Baserunning and "The Head Game"

[Williamsburg2599]

I figured this an appropriate topic to bring up, today being the 20th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first MLB game. Players, what do you do on base to distract or "get in the head of" the pitcher? Coaches, what do you teach your players to do?

The other day in my first freshman game, after my first AB, I was on first, and right as the pitcher turned his head back toward the plate, I jerked toward 2nd, causing him to stop his motion toward home and balk. I then did the same thing at
2nd on the next pitch, it didn't work, so I stole third the next pitch, the throw went wild and I came home to score. It felt good to mess the pitcher up and help out the batter and the team. The pitcher seemed more rattled after it.

[Jake Patterson]

I figured this an appropriate topic to bring up, today being the 20th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first MLB game. Players, what do you do on base to distract or "get in the head of" the pitcher? Coaches, what do you teach your players to do?

The other day in my first freshman game, after my first AB, I was on first, and right as the pitcher turned his head back toward the plate, I jerked toward 2nd, causing him to stop his motion toward home and balk. I then did the same thing at
2nd on the next pitch, it didn't work, so I stole third the next pitch, the throw went wild and I came home to score. It felt good to mess the pitcher up and help out the batter and the team. The pitcher seemed more rattled after it.

The higher up you go the less affect this has. I do not teach my players any of this as I feel it distracts from what the runners should be doing.

[virg]

with 1b and 2b clean, I get Ball Four.
In a crunch the ss closes in talking to the pitcher,
second baseman (often a ss wannabee) can't resist closing in (like the ss he wishes he is; knowing he can do that better too),
I time my arrival at First with the second baseman's approach to the baseline,
watching him as I arrive at First, picking up speed.
if he crosses the baseline he can no longer see me, and with the ss in too, Second Base is MINE!

Sure Jake, a little tacky. But any single amateur hitter good enough to walk now & then gets a chance or two at that every season. Good thing about it is an easy base. BEST thing about it is it gets them all mad at each other, Coach included. I love it!

My source attributed this to Ty Cobb.

[Jake Patterson]

with 1b and 2b clean, I get Ball Four.
In a crunch the ss closes in talking to the pitcher,
second baseman (often a ss wannabee) can't resist closing in (like the ss he wishes he is; knowing he can do that better too),
I time my arrival at First with the second baseman's approach to the baseline,
watching him as I arrive at First, picking up speed.
if he crosses the baseline he can no longer see me, and with the ss in too, Second Base is MINE!

Sure Jake, a little tacky. But any single amateur hitter good enough to walk now & then gets a chance or two at that every season. Good thing about it is an easy base. BEST thing about it is it gets them all mad at each other, 3b Coach included. I love it!

My source attributed this to Ty Cobb.

Hi Virg,
I see a distinct difference between smart running and trickery. I would say the above is in the former.
Jake

[TG Coach]

I figured this an appropriate topic to bring up, today being the 20th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first MLB game. Players, what do you do on base to distract or "get in the head of" the pitcher? Coaches, what do you teach your players to do?

Baserunners should be smart and as aggressive as their speed dictates. Talented competition isn't going to be rattled by tricks. They may be rattled by a player who is a threat to take the extra base.

[Braves Fan 24]

sometimes we do the bluff steal from first just to see if we can draw a balk. If we have a runner on third we will leave early every once in a while to try and get a balk or at least a pickle and score the runner. Other than that, I think things such as clapping and yelling (yes I've seen it) at the pitcher is dumb and outside of baseball etiqutte (sp?).

[just a baseball fan]

Jake- I would consider University of Arizona to be a pretty high level of play. They constantly fake-breaked from second and third against Stanford today. Their goal was to disrupt the pitcher as much as to draw a possible balk.

[Baseball gLove]

Jake- I would consider University of Arizona to be a pretty high level of play. They constantly fake-breaked from second and third against Stanford today. Their goal was to disrupt the pitcher as much as to draw a possible balk.

Good pitchers don't care and may even catch you leaning the wrong way.

[TG Coach]

Good pitchers don't care and may even catch you leaning the wrong way.

When my pitchers see a runner dancing on first, they time out the dance, then step off the rubber like they's distracted. When they go to the stretch again, when the runner jerks back to first they throw over, knowing when the throw arrives the runner will be jerking towards second and be off balance.

[deaconspoint]

IMO this is where having a catcher who knows that part of his job is to make his pitcher look good is a must. Kid's who dance get thrown out come hook or crook. Get them off the basepaths and out of your teams head. Good communication and a plan of attack will stop the dance.

[Jake Patterson]

Jake- I would consider University of Arizona to be a pretty high level of play. They constantly fake-breaked from second and third against Stanford today. Their goal was to disrupt the pitcher as much as to draw a possible balk.

Did it work?

[just a baseball fan]

Jake- The answer is that they didn't create a balk but I felt the pitcher did make some mistakes because of it. We fake-break alot at the level I coach (national level club team) and it's definitely effective getting infielders moving out of position and creating holes.

[deaconspoint]

Saw a good one last night. Runner's at first and second doing their silly little "fake breaK" dance. Snap throw to first caught the first kid, then throw across got the other at 3b. I loved it. The catcher was yelling out three, three, three, before he had released the ball to 1b. As soon as he let it go you knew what was coming next. Fine play and a fine way to stop all that dancing.

[Jake Patterson]

Jake- The answer is that they didn't create a balk but I felt the pitcher did make some mistakes because of it. We fake-break alot at the level I coach (national level club team) and it's definitely effective getting infielders moving out of position and creating holes.

I feel there is a difference between a player creating opportunities and a player dancing on the bases just for the sake of dancing. I disagree with coaches teaching the "Little League Dance." It brings little to those who are well tained.

[BallCoach06]

I want my players as quiet as possible on the bases. Instead of drawing attention to them, I want the pitcher to get relaxed and not pay as much attention to them. We then can work bigger leads (especially at 2nd) and get better leads and jumps on steals and better breaks on basehits. Just my .02

[just a baseball fan]

Jake- I think you are talking about a guy who breaks too hard and far on his secondary. I totally agree. Two things happen- The runner will get picked if he hangs out there or will be so scared of getting picked that he will be moving BACK to his bag before the ball gets into the zone. Therefore, he can't read BID, get a rolling break on down-contact mode, or read PB or WP.

Keys to a good fake-break is to show at lift, shorten your primary, and take shorter, choppy steps in order to not gain too much positive ground.

[chd66]

I want my players as quiet as possible on the bases. Instead of drawing attention to them, I want the pitcher to get relaxed and not pay as much attention to them. We then can work bigger leads (especially at 2nd) and get better leads and jumps on steals and better breaks on basehits. Just my .02

Agree 100%. Teaching dancing just hurts the players. Some kids are blessed with great speed and make up for mental errors. The true baserunners are the kids that a coach or catcher feel cannot hurt them. My older son has above average speed, but most coaches do not consider him a threat...until he is one of the league leaders in steals at the end of the year. Another kid on our team has average speed but a great knowledge of baserunning. He makes up for the speed with his brain, and consistently gets an extra base or steal at a crucial time.