In baseball, the catcher is a very special position. It’s the only one of the nine fielders who plays facing the other eight. They sit alone in the middle of a frenzied game. They have to be able to receive the pitcher’s ball with confidence, while also being aware of the movements of the batter in front of them. They also have to keep track of runners in the distance.
The catcher is also known as the “field commander of the field”. They have to see all the players, assess the situation, and make important decisions while seated. They’re also the closest to the dugout, where the manager and coach are located.
They are assigned the puck. The pitcher, who stands in the center of the field (mound), is the hero of the game. The catcher has to decide which ball the pitcher will throw by exchanging signs. The catcher plays a crucial role in writing scenarios (ball mixtures) so that the protagonist with a strong personality can win.
As hard as the catcher’s mental work is, the physical work is even harder. Heavily armed with nearly 4 kilograms of protective gear, they have to squat for over three hours. Every day, they have to get up and down more than 100 times.카지노사이트
In baseball, the sport of records, the performance of a catcher is hard to quantify. In the 21st century, the development of sabermetrics has brought attention to the catcher’s skill in catching balls to make them look like strikes (catcher framing). However, catchers are still judged by their managers and pitchers. The trust of the coaching staff and pitcher is more important than the record.
A catcher’s greatest virtue is earning their trust. A catcher is most valuable if he can be trusted to make the right call, to take whatever the pitcher throws, and to catch runners on the basepaths. That’s why we’re calling this series about catchers “The Catcher’s God.
A young pitcher develops with the help of a catcher. Even when he becomes an ace. ISPhoto
The catcher is the player most often seen on baseball telecasts, but he is not the main character. One step away from the pitcher and the batter, the catcher even covers his face with a mask. It’s hard to objectively assess the impact of a catcher’s performance on the game.
However, catchers take things in stride and take their role of helping the pitcher for granted. Even when the pitcher is having a good game, they give credit to the pitcher. As one of the catchers we spoke to said, “The catcher is there to let the pitcher shine.” I vividly recall how Kang Min-ho, the catcher who helped Park Se-woong, who is now one of the top catchers in the league, get his first win in his debut (July 15, 2015 against the KIA Tigers), smiled and celebrated. This is the kind of attitude that earns a pitcher’s trust.
Catchers are not judged by themselves. The catcher is only as good as the pitcher and the battery. The term battery was first used in the 1860s by Henry Chadwick, the “father of American baseball scoring”. It’s believed that the pitcher’s pitch resembles the way artillery batteries fired in the American Civil War.
I was also curious about the voice of the catcher, a supporting character in “2 in 1”. We met with catchers representing the 41-year history of professional baseball, including Cho Bum-hyun, Kim Dong-soo, Park Kyung-wan, Jin Gap-yong, Kang Min-ho, and Yang Ji.
Baseball players know the importance of catchers. “A good catcher makes a good pitcher” and “you can’t win without a good catcher” are common knowledge on the field. Catchers are also the highest-paid players in the KBO (Yang Ji-soo of the Doosan Bears, 4+2 years, 15.2 billion won). In last winter’s free agency market, four catchers changed teams for a total of 33.8 billion won.
At this point, it is said that “baseball is not a pitcher’s game, but a catcher’s game.” In response, all the catchers we met said, “Baseball is a pitcher’s game.” A good catcher humbles himself so that he can earn the trust of his teammates, who will know that he is a good catcher.
The most important job of a catcher is to call pitches. When asked about their number one goal, the catchers said, “There is no right answer. No matter how much data you study, baseball is a human game. It’s your job to make the choice that’s closest to the right answer based on the situation.”
Catchers are one of the most unique and disparate positions in baseball. We sought out some of Korea’s legendary catchers and asked them about their jobs, in hopes of learning more about pitchers and, more broadly, baseball.