Keeping It Simple – 4 Keys to Hitting and Pitching Success
I have been teaching baseball for a long time and feel like I could spend hours and hours discussing the fundamentals of the game. Along the same lines, I believe I could list well over 100 baseball drills. In addition, I wrote a two hundred-page book on all aspects of hitting and […]
Ryo Shinkawa: Interpreting the MLB
Sapporo, a city in the Japanese archipelago‘s northernmost island of Hokkaido, is more than five thousand miles from Minneapolis, but to Ryo Shinkawa the two places will be forever entwined. An internship in the former eventually led to his current position in the latter, as the interpreter for Minnesota Twins second baseman and 10-time […]
The Tampa Bay Rays After 5 and a Half Weeks
The Rays are one of the hottest teams in Major League Baseball with 22 wins. They have won 7 of their last 10 games and are sitting in first place with the Yankees now in second by 1 game, the Rays are now 22-15 on the season. Pitching and hitting have equalized […]
Reminder: Join Us to a 1-Day Fantasy Baseball FreeRoll
Hosted by DraftStreet.com As a reminder, we have teamed up with DraftStreet.com to offer an exclusive free contest to BaseballReflections.com readers. The freeroll will have $100 in cash prizes, the top 4 get paid, and it is totally free to sign up. How can you not get in on this? Pit yourself against me (Peter Schiller, owner, writer […]
Batting Practice using Pitching Machines – Good or Bad?
Frequently, I receive this question from my student’s parents, “Should I take him/her to the batting cages.” You would think my response is, “Sure, practice is good.” However, it is not that simple an answer for a number of reasons. First, and this is often my response, “Let’s wait awhile, because they are just going […]
Try Our Free 1-Day Fantasy Baseball FreeRoll Hosted by DraftStreet.com
Baseball season has arrived and it’s time for fantasy baseball. But not the average, full-season, six-month type that seems to never end. I’m talking about a one-night showdown on Friday, May 13th. Yes, Friday the 13th! We have teamed up with DraftStreet.com to offer an exclusive free contest to BaseballReflections.com readers. The freeroll will […]
The Flex Stance and Studying the Pitcher
When using the flex-stance, the key to making it work starts with knowing when to be flexible. You can use all three stances – the standard stance, which is medium open with your front foot 8-12 inches away from the inside chalk; the open stance with your front foot 12-18 inches off the inside chalk; […]
A Review of an 11” Middle Infielders Baseball Glove from PM Custom Gloves
This season in my over thirty baseball league (I play 2B) I hope to feature this 11” Stripes Pro Series PM Custom Glove in Kip Leather thanks to the kind people at PM Custom Gloves. In order to bring you this review, they allowed me to design my own custom glove for this very reason. […]
How to Raise Your Batting Average
It is true that major league players, who get two hits for every ten at-bats, go back to the minor leagues and those, who get three hits ever ten at-bats, are superstars. What a difference just one hit every ten at-bats make. All baseball players want to hit for a high batting average […]
Baseball Miscellany: A Book Review
Serious baseball fans tend to think they know the answers to the serious baseball questions that non-serious baseball fans may not even understand, let alone be able to answer. What these serious fans may not realize when they are explaining what VORP means to their seemingly impressed co-worker, is that they don’t even know the […]
The Flex Stance and Studying the Pitcher
When using the flex-stance, the key to making it work starts with knowing when to be flexible. You can use all three stances – the standard stance, which is medium open with your front foot 8-12 inches away from the inside chalk; the open stance with your front foot 12-18 inches off the inside chalk; […]
Taking a Look at the Rays in Week Two and Looking Forward to Week Three
The Tampa Rays have been able to pick up the pace and stay in contention with this past weeks play. Starting 0-6 and a surprise retirement by Ramirez, they have stayed the course and gained valuable ground by playing with consistency. Winning four in a row has the Rays just 2.5 games out of first […]
2011 Fantasy Baseball Projections: Why Los Angeles Angels’ Jered Weaver is a Top 10 Pitcher
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Jered Weaver tossed another quality start on Friday, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits in seven innings—against a very potent White Sox lineup in Chicago. This comes after Weaver’s absolute gem last Sunday, when he limited the Blue Jays’ lineup to just one run on four hits in 7 2/3 innings. […]
How to Analyze Your Son’s Baseball Swing – 3 Basics to Look For
Some hitting faults like stepping out, over-striding, swinging early or late, upper cutting, pulling off the ball and taking the eye off the ball are obvious flaws that even casual baseball observers can notice. Many hitters’ mistakes are not nearly as obvious and take a trained baseball eye to know the swing problem. […]
Baseball in the Garden of Eden, A Book Review
If you are someone who still whole heartedly believes Abner Doubleday is the soul person responsible for creating America’s Pastime, author John Thorn has some major news for you. In his new work Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game, Thorn examines many “myths” of the game so many […]
Your Stance: The Foundation of Your Swing
John Wooden once said, “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” The late, great basketball coach’s wise words applied to the baseball diamond, as well. Quick hands, wrists and reflexes are valuable tools at the plate. Having patience and the ability to refrain from rushing things is just as valuable, particularly when setting up your stance in […]
Book Review: Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert
Timothy Gay is known to those who read extensively about baseball as a good writer, but more importantly, someone who is willing to do the research required to undertake accurate storytelling of some of the most interesting, and important, times in baseball history. In “Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert: The wild Saga of Interracial Baseball […]
How to Teach Hitters to Keep their Eye on the Ball
Every time a player swings and misses a pitched ball, observers, automatically, assume the hitter took their eye off the ball. In reality, that is rarely the case because most missed balls are due to poor timing or bad fundamental swings. However, there is some basis for the statement. It is very […]
DRSEA INFORMER: Forum Has Much At Stake
Taken From: Volume IV, Issue 2: A Publication For Your Reading Enjoyment Major League Baseball and FUNGLODE (Fundación Global de Democracia y Desarrollo) are holding a symposium in the near future entitled “Goals and Challenges of MLB in the Dominican Republic,” to include people they believe have a vested interest in baseball in the Dominican Republic. And I […]
Rod Carew: 10 Important Keys to Good Hitting
In the 43 years since I debuted in Major League Baseball, I’ve watched thousands of great and not-so-great hitters. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, and I’ve sought to understand the fundamentals of success and failure. I’ve spent thousands of hours experimenting, watching video tape and refining my own hitting techniques. In the end, […]
DRSEA INFORMER: MLB Shows Class
Taken from: Volume IV, Issue 2: A Publication For Your Reading Enjoyment Major League Baseball has taken important steps towards providing education for prospects in baseball academies in the Dominican Republic. The initiative was actually formulated and approved last fall and parts of the plan are expected to be put into effect soon, according to Sandy […]
Luck Factor Continued: AL Starting Pitchers
As John Lennon once said, “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” I love baseball, but baseball doesn’t pay the bills. This happens to be the busy season at work, so I had to sit on all of the luck factor data I had generated. I know all of you […]
B is for Baseball: Alphabet Cards; A Product Review
Artist Doug Keith has tried to make a solution for a problem many baseball fans across the country face in regards to raising their young ones. Often parents of America’s Pastime are left asking themselves, “How can I bring the game I love to my children at a young age in a […]
Should Your Child Should Play Travel Baseball?
As youth baseball season is about to begin, many families will begin to wonder whether their child is ready to play travel baseball next season. The good news is that because of the great amount of travel baseball teams around today, most players can usually find a travel team to play on. The bad news […]
The “New” Power Hitter
If you think of the great power hitters of all time—Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron—the names that come to mind were more than power hitters, since they were all around fantastic batters. The traditional definition of a slugger did not necessarily include hitting home runs, but rather, hitting the ball solidly and […]
My Review on Mattingly Baseball Bats with their V-Grip™ Technology
After being away from the game of baseball as a player (in an organized league) for over 20 years, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to catch up to fastballs in excess of 80 mph anymore. I took the plunge and signed up to play in my first over thirty baseball (NOT softball) […]
Me, Grandad, and Baseball
Two weeks ago we lost one of the all-time greats. It wasn’t George Washington, it wasn’t Einstein, it wasn’t Elvis, and it wasn’t Babe Ruth. It was my grandfather, Ben Robinson. Grandad was a special, special man who truly cared more about the welfare of others than that of his own. He had a huge […]
Hosting BBA Baseball Talk on Tuesday, March 29th Again!
Once again, I will be hosting the fifth week of this month’s BBA Baseball Talk’s podcast on Tuesday, March 29th. Guests & the time will be released ASAP and the show can be listened to live and downloaded afterwards (available through iTunes). But for the best experience, I highly recommend that you listen in live and […]
The 2011 Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic
Save the Date: March 15th, 2011 6th Annual Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic Order Tickets Online The Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic will be held at AT&T Park on March 15th, 2011 and will feature the U.S.F. Dons vs. San Jose State. Game time is 12:20 PM preceding the Bruce-Mahoney game between Sacred Heart […]
10 Tips to Develop a Complete Baseball Player
Of course, not all youth players can become star baseball players. However, becoming a well-rounded baseball player is the result when parents and youth coaches do many of the following things to help: 1. Bigger, stronger, and faster athletes advance the most, so having young athletes perform age-appropriate speed and strengthening programs is […]
