The physical requirements For a backstop vary. Walker Cooper former Giant, six feet tall and weighs two hundred and twenty-five pounds, while Yogi Berra of the Yanks is a stocky five foot seven.
Catcher Phil Masi of Pittsburgh Pirates says, a catcher’s best asset is a good arm. He must be able to fire accurately at all bases.”
Mickey Owen, former Dodger star, says, ‘A catcher can make or break a pitcher. The catcher’s main job is to give a pitcher confidence and to steady him when he is in trouble.” Many baseball fans want to know what the catcher says to the pitcher when he walks out to the mound. The conversation goes something like this: The catcher hands the pitcher the ball and says, “Pretty hot today, isn’t it?” And the pitcher says, “Yeah I Hope it’s nice tomorrow I’ve got a day off.” What the catcher is really interested in is slowing the pitcher down when he is losing control or being hit hard. A pitcher works much better when he takes his time.
The catcher takes his stand behind the plate as close to the batter as he can get without interfering with the hitter (Fig. 40). His feet should be shoulder width apart. He gives the pitcher his signs with the fingers of his right hand under his protector, like
Figure 43.
As the ball is delivered, the catcher rises from his deep-knee crouch and spreads his feet a little wider than shown above in Figure 40, dropping his right leg slightly to the rear as in Figure 41. The weight of the body is always on the toes. A catcher never receives pitches while squatting on his heels. The half-standing position is invaluable to the pitcher, as the catcher’s body forms an excellent target. His knees mark the point for low inside and outside pitches and his shoulders form the target for high inside or outside strikes. The entire glove should be held up as a target for the pitcher. Split and broken fingers can be avoided if the catcher makes it a habit to receive all pitches with his right hand clenched and the fingers and wrists relaxed as shown by Mickey Cochrane in Figure 39.
Low balls are the toughest to handle. To stop them the catcher should drop to his knees and block the ball with his body. He mustn’t let the ball get by if he can help it. “On outside pitches, Shift the right foot first, as in Figure 44. On inside pitches, shift the left foot first.’
On bunts, whip off the mask, pounce on the ball, and scrape it up like Yogi Berra in figures 45 and 46. Be sure you have the ball before you throw it, as shown in Figure 46. Always toss the mask well away from you or you might stumble over it.
Above all, know your batters thoroughly and call for the pitches they don’t like to hit. The most serious error young players make is in the play where a runner is attempting to score while a throw from the outfield is coming in. Don’t wait for the ball to come to you. Go out and get the throw on a fly or low bounce and then go for the runner. If you stand there wailing for the throw, the base runner will try to knock you off your feet.