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Posts Tagged ‘Coach’

Baseball should focus on improving future, not dwelling in past
How does baseball avoid another Jim Joyce moment? Expand the use of instant replay, add an umpire rating system and focus on the future, Scott Miller says. Baseball – Jim Joyce – Sport – Instant replay – Umpire

Read more on CBS Sports

WORST CALL EVER Should Finally Take Baseball Into 21st Century (Instant Replay)
One of the worst calls in baseball history robbed a young pitcher of a perfect game last night.

Read more on Forbes

Oklahoma City to retain Big 12 baseball tournament
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City will remain the home of the Big 12 Conference baseball tournament for another three years.

Read more on Connecticut Post

Oklahoma City misses out on Big 12 basketball tournament, secures conference baseball tourney
The Big 12 men’s basketball tournament won’t be returning to Oklahoma City anytime soon. But the Big 12 baseball tournament will keep coming to OKC.The Big 12 announced Friday that Kansas City, Mo., would host the men’s basketball tournament through 2014, giving KC a run of five straight years hosting the event.“Very disappointed,” said Tim Brassfield, executive director of the All Sports …

Read more on The Oklahoman

Former LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman understands the nature of the game
There’ll be a big catch, a big hit, perhaps a big error. A hero and a goat. It’s baseball.

Read more on New Orleans Times-Picayune

Former umpire Don Denkinger supports instant replay in baseball
Retired umpire Don Denkinger told the New York Post he supports the use of instant replay in baseball to reverse blown calls such as the one Jim Joyce made Wednesday, costing Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.

Read more on ESPN

Baseball says it won’t change disputed Galarraga call
In a statement issued today, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said Tiger pitcher’s Armando Galarraga’s spoiled perfect game will prompt renewed examination of the expanded use of instant replay.

Read more on Detroit Free Press

Baseball-Commissioner to review controversial ‘imperfect’ game
Major League Baseball will consider expanding the use of instant replay after a botched call by an umpire cost a Detroit Tigers pitcher a perfect game, Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday.

Read more on Reuters via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Sport

Baseball won’t reverse call in ‘imperfect’ game
The “imperfect” call stays as is. Less than 24 hours after a perfect game was lost due to an umpire’s blown call, commissioner Bud Selig said today the result will not be changed. He did say Major League Baseball will examine it’s umpiring system and consider expanding instant…

Read more on New York Post

ASU removes interim tag from baseball coach
Arizona State has taken away the interim tag from baseball coach Tim Esmay. The 45-year-old Esmay was hired in December to replace Pat Murphy, whose contract was terminated without cause in November in the wake of a two-year NCAA investigation into the baseball program. Esmay guided the Sun Devils (47-8) to their fourth consecutive Pac-10 title and the No.

Read more on AP via Yahoo! Sports

High school baseball: Pine View’s Marcus Littlewood has Major League talent as Mr. Baseball
Major League Baseball scouts have said Pine View shortstop Marcus Littlewood is the best position player to ever come out of…

Read more on Deseret News

MLB Top 5: Most costly pitchers in baseball
Knowing who to fade is as important as knowing who to back. Take a look at baseball’s most costly starting pitchers in 2010 – some of the names on the list may surprise you.  Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals (-8.95 units, 2-9) The fa…

Read more on Covers.com

McGrath: Now’s the time for a clock in baseball
A time clock in baseball? Traditionalists are appalled by the notion, and even most fans willing to consider other tweaks to the sacred game – replay reviews overruling umpires, for instance – believe enforcing faster play with a clock would create more problems than it solves.

Read more on Tacoma News Tribune

Finalists for first-ever Mr. Baseball, Ms. Softball are announced
Finalists were announced Wednesday for Minnesota’s first Mr. Baseball and Ms. Softball, honoring the top high school senior in each sport. These nominees were chosen by college baseball and softball coaches statewide, along with professional scouts.

Read more on Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

Louisville baseball coach Dan McDonnell suspended 3 games for argument
University of Louisville baseball coach Dan McDonnell has been suspended for three games for arguing and making contact with umpires during a loss to St. John’s in the Big East baseball tournament last weekend.

Read more on Louisville Courier-Journal

Product Description
Mark Tarwater spent years coaching little league football before finally, out of frustration, sitting down to write about it. “No one tells you ahead of time,” Mark says, “that the successful little league coach, in addition to possessing basic coaching skills, also needs to be a part-time counselor, teacher, referee, administrator, paramedic and party planner. Anyone not willing to accept those multiple roles is probably not ideally suited for coaching kids.” An immense knowledge of the sport of football, combined with his insights, enthusiasm and a warm, friendly style of writing, helped Mark create a book that anyone who aspires to be a coach should read before committing to the role. Likewise, folks… More >>

So You Want to Be a Football Coach: How to Coach Little League Football

Finally, Spring is here and with it comes the beginning of Fastpitch Softball season for hundreds of thousands of little girls. Along with the start of Softball season also comes the recruitment of parents to become volunteer coaches. The FEAR, the anxiety, the hope that you don’t lead your daughter’s team to a winless season. Here’s the good news, like just about anything else, if the new coach will find a successful mentor the coach can quickly learn what skills and strategies need to be utilized to win. However, the large majority of new fastpitch coaches are dads that think since they played baseball 20 years ago they can easily transfer that knowledge to their team and be successful. After all, it’s just a bunch of 7 & 8 year old girls, right? Wrong. To be successful the new coach not only has to coach his team, he must also out coach all of the other dad-coaches.

If you think coaching doesn’t make that big of a difference, then please explain how a coach went 93-4-2 over a 5 year period in 8U fastpitch softball while coaching his daughters. That’s a very impressive record no matter what age you are coaching. And don’t think for a moment that it was talent that led to that record. I’m talking about a team that every year lost half of it’s players to promotion to the older age group and had to pick up 6 or 7 brand new players…typically girls that had never played the game. So how could this one coach pile up 5 straight 1st place finishes and compile a winning percentage of .960%?

It boils down to knowing what strategies and skills are most effective at different ages. That’s the only possible answer. For example, the three most important positions in 8U Softball are First Base, Pitcher and Second Base. As players get older it’s certainly true that talent can make a difference. But talent still has to be coached. An athletic player under a poor coach will never achieve her full potential. However, average talent can achieve superior levels under the guidance of a great coach.

Regarding offense, most new coaches tend to build a batting order similar to how professional baseball teams put together a batting order. That’s a sure way to lose games in 8U softball. The best advice is to stagger the strong hitters with weaker hitters mixed in. That way your team is able to bat further into the lineup, allowing for a couple of outs, yet scoring the maximum number of runs allowed. Many new coaches also forget to teach the girls how to bunt the ball. The younger the team is the more important it is teach girls to bunt as it helps to build hand-eye coordination while allowing the player to contribute to the success of the team.

Finally, most new coaches don’t know what training tools would be of greatest benefit to their team. Typically the league will issue a sack of softball gear that might include a couple of bats, a dozen balls, a few batting helmets, and some catcher’s gear and the new coach never gives it a second thought. However, regardless of age every coach needs to have a sack of plastic poly balls and a hitting tee just to name a couple of training aides. In the younger age groups a coach might want to have two or more hitting tees so his team gets plenty of practice time swinging a bat. As for the poly balls, not only are they perfect for batting practice, but they are also perfect for learning how to catch pop flys in order to prevent injuries.

Good Luck to all of the new softball coaches. Don’t assume you know it all, find a mentor, do some research, teach skills that are age appropriate, and have fun. It’s going to be a great season of softball and one that your daughter will never forget since her dad was the coach.