This Bugs Me
Posted by SBG on Friday, June 2nd, 2006 at 12:49 pm
At the risk of sounding like a crotchety old man, you know what bugs me? I hate it when the catcher goes to the mound to talk to the pitcher and infielders automatically walk up to the mound. I mean, the catcher might be chewing the pitcher's butt, talking pitch strategy or going over signs. These guys do not need to be trotting up to the mound. Watch a Yankees game sometime -- Jeter and A-Rod go trudging up to the mound to be "leaders." Ugh!
Now the Twins have the same thing. Tony Batista is constantly horning in on the conversation. What is he doing up there? I don't know why, but man I hate that.
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It doesn't seem like Batista ever says anything either -- he just walks up and listens. I wonder if it bothers Mauer and the pitchers as much as it does most other people.
I wholeheartedly agree. I figure if the catcher or pitcher wants them in on the conversation, they'll crook a finger or something. It would bug me in Little League when my own teammates did that. I'd be manning first base, and there goes our second baseman out to the mound. I'm like, "Dude, you've made three errors in a row. Unless you're telling him to work inside so that he pulls the ball, what business do you have in the huddle?"
Yup.
This seemed to be new to me this year, but then I noticed most other teams did it. Maybe Batista keeps the peace when they can't agree on a pitch or a strategy? Maybe he memorizes all the scouting reports? He probably played against Johjima last year.
Still, it is nice to know that Batista isn't literally cemented in place (see gleeman? I used it correctly!)
This seemed to be new to me this year, but then I noticed most other teams did it.
Yeah, and there was a time when servers in restaurants never asked how the food was tasting, but like a virus, that grating question has spread. So, too, the infielder horning in on every pitcher-catcher conference.
Batista's getting at that age where he needs these little constitutionals. Of course, he should just mosey out towards left field or something, rather than towards the pitchers mound. Too many cooks.
It must be cause joe just does speak very well. Or tony has something of
biblical proportion to add. But you are correct in every team seems to have one infielder who is always doing it and it does aggravate some fans(like me).
I think it does help the infielders to know what the pitcher & catcher want to do. Anticipating the pitches puts the infielders in better position to field and may help them get a quicker jump on a ball in play. But, yeah, it does bug me to see Batista doing that--probably because anything Batista does just bugs me.
It's kinda funny, though, the way he stands while listening to the conversations on the mound, like a guy at a bus stop who's straining to eavesdrop on the two people next to him while trying to hide his interest.