Outfielder needs a stronger arm

If you really see those guys, it gives me hope!

Ya know, its not that I don't see kids that can make the routine plays or even the tough ones. What I see is a distinct propensity for outfielders to make the mental mistakes that casual observers just don't notice.

Remember, I'm not watching a ball game like the players, coach or fans. I'm watching it as a scorekeeper. Here's a simple example. With a runner on 1st, the batter hits a good line drive single between the right and center fielders. The 3rd base coach is watching the outfielder and R1 trying to gauge whether or not to wave him to 3rd. The fans are watching the ball until it lands and then focusing back and forth from the ball to the runner.

I'm concentrating on that fielder's actions. I have to see if maybe when he transfers the ball he bobbles it, because that's a possible error. I have to watch when he throws it because where he throws it and how he throws it might make the difference in the batter getting an extra base that becomes a double, a fielder's choice or an error.

We are looking at the same play, but definitely not at the same thing. Everyone in the park but me is only looking at the result, while I have to determine the reason for the result. Believe me, when you are looking at a game the way a scorekeeper is supposed to, you do not see the same thing everyone else does!

One of the most common outfield blunders comes in that exact scenario, and I see it an many, many ML games too. The fielder gets to the ball just fine and then all of a sudden believes someone has replace his arm with a Howitzer and throws the ball through to 3rd.

It wouldn't be so bad if that outfielder was aware of the capabilities of that runner and thought he had a legitimate shot at getting him. But most of the time you can see that's not the case, but rather that the extra adrenaline has caused a brain fart, and now there are runners on 2nd and 3rd instead of 1st and 3rd, and the entire situation has changed!

There's no scoring penalty for the fielder and the batter only gets a single with an FC, but anyone who understands the game would call that a mental error. If you're watching the actual play as closely as I do, those things won't register even though you may see them because your mind is on 100 other things. if you aren't watching as closely as me, chances are, you won't even notice because you're happy your runner got to 2nd, or mad because the other team's runner got to 2nd.

As with everything else, its all in the perspective. It might be something indicative of this area, but I've seen the exact same things in tournaments all over the country, and many more times than anyone would believe. It definitely happens less as the age and level go up, but it happens none-the-less.

I have always believed that the main reason it happens is because at the lower levels, players can't possibly have enough experience to make them great to start with, but more than that, the more a player bounces from position to position, the little things they learn to do by rote just can't be trusted.

That means moving the kids around to as many positions as possible increases their baseball knowledge and makes them more flexible, but it also doesn't allow them to learn one position as well as they would if that was the only place they played.