I just wanted to let anyone who wants to know some of the fun history of the independent baseball leagues that there are over 500 archived trivia questions, with a new question coming out daily.  Everything can be found here:

Independent Baseball Trivia Questions

If you have any questions of your own, and you can back up your answer with a link from an authority site, then…

(this is a piece I wrote in June 2010 after interviewing former big league umpire Dave Pallone, MLB's first openly gay umpire; you can read more of my baseball stuff at www.GregEno.com)

How many dreams come true in Pittsburgh?

On Friday, April 6, 1979, a 27-year-old man from Waltham, Massachusetts crouched behind Pirates catcher Ed Ott and prepared to call balls and strikes in Three Rivers Stadium in his…

It's been a long 4 months since the surgery. NO more pain and good range of movement. I've been throwing but not pitching. Playing 1st base most of the time. Also no pain while batting. Will visit surgeon on 6/15. Hope to start pitching by then. Did throw off the mound for the fist time this past week about 75% with no pain. Hate to let loose until I see the doctor.

The Tigers came out of spring training in Lakeland confident of their hitting. Their lineup was rich with veteran bats and some young ones. The offense didn’t figure to be a problem.

But oh, what about that pitching!

The pitching caused some of the so-called experts to make a face that was consistent with biting into a lemon. There were a couple reliable arms but after that, you might have wanted to pray…

I have often been asked, “what the is appropriate age for a kid to start throwing a curveball?”

My response is usually with a bunch of questions…..

1. How old is he?

2. How physically mature is he?

3. How good is his fastball command?

It’s always the last question I ask, “how good is his fastball command?”, is where I get weird looks.

People always think, what does…

I remember one time I got into it with an umpire.

There was no doubt in my mind he blew the call, in an important spot in the game, and I was not going to let him get away with being so bad.

I caused a big ruckus, and everyone was staring.

After being told to leave, I was still hot, wanting to beat that umpire’s face in.

After the game was over I talked to the guys on my team, and my coaches, and they said, “Miles, what were doing? You need to calm down.…

Name some mechanical flaws you have heard coaches use when someone is hitting:

1. Pulling the front shoulder out

2. Stepping in the bucket

3. Dropping the back shoulder

4. Not throwing the hands

5. Too hard on the front foot (lunging at the ball)

6. Not squashing the bug

How about pitching?

1. Need to bend your…

Playing in Fall River @ Lafayette Park.

Awful field.  The infield is choppy and the cut outs are huge making it very hard to figure out where to be playing.  Lights are low and dim, shining in the wrong spots.  And when in the field, picking the ball up off the bat can be really tough because of the concrete bleachers that run all the way around the backstop.  But hey, you get what you pay for.

First AB

I felt like when I stepped in that the mound wasnt…

http://www.going9baseball.com/2012/05/14/mike-sweeney-joins-the-a-glove-of-their-own-movement/

We were playing old friends Westcott Properties down at Cardines Saturday. 

I was getting to face a close friend Ryan Geremia for the first time ever in 8 years of friendship.

So here it goes.

1st AB

Breaking ball for a strike 0-1

Breaking ball up and in 1-1

Breaking ball in dirt 2-1

Fastball away, call strike 2-2 

Fastball in 3-2

Fastball low and in, lined into left base hit rbi, scored later on

2nd…

A great way to get your team to focus and really get them conscience about their thoughts is to have a silent practice.



The reason this works, especially for high school and college players, is because their identity and self esteem have been established and really after much experience and coaching, the player at a certain point should be able to focus on what they need to do to have a good practice. It is an opportunity for the player to also make quick…

NEW YORK -- Yankees reliever Rafael Soriano stepped toward third base and bluffed a…

I decided to blog all my at bats this year.  Pitch by pitch...  I dont know if anyone will read this or even enjoy it for that matter.  But either way here it goes.  

I am a 27 year old Amateur player.  I am a lot different than most amateur players.  I work my day job to play at night.  I work at the game so hard, I wish I had a different slate or an opportunity to get paid for my dedication.  But there isnt.  I play in 3 leagues in the Rhode Island area.  The first priority is…

I have been at a number of baseball games where the catcher is one of the worst players on the field.

It seems 25-50% of the pitches thrown by the pitcher end up at the backstop.

When this happens, whether it’s on my team or the opposing team, I always get strong emotions.

I feel very uncomfortable, as if I’m watching a Steve Carell movie (very awkward humor), and I’m not whether to feel sorry for the kid or be mad at him.

These are the type of…

HEYYYYY!!!! I scream….QUIT doing that, focus on what you’re doing….why do you never pay attention??

Yet again John is not paying attention, not focusing on the task at hand…..

This pattern continued over a period of a few months… John isn’t on task, and I as a youth baseball coach am quick to let him know about it.

We’re warming up, John is late on everything.

We’re throwing, John is lobbing the ball, and generally puts off the vibe that he would rather be…

http://iybca.org/devotion

The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com.…

Youth Sports Club

Lead Drill:

An excellent drill that gets players used to running with their lead shoulder is the “Lead Drill”. Players line up next to a coach in the outfield. On the “go” command, the first player in line runs out as the coach leads him with a fly ball pass, much like how a quarterback leads his receiver in football. After catching the ball, the player returns to the end of the line,…