What about this weather?

[Fonzie]

Have any teams been strugling with this weather we have been having?

[Remember_The_Name]

These expressions represent my thoughts...

[Tyler_Durden]

why would the weather be causing teams problems? in ohio, during the pre-season i would make every practice plan an indoor plan, and until i was at least 75% sure that the weather has turned the corner (into spring), then i would just stay inside. don't allow weather to dictate your practices. for instance, i know it was nice yesterday, however the forecast was obviously going to change in these next 3-5 days. therefore i would not have gone outside (except perhaps to do some long toss). then once we go outside we're out to stay. that's just me. to each is own.

[JoeGatto]

Full team practice hasn't officially begun yet anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem for any team. It's not hard to have pitchers and catchers get their work in inside.
March 10 is the first day for full team practice per the OHSAA. Sounds like there are some teams out there breaking the rules....not surprised.

[Regulator]

There are ways around everything. I am sure many coaches bring in position players to toss and do "open" facility. While others stay within the rules. I don't know why the state just doesn't set one set date for practices to begin. I really don't understand why everyone could not be practicing now. I understand basketball, but come on. I am sure many coaches are bringing everyone in.
Frozen Rope: Your team only consists of pitchers and catchers right now? You are telling me the rest of the team doesn't report until next week? What team do you coach?

Let me add: I am not a coach. I am not justifying cheating.

[Tyler_Durden]

fr, i agree. i facetiously replied to a warren baseball thread a while back where they were talking about having 40 players out this year. i said, wow, 40 pitchers and catchers! someone replied back by saying everyone is a pitcher or catcher this time of year all over the state.

not true. i know plenty of schools who follow the ohsaa rules.

paint it however you want. cheating is cheating.

[JoeGatto]

Regulator....YES I am telling you that my team is practicing pitchers and catchers ONLY right now and have been since the first day of pitchers and catchers last Monday. We have open hitting twice a week after pitchers and catchers practice. Our open hitting is just that....OPEN HITTING with no instruction for anyone who wants to come...and no attendance taken.

[Bozo]

HS Softball has their entire teams play indoor leagues all winter.

[JoeGatto]

I'm not naive enough to think that it doesn't happen. It happens in all high school sports (football and basketball are the worst). I'm just not sure it's needed in baseball. Unless the weather is nice and teams are able to practice outside, the 3 weeks of full team practice allowed by the state should be plenty of time to prepare a team. There just isn't enough that can be worked on for a month or more with the full team when you are practicing inside.

[diamondD1]

Athens is one of those teams that is abiding. We've had only pitchers and catchers since last Monday, with some open gym (meaning, no attendance and no instruction) hitting which has been totally separate times from the pitchers/catchers practice. The hitting cage has not been open during pitchers and catchers practice.

There is plenty to work on for pitchers and catchers that I think it is a good idea to have them come two weeks before the position players. It gives you time to put your pitchers on a regular program, and get it running smoothly before the full team practice begins. Most teams only have a couple of coaches at the high school level, so the pitchers/catchers two-week period allows time for more specialized instruction without feeling the need to be everywhere at once.

Additionally, the two-week pitchers and catchers period is typically during weather that does not allow for outside practice. By the time full team practices are allowed, there is better chance of good enough weather to go outside, with perhaps only one, maybe two weeks of having to work in the gym. It's much easier to practice only pitchers and catchers in a gym. Having the entire baseball team boxed up in a gym for three or perhaps four weeks could get really old really quick.

[Cap'n Scoop]

Why would you not work as many kids as possible at the pitcher and catcher positions? This is high school baseball, a short season with games nearly everyday. If you don't have a LOT of pitchers you are going to wear kids out in a hurry. It is not against the rules to have 40 kids working out at the pitcher and catcher positions, and that is what they are doing at Warren High School. I guess when you have a great program you get a lot of kids involved.

[JoeGatto]

Cap'n Scoop...actually it is against the rules. If you attended the state rules interpretation meeting you would have heard it stated specifically that it is against the rules for coaches to say that "everyone is a pitcher for the first two weeks." Also, nobody on this thread said that coaches don't want a lot of pitchers but come on. And you can't tell me that all 40 of those kids at Warren are actually working on pitchers and catchers drills and that they all have what it takes to pitch or catch in high school.

[BULDOG]

Full team practice hasn't officially begun yet anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem for any team. It's not hard to have pitchers and catchers get their work in inside.
March 10 is the first day for full team practice per the OHSAA. Sounds like there are some teams out there breaking the rules....not surprised.

Official OHSAA Pitcher and Catcher start date was Monday February 25th.

[JoeGatto]

I think we all know that already BULDOG.

[BULDOG]

I think we all know that already BULDOG.

Well excuse me didn't mean to ruffle any feathers! Then why did you mention they shouldn't be practicing since the official start date is March 10th?

[JoeGatto]

I didn't mean that to be taken as a mean statement BULDOG. I just didn't know if you had read ALL of the previous posts. The issue being discussed isn't the start date for pitchers and catchers.

[JoeGatto]

"Well excuse me didn't mean to ruffle any feathers! Then why did you mention they shouldn't be practicing since the official start date is March 10th?"

Because it's not March 10th yet.

[Tyler_Durden]

Why would you not work as many kids as possible at the pitcher and catcher positions? This is high school baseball, a short season with games nearly everyday. If you don't have a LOT of pitchers you are going to wear kids out in a hurry. It is not against the rules to have 40 kids working out at the pitcher and catcher positions, and that is what they are doing at Warren High School. I guess when you have a great program you get a lot of kids involved.

i'm sorry but i just cannot buy the fact that any team in se ohio legitimately has 40 potential pitchers and catchers who will actually be considered by the coaches to take the mound or put on the gear for those positions in a game, i don't care how great the program is. all statements like the above are is an attempt to justify your way around the rule. the fact is, some coaches respect the rule, and some do not. but all of them understand what it means.

[Cap'n Scoop]

Not ALL of Warren's players have reported yet, because they aren't pitchers. Around half of the 40 kids are freshman, anyone who wants to pitch can go to the pitching workouts. Are they all going to be pitchers...no. But just because a kid isn't a good pitcher at the age of 14/15 doesn't mean he can't develope into one by the time he is 18.

Frozen Rope...they are ALL doing the pitching workout, except for the catchers that aren't going to pitch. Why is that so hard to understand?

What is the state mandated criteria for how good a kid must be to be able to attend pitching workouts?

[Fonzie]

Back when I used to pitch my bulpins, the next day I would like to run and then to my long toss. I started this thred planning to talk about that type of stuff....I didnt mean to open a can of worms... But since it has been started, I like having pitchers and catchers come in earler than position players just because it takes longer for the chemistry to gel between those players. just my two cents worth...