Different Game

Wow, Friday night, bottom 9, Mets beating the Yanks 8-7, two on, two out, and Arod pops up to the second baseman. Drifting, drifting, it hits off the heel of his glove, and it drops, both runners come around to score, and the Yanks won 9-8.

"When I played the game, you were taught to catch the ball with two hands. Always two hands." Those are the words of an older man in my synagogue when talking about the play. He went on to say how some players play to look good on TV. And I thought about that, and as much as I think everyone should still catch with two hands (it is safer), I think the game has changed where it isn't necessary to catch with two hands.

Nowadays, the gloves are very deep and balls actually get caught inside players' gloves. Back when this older man played (he is mid-70s), gloves looked something more like this. If you have your throwing arm hanging by your side with this glove, you better hope you can catch with your shoetops. With this deep-dish glove, you're more likely to catch the ball with just one hand, and maybe a few other pieces of merchandise if you're lucky.

This new glove business has really changed the game. Ever wonder why you don't have black and white webgems? Because you weren't likely to hold on to the ball if you layed out, full extension and crash into the ground. (Another theory is, they never had to lay out because they were able to move their legs and tremendous speeds. Check this out.)

Many things were different way back then. Back then, players used heavier bats, they didn't know that using light bats created more bat speed, which is arguably the most crucial hitting factor. Ted Williams claimed to have been one of the first to begin to use light bats, and he used a 34 ounce. Later in his career, he moved down to a 32 ounce bat. A toothpick, he called it. Let it be known that the mighty Arod swings a 31. Babe Ruth used a 54 ounce bat.

Lastly, to say something about the esteemed catcher position- the gloves have changed as well, probably more than other positions. Johnny Bench was the second player to use the hinged (able to catch with one hand) glove, but he was the one to really popularize it. Now, everyone uses it. I think when you're the best at something, that tends to happen. Bench changed the face of catching. With the hinged glove, it brought the aspect of framing the baseball into the position. Try sticking a low outside fastball with this.

Obviously the game will only continue to change, little by little. Maybe it'll work its way back to something like this. For now, all we know is that Luis Castillo will catch his next few popups with two hands.