What do boobirds know? Boos

Published 9:00 pm Monday, October 29, 2001

Baseball is a complex game simplified for fans. Two outs, bases loaded, best hitter strikes out. Who and what are they booing?

One lesson we all should learn from having been on a team is to play our own position!

That’s what makes good teams. There may be no better seal of approval of individuals playing as a team than baseball.

I have never understood booing in baseball. Is it booing performance, decision, or outcome?

Baseball is teaming up nine positions and special skills. Scholars of baseball know head coaches have to position players for the best team results. Hits, runs, errors, earned run average, runs batted in and saves are simply indicators of players playing their own position. Together.

The complexity of coaching is to take individuals and position them to be a team.

I always wanted to be a shortstop. Too slow, so tried being a pitcher. High ERA, so why not be a first baseman? Tried catching. I had a chance to be on an all-star team once and the coach put me at second base. No coach ever suggested I try the outfield. Too slow.

I learned that before we boo baseball players or coaches, I should know what players have to anticipate and be skilled enough to perform, position by position. All nine (or ten) are different.

Did you ever play first base? Here’s a skill list given to me by a scholarly baseball coach.

He had us check off that which we believed we knew how to use/wear/do. We discussed the things on his list that did not agree with our own.

Before we have a license to boo a first baseman, we should be able to coach the proper ways to do the skills on this partial list.

Using sunglasses/sunblack

Wearing protective gear

Cutoffs and relays on hits

Catching short hops

Taking grounders, left and right

Stretching forward for throws

Shifting left and right around bag on throws

Fielding bunts and bunt coverages

Tagging runners on pickoffs from pitcher

Holding runners, then getting proper fielding position

Taking pickoff throws from catcher

Throws from catcher on bunts and strikeouts, giving the target

Throwing to the plate

Popups around pitcher, first base and foul territory

Checking field conditions

Rundowns

The shift step while touching base

Balls thrown in dirt from infield and outfield

Taking bag yourself on grounders

Flips to pitcher covering first, or to second baseman covering first

Around the horn on outs

Proper positioning, normal or in

Doubleplay depth

Doubleplays to second from first (when second baseman and pitcher cover first)

Catching high throws and tagging baserunner

Pickoff signs, pickoff tagging

Infield-in situations

Observing runners

Forceouts

And if we remember one of the basic suggestions given to prospective youth coaches is to keep practices challenging, interesting, and fun. To do that, this list should last about twenty baseball seasons. And that’s only one position’s defense skills list.

There’s a longer list of immediate reactions and chances for errors while on offense. Running and not running can produce mental errors.

And how do kids learn best? By practicing the skill being taught and understanding why they are practicing. Repetition is important so long as the skill is being practiced correctly. Booing an error is an error.

Just before we boo-birds sing, maybe we should think about the complex system of communications that has to go on between players. Are we booing effort or error?

I think that before a spectator of high school sports is qualified to boo, they should learn how difficult it is to play every position. What species of boobird would be justified to heckle the efforts of the Seattle Mariners’ Mark McLemore? Or a 15-year-old shortstop?

The safest position for fault-finding is sitting in a crowd. More personal errors are made by spectators than by players on the field. When measured in accuracy, spectator booing percentage averages are dismal. Even after replays on TV.

Low baseball IQ is often revealed by misdirected vocalized blame and disappointment.

Booing players is a blooper. Booing an umpire’s call is second-rate judgment. Booing a strikeout is directed either at the pitcher, batter, or umpire and is still a strikeout.

Booing booers is too silent.

Cliff Gillies, former executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, writes weekly during the school year for The Herald. His mailing address is 7500 U.S. Highway 101, South Bend, WA 98586. His e-mail address is cliffsal@techline.com.