The One That Got Away

FIRST INNING: 1 for 1 blocking balls in the dirt, threw runner out at second, singled and scored.
SECOND INNING: 3 for 3 blocking balls in the dirt (no one scored on wild pitch), tagged a runner out on play at the plate and caught a pop up.
THIRD INNING: 3 for 3 blocking balls in the dirt, made great play on bunt up third baseline, sac fly for RBI.
FOURTH INNING: 1 for 1 blocking balls in dirt, threw runner out at third, walked and scored.
FIFTH INNING: 1 for 2 blocking balls in the dirt (runner got to second on wild pitch but didn't score).
SIXTH INNING: 4 for 4 blocking balls in the dirt, gave up stolen base (didn't score), singled and stole second.
SEVENTH INNING: 3 for 4 blocking balls in the dirt. *The one that got by let the winning run score.*
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GAME OFFENSIVE STATS: 2 hits, one walk, one RBI, one SB, 2 runs scored.

GAME DEFENSIVE STATS: 16 for 18 on balls in the dirt. Two caught stealing. Three assists. 7 put outs.
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Not a bad game IF your team had won. But they lost. You threw out two base runners. You blocked 90% of the balls in the dirt with only ONE ball getting by that let a run score....

After all the good, the great blocks, the hits and runs scored, guess what everyone is going to remember? Yup, the last one. The one that got by and allowed the winning run to score.

Here's the deal. It happens. No one is perfect. You're gonna block some and you're gonna miss some. You're gonna catch some and you're gonna drop some. You're gonna hit some and you're gonna whiff some. Sometimes you're gonna be the hero and sometimes you're gonna be the goat.

You're gonna have teammates and parents (and sometimes coaches) who forget about the great things you did all game that helped the team and focus on the misses and mistakes. They may even "talk trash" to you and/or about you.

It's easy to keep your head up high and a smile on your face when things are going good... it's how you react when things go bad that matters. Are you gonna let the bad plays, bad games and trash talk make you quit?

Imagine some of the things that are going to be said to you if you end up playing in Yankee stadium!

The point of the post is this... you CANNOT let what other people say and do affect your mindset and confidence. Especially the ones who never caught and know nothing about the position. You're gonna have good games and you're gonna have bad games. For example, I had a game that I threw out 5 base runners and had zero wild pitches/passed balls. And I had a game that I gave up 9 stolen bases and had 5 wild pitches/passed balls, 3 of which cost the team runs. One of those games was in high school and one was in college... and guess what, I still played the next day and ended up going on to play professionally.

The bottom line is this, you've gotta take the bad with the good, have thick skin and play on!

Coach Todd - The Catching Guy