Fielding Independent Pitching, or FIP, is among many new terms and acronyms used in modern baseball. It’s a statistic to judge pitchers’ performances based only on what he can control, and not on plays dependent upon fielders. So, exactly what is FIP in baseball? Essentially, the FIP judges a pitcher based only on certain statistics: […]

People who watch their first youth baseball games can compare with what they’ve seen on television, and probably wonder why the TV contests seem to last so much longer. We know adult baseball games are 9 innings, but how many innings are there in Little League games? Games sanctioned by the Little League Baseball organization

In today’s youth baseball universe, parents most likely will not go more than a couple of seasons before hearing the term travel ball, or club ball. This advanced level of competition takes young players away from their traditional locally based youth baseball leagues, and gets them out on the road. While most parents would be

You have probably heard the old adage about “drawing a line in the sand.” This quote is a metaphor for setting protective boundaries. In other words, it says, “This is as far as I will go.” Baseball has its own version of drawing a line, only these lines are typically drawn in the dirt, and

These days, most of the baseball highlights we see on TV and social media are players hitting home runs and pitchers throwing fastballs in the high 90s and even triple digits. We don’t often see as many defensive plays as we used to see, but that does not mean defense is not an important aspect

Parents of young catchers in baseball learn very quickly that the position comes with a lot of gear, and along with that, responsibilities that parents of non-catchers have to worry about. Namely, the maintenance and cleaning of catchers’ gear. Cleaning catcher’s gear is unlike the rest of baseball uniforms or equipment, which can be tossed

World Series, MVP, and Cy Young award-winning pitcher Justin Verlander made headlines in 2019 when he claimed that he believed the baseballs in the MLB were juiced. His claim was quickly denied by Major League Baseball, but many other pitchers in the league shared his stance. While it wasn’t until 2019 that Verlander made his

In this edition of our ongoing Coaching Insight series, we explore one of our favorite topics: fun baseball drills for 8 year olds. For this very important age of play, coaches must instruct while at the same time ensure enjoyment for the kids while playing. The primary goal for coaches of young baseball players should

When first learning how to pitch, young pitchers must learn the proper steps in the pitching motion to get used to the mechanics of throwing a baseball. This is taught in different ways by different coaches, but most of the basics are universal. Some of the basics of the pitching motion are the step back,