was a wild pitch...but the second time it was a strike, the girls hands were over the plate and the ball hit them and then hit her in the head...but the umpire didn't see it that way and gave her the base...btw we went on to get second at national(the tidalwaves)

 

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luv2catch-Thank you for your honesty, and you are absolutely correct, if a batter is literally on top of the plate, the pitcher has the right to that part of the plate. And yes many times a batter will get hit if they do not move even if the pitch is a strike. I've seen batters knees and hands out over the plate and see this crowding of the plate more with older teams. But I wouldn't say you are deliberately trying to hit a batter, just trying to get control of the plate. There is a difference.

 

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As a pitcher myself, I completely agree with Shockwave.

 

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My daughter is a power hitter and pitcher. Her coach from last year(who was very abusive to all the girls) has made the comment that he will throw at my daughter this season. Needless to say, we have moved on like 90% of the team. If it happens, I feel sorry for the girl who commits this act when she comes up to bat. I would never teach this or tell a player to do it, but I'm old school. You know the saying....the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

 

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Combinig so many thoughts on this thread seems to embody the the approach to hitting and pitching that may include batters being hit on purpose or not.
As a coach I have never and would never instruct my pitcher to hit a batter. It's a game and nobody wants to be resposible for an injury. HOWEVER some teams as a whole flat out crowd the plate taking advantage of what Uber spoke of, a pitcher not wanting to hit a batter being in her nature. I think it is very important to teach a pitcher to master their control and not be affraid to use the inside of the plate and a solid ball width off the plate to control the batter. This is where the batter may be hit unintentionally. I believe this is the only way to coach a pitcher and catcher. Teaching them to intentionally hit a player is simply an act of cowardess and leaves your players open to the same treatment when they're at the plate and before you know it, everybody is angry with each other and somebody may get a serious injury.

 

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A pitcher has to be able to use the entire strike zone to be successful and that means the inside too. ? My dd has finally learned to throw to the inside part of the strike zone even when hitters crowd the plate. ?Some teams, travel and hs, are taught this and I have seen girls throw a strike that hits the batter, ?who is in the strike zone and the hitter get first base. ?My dd's hs team lost a league game this way last year and the coach said in the paper the next day that this was her strategy. Especially at tourneys where there are no batters boxes marked you see this quite a lot. ? You look at the batters toes and they are dam near on the black of the plate. ?By doing this they intend to intimidate the pitchers into throwing ?in only one half the strike zone, ?pitchers must not be afraid to use the inside part of the strike zone. ?I don't think most pitchers want to give the other team a runner just to prove a point but the door swings both ways. ?

 

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timac4,.....We're always at the mercy of the umpire's decision. The pitcher has every right to the entire plate and a little more but that is not the same as intentially just drilling the batter. In your situation, you can only hope the umpire read the same article you did and has wised up to the situation with that school.
The beauty of now pitching down the middle of the plate is that a batter crowding the plate has left themselves an awful small opportunity for a decent hit. If they don't get their hands through quickly, they'll simply be fisting drbblers in the infield. Keep reinforcing to your dd that the plate is hers and it's up to the coach and umpire to discuss what's going on between innings.

 

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Attended a HS game down here in Tx in which a girl hit 3 batters in a row. The ump ejected her from the game and as she walked into the dugout she High Fived the coach with a big smile on her face.

Girl had complete control up to that point. Stange part about that is the team was still in the game. She ended up walking one in during that sequence.

Intentional or not? It happens.........

Elliott.