Major League Baseball pitchers are constantly developing new ways to deceive opposing batters. Breaking balls, such as curveballs and sliders, are prevalent in the modern era because they spin and move in such a way that hitters have trouble knowing when and where to swing. Pitchers also try to deceive batters by switching up the […]

Breaking in new baseball gloves is not easy, and the number of ideas about how to speed up the process must by now reach into triple digits. Among the multitude of these break-in methods is to bake the new glove in an oven, to soften the stiff, still unused leather. Yes, you can put a

Fielding is an essential part of baseball, but sometimes the best defenders are overlooked because it is difficult to measure defensive skills. For that reason, baseball analysts have worked to create defensive statistics that accurately capture a player’s value and abilities with the glove. One of the most commonly used defensive metrics is UZR. UZR

The rules of baseball have changed a lot even in the last 20 years, and it looks as if they will change even more over the next 20. One rule that has remained steady ever since baseball’s conception is the number of defensive players that are allowed on the field at one time. There are

Being a baseball coach is hard, under almost all circumstances. Add to that having a player who thinks the game is boring, and a coach’s challenge increases tenfold. It’s a coach’s nightmare if during a team gathering a player blurts out, “Why is baseball so boring?” Baseball is not boring to everyone, obviously. The game’s

It’s common for just about every parent who first sees their child do well early in youth baseball. A question inevitably pops into the mind: Is it possible that my kid is somehow magically, genetically, built just for baseball?! To tell if your child is athletically gifted for baseball, there is no checklist, or genetic

A baseball player’s defensive abilities are much harder to measure than his offensive skills or pitching prowess. Thus, for many years, there were no comprehensive statistics to evaluate defense. However, in the twenty-first century, several defensive metrics have been developed, and one of the most popular is DRS. DRS stands for “Defensive Runs Saved.” It

Chants are unique to baseball compared with the other major team sports. Almost anyone who’s ever been around a youth ballfield has heard on a pitch, “Hey, batter, batter! Swing!” Or, between pitches, a rhyme including “Pitcher’s got a rubber arm …” A baseball chant is a short phrase, or group of words, shouted by

Stealing bases is one of the most exciting parts of baseball. A stolen base attempt is a battle between the defense and the baserunner that takes only a split second but can have a tremendous impact on the outcome of a game. Second is the most common base to steal, followed by third, but what

Major League Baseball is beloved across the United States and around the world, and its popularity is only growing. According to Forbes, MLB earned an estimated $10.8 billion in revenue in 2022 – a new record high. Therefore, it’s no surprise that superstar baseball players are earning higher salaries than ever before. With that in