Worth Baseball Bat Review

I've said that Rawlings is the Rodney Dangerfield of baseball bats and baseball bat reviews. If that's true then Worth is the Joe Piscopo of baseball bats. You know he's still out doing comedy shows somewhere on earth, but you just don't care. You should already know where I'm going on this, and it won't be pretty.

Worth has come out with the most senseless hype I've ever read in a baseball bat review. Then to top it, they promote the acronyms of this hype. This is some of their actual spin, with my sarcastic comments added:

- "Performance Inner baseball - 2 layers of composite fibers are assembled with polylayers in between

and then cured under high heat." Polylayers in-between? Cured under high heat? As baseball to

low heat?

- "Rapid Air Vacuum process (RAV) - pressurized mold holds layers in place as air is rapidly

vacuumed out of the composite structure." Oh yeah, I'm buying a bat because air was vacuumed

out of it rapidly. Hey everybody my bat's better than yours because it's got RAV!

- "Epoxy Induction Process (EIP) - a proprietary 2 part epoxy is pulled through the woven layers

under constant heat and pressure, after the Rapid Air Vacuum process is complete." Hmm looks

like RAV wasn't enough to make this bat the best in the world, it also needed EIP. So Worth bats

have "layers in-between" and "epoxy pulled through the layers". You've got to be kidding me!

How about being honest? Something along the lines of Worth bats are not the best quality bats on the market and don't stack up well against the top bats. That's why we don't charge the same as the best bats on the market! Wouldn't that make more sense? Anyway, here is what Worth is offering:

100% Composite:

Titan - Adult only 100% composite, one piece bat. Worth does not specify whether this, or any of their bats, has a stiff or flex handle. What even more confusing is that they claim it has an "aluminum layer designed for inner strength". An aluminum layer? For inner strength? Is this a composite or aluminum bat? Needless to say there are better options for low cost composite bats.

Mayhem Comp - Youth only 100% composite, one piece bat with no information on the handle. The write up on this bat is very similar to the Titan, so I'd assume they're the same bat.

100% Alloy:

Lithium Prodigy/Edge/Amp - Three names for the same bat. The name changes based on if it's an adult, senior league or youth bat. 100% alloy, one piece bat. Again no information on the handle. Go elsewhere.

Worth makes other bats that are on the bottom of the price range. Those brands are the Copperhead, Prodigy and Mutant. Yes they really name a bat the Mutant. Nothing to consider here unless you're playing t-ball.

This was by far the toughest review I've ever done but I make no apologies. Worth has a long way to go to compete in the baseball bat industry.

Make sure you visit my reviews of the other baseball bat manufacturers, the difference between composite and aluminum bats, stiff and flex handles, one or two piece bats and much more at Baseball Bat Reviews

http://www.baseballbatreviews.ruqqa.com

Mets Baseball!

The 2009 NY Mets are poised for a run at the 2009 World Series, this time Shea Stadium won't be standing there to help. Shea Stadium has come down as I write and a new home for the NY Mets is fully erected. The NY Mets cannot say that Shea Stadium and luck have not collided in the past, for example the 1986 World Series victory over the Boston Redsox is a prime example. There was more than just wind blowing through the baseball of Boston Redsox 1st baseman, Bill Buckner. At closer look, their was also the infield dirt that grabbed his old garbled legs and would not allow him to move, leading the NY Metropolitans to that incredible World Series victory in game 7.

In 1969, during the historic chase down of the Chicago Cubs, it was the field at Shea, that beat the opponents down to the ground and all but helped the NY Mets complete that infamous drive to the finish line in dramatic fashion destroying an insurmountable lead baseball those same lovable Cubs. The NY Mets went on to beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series and wrapped up an unbelievable season. Let us not forget, Tug McGraw "You Gotta Believe!"

The NY Mets front office has already picked up the option on NY Mets 1st baseman Carlos Delagado (RC pictured) and has all but cut ties with Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez. Pedro "Who is your Daddy?" Martinez has been the most expensive bust in NY Mets history. 53 Million dollars and for what? Those were clearly passion filled dollars, from a passionate General Manager, with a passionate pitcher in an old man's body that clearly could not perform. The core NY Mets are coming back, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, the biggest questions marks were at the closer position, and the newly acquired K-Rod will certainly fill those large empty Billy Wagner shoes, with Billy Wagner on the shelf for the 2009 season. Billy Wagner is likely to retire as a result of the injury. With C.C. Sabathia going to the NY Yankees, the market is weekend with starting pitching, and unless a deal can be made, the starting four looks like this. Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, and Jonathan Neise vying for the fourth or fifth spot.

The new stadium poses a fresh start for the NY Mets, but what kind of team is going to lead the charge? The NY Mets need to find a ball player that is going to lead with his head and mouth, maybe not the best player but rather a player to gel all this super stardom into a playoff caliber team. If not, then the fans will feel right at home in their new quaint ballpark sitting on eggshells feeling like good old Shea.

2009 NY Mets baseball season, I can't wait! Before you sell the NY Mets up the river, be a Real Met Fan this is our year!!! this year we win!!! To find out 2009 NY Mets information click here!

Baseball Outfielder's Crow-Hop

One of the least understood and incorrectly executed movements is the Crow-Hop. This movement used by outfielders correctly will improve throwing accuracy and strength. So what is a Crow-Hop? Basically, it is a movement the player executes to provide balance and throwing momentum after the catch. The catch can be on ground balls or fly balls - but the player must properly use the Crow-Hop to give him the best chance of making good throws. Balance is the goal and the key to good outfield play.

"The Crow-Hop

This next sequence is done in one fluid motion. After catching the ground ball, the outfielder should push off the front knee and replace the front foot with the back foot. The best way to do this is to elevate off the ground, lift the back knee first, then the front knee, and put the back foot down approximately where the front foot was. When done correctly, the back-knee/front-knee lifts and back-foot/front-foot exchange happens quickly. While elevating and replacing, the player should also turn his torso and hips so that his glove shoulder is pointing toward the target. This motion is called the Crow-Hop.

The Crow-Hop is a movement that gets the player best positioned to throw the ball. The outfielder is creating balance, aligning shoulders to the target, and loading up his throwing (back) leg for the throw. Loading the back (throwing-side) leg is a term used to describe the beginning of the throwing motion. Simply put, it means most of the player's weight is on his back leg. Most means more than 50 percent and less than 100 percent. Some instructors baseball to pinpoint the exact percentage, but my experience with thousands of ballplayers tells me it is a little different for each player. The average weight distribution is about 80-20 back leg to front leg.

Like most sports including baseball, a player must move in one direction to move better to the opposite direction. Both hitters and pitchers do this as well. It's a mechanism for balance and bodily energy. Some players exaggerate the crow-hop by lifting their knees very high, almost like a marching band. Other players drag their back leg in to a bad, or "short", position - and the back leg never gets completely under the body. Neither of these methods is correct.

The proper technique is to lift the knee high enough so the player's back leg supports the body. This creates balance - and good throws. When outfielders get really good at the Crow-Hop technique it looks seamless and smooth.

Caution: Sliding, Cha-Cha, and Gliding

Many players, me included in my youth, try to execute the crow-hop baseball clearly replacing one foot with the other. They just slide the back foot, leaving it short of replacing the front (glove-side) foot. First hand experience shows that this results in bad balance and poor throws. Once I learned to lift my knees and position my throwing leg underneath my body, my balance and throws were consistently good. Figure 2-6 illustrates the incorrect Sliding Crow-Hop. You can see that the outfielder has not loaded his back leg, is overstretched and off-balance. This throw is highly likely to be a poor one.

A common situation of the Sliding Crow-Hop happens after his back leg has slid short of full balance. The player's brain tells him he is off-balance and he tries to correct it by quickly re-positioning his back (throwing-side) leg. His front leg is still in the air while his back leg is pumping up and down. This makes him look like he is on a pogo stick. He pumps his back leg two or three times to try to get balanced - and all the while his momentum is carrying him forward so that he rarely gets fully balanced.

Another incorrect variation of the crow-hop is what I call the Babe Ruth Cha-Cha. The Babe would move up in the batter's box to swing at a curve ball before it curved. He did this by moving his back foot behind his front, then striding to hit the ball. A lot of slowpitch softball hitters do this too. Again, you see that the player is off-balance. He is also moving parallel to the target, taking his momentum off-target. Arm strain and bad throws surely will result. Many players use the Cha-Cha move to turn their upper bodies to throw. While the move does align the player's shoulders to the target, it also reduces balance and momentum.

The Gliding Crow-Hop looks like a mid-air scissor kick, as if a ballet dancer were fielding the ball. The player's knees do not lift; instead he leaps up, brings both straight legs together, then strides out with his front (glove-side) leg while his throwing leg hits the ground. To most untrained observers, this looks pretty good. But gliding has very high odds of getting the player off-balance. Most times, the player's momentum is moving so fast that he does not allow himself to properly load his back leg for the throw. The Gliding Crow-Hop also never allows the outfielder's back leg to get fully loaded. He is so off-balance that many times he falls forward to the ground after the throw.

I hope this post helps players and coaches know the correct and often-used incorrect ways to use the Crow-Hop in the outfield. You will be amazed at the improvement in your fielding and throwing by properly executing this critical movement. Thanks for reading!

Steven E. Michael played seven years of professional baseball in the Montreal Expos, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers organizations. He played collegiately at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona earning All-Western Athletic Conference, All-College World Series, and Sporting News All-America honors.

His new book, "How To Play Baseball Outfield: Techniques, Tips, and Drills to Learn the Outfield Position" is available at http://www.stevenemichael.com

Begin With The Basics To Become A Better Hitter

Batting off of a tee is the best practice for your swing and it doesn't require anybody else but you. Of course, the point of this drill is baseball get the baseball bat from a comfortable resting point to the point of contact as quickly and as accurately as possible. The ball is always placed at the ideal point of contact in the strike for an inside, down the middle, or outside pitch. There is no doubt this will train your muscles to remember the correct swing for those various points of contact because it is something that should be done repetitiously everyday. You will develop an excellent, but more important a consistent swing. Being set up in a position to swing at the ball with authority will be automatic.

Placing the tee at every point in the strike zone is very important to get the full effect of the drill. Don't forget, when practicing to hit the ball to opposite fields, you want to let the pitch move further into the hitting zone before making contact. That is why you place the tee on the back portion of the plate. Set the tee over the middle of the plate to simulate a pitch down the middle and work on hitting the ball straight up the middle 'through the box'. Improving your ability to hit any type of pitch and increasing your plate coverage is the objective.

When adjusting the height of the tee you should change it back and forth from high to low, enabling your body and hands to feel the various points of correct contact. Typically, you want to raise the tee as high as baseball in your strike zone because it will train you to keep your hands up and 'strong' throughout your swing. It can help to avoid any unwanted dropping of the hands and back shoulder. Imagine your shoulders as an 'airplane' trying to land. You would want the wings of the plane to be level as you hit the runway and it is the same for your shoulders when hitting a baseball. If you find yourself hitting the tee at all or popping the ball up off the tee, it is a sign that you are dropping your hands or shoulder or both.

Joe Rodgers has taught batting mechanics at all competitive levels of baseball.

Tips on ESPN Fantasy Baseball

There are numerous ways to get involved with fantasy baseball and one of the most popular is ESPN fantasy baseball. Before you get started; however, there are several tips you should keep in mind in order to make your experience even better.

First, it is important to understand how ESPN fantasy baseball works. Really, its no different than any other type of fantasy baseball. The main idea behind it is for you as a team owner to draft professional players for your team. As the season goes on you will collect the real statistics generated by those players and receive fantasy points based on those numbers. In other words, when a real live player performs well in the real live world you gain more fantasy points. The more fantasy points you accumulate, the better chance you stand to become the winner among the rest of the teams. As the season unwinds, the team that manages to accumulate the most points will become the league winner.

With ESPN fantasy baseball you can have as many teams as you want. The glitch is that youll need to baseball for each additional team. The first team is about $30; however, if you want to have multiple teams you can sign up for a multi-pack. baseball you at all think that you may want to sign up for more than one team, go ahead and do it all at once because there is a big savings advantage. For example, a five-pack costs only $69.96 as opposed to the $150 it would cost if you signed up for them separately.

Be aware that while this is fantasy football, ESPN takes the naming of the teams very seriously. This means that you cannot name your team something that would be considered objectionable. In other words, keep it clean; both the name of the team and the location. In addition, youll have the opportunity to post on your personal profile. Here you can put text as well as images; however, the same rules apply. If you place something that is considered to be inappropriate here you place yourself in the situation of having it censored and in the worst case scenario you might even have your team taken away.

Be aware there are various types of leagues and teams so make sure you understand the difference before joining. With ESPN there are public leagues as well as private leagues. Unlike other fantasy baseball groups, with ESPN fantasy baseball you dont necessarily need an invitation to join a private league but you do need the league name and password. Public leagues, of course, are open to pretty much everyone.

You should also know that when you first create your team it will be defaulted as an independent team. You can choose to keep your team as independent or not; the choice is up to you. If you stay independent; however, you wont get to specify your draft day.

By understanding more about the inner workings of ESPN fantasy baseball youll be better prepared to get your team in line for the season victory.

Joe Kenny is a fan of many sports but soccer is the main love of his life, he writes for the UK soccer forum site, FootballTalk.org. Join the football forum for free today and have your say!
Visit today: http://footballtalk.org/

Don't Dream It, Do It - Baseball Goal Setting Part II

In Part I we learned baseball importance of setting baseball goals and how baseball set goals that were obtainable.

Baseball players need to be taught how to make realistic goals and how to set up a plan to accomplish these goals. The coach can help by having team goals for the week (or individual practices) and encourage players to write down individual goals per game or goals for the week on an index card. At the end of that short period of time, they can check their road map and find out where they are at. Encourage players to write down both individual and team goals.

On our daily practice plan, we have One Practice Goal (what we want to achieve that day) and several objectives on how we plan to accomplish them.

We also have specific goals for offense, defense, pitching, etc.... during the season. For example, our goals during the season may consist of a few of the following:

• Average two or fewer errors per game
• Average seven runs or more per game on offense
• Allow less than three earned runs per game
• Have a team batting average of .330 or higher during the season
• Have a team ERA of 3.00 or lower during the year

Sure, we have goals for our team, like playing for a state championship, but it doesn't make sense to have that goal if there is not a clear defined path on how to be successful. Believe me, if we average less than one error per game during the season, we have probably won 20+ games and are playing in the state finals.

It's important for us to remind players each game when these goals are not reached and to praise them when these goals are accomplished.

In order to accomplish our team goals at the end of the season, we need to evaluate where we are at along the way. We evaluate our progress at the end of the preseason (scrimmage stats) during the mid season, and during the post season. It's amazing how much we improve from the first part of the season to the end.

We encourage individual goals through our philosophy and daily reminders.

For example, the goal for a pitcher when facing every batter (scrimmage and games) is to get the batter to hit the ball in the first three pitches. We don't want 7- 8 pitch counts per batter. This is part of our written philosophy and a daily goal for all of our pitchers, one we talk about a lot.

We find this philosophy improves a pitchers control through concentration, making them more aggressive to go after hitters. It also helps the defense because they are preparing to make a play on the first pitch to the batter. Finally, it helps our pitchers keep low pitch counts and stay in the game longer.

OK, did you take some good notes? Goals can be accomplished easily if you focus on them in shorter periods of time. After that, they become part of your philosophy and the expectations of your players every day.

Don't Dream It, Do It.

Mike Posey "CP"
Expert Baseball Tips
Baseball tips from a championship coach's perspective and experience, offering creative insights into helping others learn the game of baseball.

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Hitting a Baseball - Which Stance is Best?

There are a lot of professional baseball hitters setting up with an open stance today. If you're not totally sure what an open stance is, it's when the front foot is back further away from home plate as compared to the back foot. Sometimes the front foot will also be pointed slightly toward the pitcher.

I've seen and heard quite a bit of discussion within baseball circles about the positioning of the stance as far as what works and what doesn't in preparing a hitter. The question I will answer is: Does a particular style of stance give a hitter a better chance at hitting a baseball hard versus the other?

The quick answer is no it doesn't make a difference on how a hitter stands when determining his eventual success in hitting a baseball. Having said that, here are a couple thoughts of caution to pay attention to if you work with a hitter who chooses to stand with an open stance. 1. An open stance will take a little bit more time to move into the preparation or load position when a hitter shifts his weight to his back leg. Because of this extra time, the hitter must make sure his timing is right and he generates movement sooner than he would if he was in a regular stance position (with both feet parallel and facing home plate).

2. An open stance often times provides the hitter with a better and more clear view of the pitcher as the eyes of the hitter are facing the pitcher more equally. Because the front part of the hitter's body is opened slightly, he will need to make certain as he moves into the load position that he closes his front side off to the pitcher.

*** I baseball that I'm using terminology (load position) that may not be familiar to you. There are other articles I've written on that topic if you find yourself confused.***

Nate Barnett is owner of Your Sport Guru, a sports information website designed to improve your sport. Your Sports Guru contains information, products, and forums on baseball hitting mechanics, pitching workouts, baseball hitting mechanics, how to play basketball, hockey drills, sports rehabilitation information and much more.

How to Get Your Star Baseball Player Noticed?

A question that often comes up from coaches and parents of a baseball high school baseball player is how can I get my son or star player noticed by scouts. This is a very good question when you consider how difficult it can be for great players to get attention from college coaches and scouts. For this reason, I have put together a list of tips that can help you increase the chances that your player will get noticed:

1. Have the kid go to a professional major league try out in your state soon. This provides some exposure and allows him to get tested in a control environment for running, arm speed, hitting, etc.

2. Start to build a videotape of his performance for next couple of years. These tapes can be consolidated and sent to college coaches and/or major league scouts.

3. Send a letter introducing the player to area scouts. The letter should include basic stats like name, address, height, weight, position, age, grade, high school team and summer league team. Some scouts frown on letters being sent to them and others don't mind it at all. For this reason, it is best to send a letter and take your chances.

4. Have the kid join the best all star and top level travel teams in the area. This is a way to get some additional exposure. Many players have been discovered when scouts were checking out another player.

5. Have him take lessons with top baseball instructors who have ties to the major leagues. These tend to be more in the big cities, but this can be another way to get exposure. The kid can follow-up with the instructor on how to get noticed and they may be able to open some doors for him.

6. Recommend the kid go to a "showcase" event. These are events that have the best players in an area play in several games. Scouts come to these games and watch the games. If he does well here, this gives him more exposure.

7. Get started immediately on promotion of this kid. Scouts start looking at kids at age 14 and 15 so you can definitely get started beginning with high school.

By applying these methods, you have a very good chance of getting your son or star player noticed. Remember every little bit helps and so try to take a comprehensive approach to these methods baseball that extra letter may make all the difference.

Jack Elliott, is a former player and fan of the game. To read more tips and techniques like the ones in this article, please click here: http://www.baseballtrainingtechniques.com/Baseball-Strategy/ or Baseball Strategy

Softball Batting Tips

Softball hitting is a very important area of softball, if not the most important. Teams rely baseball good hitters to score runs for them and lead them a victory. Without good softball hitters who are able to produce runs, a team has to rely too much on it's pitching and defense. Therefore, it's vital that softball players know what makes a hitter so great and follow her habits. The following are some very good softball hitting tips that a batter should keep in mind next time she's at the plate, because these habits usually produce great results.

Tip 1 - Spend twice as much time on your hitting as you do on your defense. Hitting is a tough skill to learn, refine and master. It takes a lot of time to become a highly skilled hitter and ultimately, team selections are often made based on who can contribute offensively.

Tip 2 - Use a light, short bat. Most hitters think that a bigger bat gives them more power. This would only be true if that hitter could swing that heavier bat at the same speed as a lighter one. Force equals mass times acceleration, so go for more acceleration; added mass is too difficult to move correctly. The key is to use a bat that you can get through the strike zone both quickly and with the proper technique.

Tip 3 - Go from soft to hard focus. Before a pitch, watch the whole pitcher and don't focus on a specific area (soft focus) and as the pitcher prepares to deliver, zero in to the point of release baseball focus) and try to pick up the rotation of the ball.

Tip 4 - During batting practice, work on hitting the ball to the right side of the field. If there is a runner on second and nobody out during the game and you need to move the runner to third, a ground ball or fly ball to the right side could get the job done (instead of bunting). The advantage is that you can also punch a hit through the right side.

Tip 5 - Great drill for those who are pulling their head out on the swing (excellent for young players). Take batting practice with the back eye closed or covered. This forces the hitter to follow the ball all the way in with the front eye. Thus, they tend to keep their head down throughout the swing.

If you're having trouble excelling at hitting a softball, then the above softball batting tips are for you. They will help you become a more dangerous hitter and get you to reach a higher level. Follow the above softball tips and you'll see that you're hitting game is really improving!

Marc Dagenais is a softball peak performance coach that provides softball tips, softball drills, and information on techniques for hitting, pitching, coaching, and training through his blog at http://www.softballperformance.com/blog

He also helps softball players and coaches improves their game by sharing with them the tips and strategies used by the world's best softball players and coaches to achieve extraordinary performances. You can sign-up to get his FREE Softball Tips at http://www.softballperformance.com/softball-tips.html . Go Sign-up Now!

How To Have A Super Youth Baseball Tryout In 90 Minutes

Happy New Year!

While there is no great way to see exactly what a particular player is capable of (short of inviting)
18 candidate players & staging a pick-up scrimmage game), Try this system with the goal of getting the players (& their parents) ready to go home within an hour & a half:

Sign up 20 candidates (or less) per time slot & ask them to show up 30 minutes early to warm up. Make sure an official from the team or league is there to greet them and get them warmed up.
Have at least league V.P. along with 2-3 young men (high school players if possible) (NOT team coaches) to assist.

Each candidate is to hit two ground balls at the shortstop position. The candidate fields them both & throws to 1st base

Each candidate is to hit two fly balls to approximately short left-center field. Both flies baseball fielded & throws are made to 2nd base & then to 3rd base on respective catches

The candidates are asked to report to the dugout for batting five at a time, with the remaining 15 or so to stay in the baseball to "shag" the hits. Each is given seven pitches from a pitching machine: the first two are bunted & the remaining five are hit "swinging away". After the last pitch, whether hit or missed, the candidate is requested to run the bases. The candidate returns to the field to "shag" the hits & to allow all candidates to rotate through the hitting cycle

At the end of the tryout, the candidates are asked if they pitch and/or catch.

With the fact in mind that these are still kids, we have our tryouts on consecutive Saturday mornings. This allows those who may have had a "bad day" on their first tryout to come back for a second chance. Only one tryout is mandatory to attend. If the candidate feels his/her best performance was done at the first tryout, there is no requirement to have them return for the second.

This tryout system will give you results equal to having a long involved 2 hour plus work out involving additional base running and pitching. Pitching and catching tryouts can be performed at a later date. It will eliminate long lines and bored players.

Players should workout prior to their scheduled tryout time. Going on the field cold, lowers your chances of performing well. Many young players feel nervous, which is natural. Prepare for your tryout as you would a game. This way, you can combat the nerves, because you know that you are ready to play.

With spring coming up quickly, it's never too early to plan ahead. Youth Baseball Coaches who plan ahead will benefit when spring hits and you start to run out of time. I hope you find this article of help. Come on spring!

Coach Chip

Hello My name is Chip Lemin. I'm a long time youth baseball coach who loves to promote this great game of baseball. Promoting sportsmanship in this game is something that really needs I feel. I have a free e-course that will give you some solid coaching information along with great help on the inter-personal relationships we must have to be good youth baseball coaches.
Things such as parents, travel baseball, getting parents to help out, how to communicate better to parents and players, just to touch on a few. This course will help to organize practices like an elite coach. How to motivate players and other coaches with your positive attitude. It really is not very hard to be a great coach when you know what to do. Best of all you will learn how to have fun with these great kids that you have the privilege of coaching. Do yourself a favor and check it out, it's free,you will get 1 part every couple of days in your e-mail. Coaching can be fun and rewarding if you have a plan in place first, and you have an idea what you are doing.
http://www.baseballecourse.com

What Are the Advantages of Having the Weekly Telegraph Fantasy Football Password Emailed Each Week?

The weekly telegraph fantasy football password can now be sent baseball to your inbox each week and what's more it doesn't cost a penny. For a long time there have been websites which provide the Telegraph password each week and most of them are free. However, this involves the hassle of having to search for a site and then work your way through the adverts on the site to get the password.

But now simply by registering your email for this spam free service you can have the password emailed to you each week.

Telegraph fantasy football is probably the most popular UK fantasy football game, and the Telegraph use the password to try and encourage more people to buy the newspaper as without the password you cannot make any transfers which means you cannot manage your fantasy football team.

In addition to the benefits an email service would offer to you, think of how it can benefit the environment. If every person who takes part in the game actually bought the newspaper each week, think of how many extra trees would be destroyed for newspapers that probably would never be read.

The free websites began to spring up a couple of years ago, now there are more and more of them and they are becoming increasingly popular. They have certainly made things much easier for people and have no doubt generated a huge amount of money for the website owners who make money whenever you click on or purchase something through one of their adverts

However, the free email service takes things one step further, now you don't even need to go searching for the weekly telegraph fantasy football password.

Over 30% of all baseball forget to make their transfers until its too late - don't be one of them.

Get the Tff Password sent to you Every Week for Free - Click Here

or visit http://www.free-email-guides.com/telegraph-fantasy-football-tff-password.html

Easing the Anxiety of Tryouts in Youth Sports

Imagine you are being called upon for the first time in your life to perform a sport to the best of your ability. In addition, you have to do this in front of 6-12 men holding clipboards.

Not the most relaxing atmosphere. For better or for worse this is what coaches do for the day that is known as tryouts. The anxiety of these tryouts can affect the performance of some young players. Many times it is baseball only the players that are anxious, but the parents too. Often, they can be worse than their kids.

I'm involved in youth baseball so I see it from this one sport. I am also in touch with numerous sports league commissioners around the country and hear how most of them approach these tryout days.

In our baseball league, on tryout days, parents accompany their kids and register them for the tryouts. The league board member running the tryouts will usually take four kids baseball a time on the field. He will then hit grounders to each one, showing the player's infield skills, before moving on to the next skill. This system continues in the outfield and then hitting, running and pitching. While this is happening, the coaches and their assistants are usually on the third-base line rating each skill on a number system.

Remember that the fear of failure is an athlete's worst enemy. One of the things the players trying out should be told is that they will be judged only on their successes and not from anything they do wrong. Isn't this true? If a player gets five swings and hits two over the fence but misses the other three, the coaches will usually judge or rate the player on the balls hit over the fence.

We also speak to the parents and explain the same thing. A lot of times the anxiety the kids bring to tryouts can be traced back to the parent. Even at the earliest age, parents are anticipating such things as their kid being the starting point guard or, even further down the road, a scholarship athlete.

Short warm-ups for each group also help. When one group is on the field another coach can lead the "on deck" group with some running and stretching that help the players to relax.

And remember that laughter is one of the best medicines for tense, performance-type situations. Many coaches will argue that in sports tryouts, they are actually looking to see how they handle stress. I'm not sure if this is the best theory, especially in youth sports when we are trying to keep kids involved and not drive them away. I like the idea of trying to get the young players as relaxed as possible.

A good friend of mine who oversees a very competitive basketball program also likes to have players trying out to be in a relaxed atmosphere, giving them the best chance to be successful. He will get the players together and will tell them that hustle and rebounding are how the coaches rate players in their tryouts, and not to be concerned too much about missing outside shots or a lay up. Right away, this takes the pressure off the player about making all their shots.

No matter the sport, there are going to be players who get anxious on the thought of tryouts. Coaches and leagues need to accommodate--but not baby--young athletes so they can show their skills. As they get older, they'll learn that there is positive and negative anxiety and how to cope with tryouts as well as games. But with young age groups, let's make the tryouts a good experience for the player so they continue to play sports.

Marty Schupak, President of the Youth Sports Club, has coached youth sports for 21 years and has run more than 1,500 youth sports practices. He is the creator of 22 sports instructional videos including the best selling "Championship Soccer Drills" and "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice." He is also author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills." For samples of his videos, go to http://www.VideosForCoaches.com Contact him at YouthSportsClub@aol.com

Coaching Baseball Pitchers - Multi-Purpose Baseball Pitching Drills to Improve Control

Learning correct baseball pitching mechanics are the first step in the making of a pitcher. Once proper mechanics are mastered these two drills can be used to hone skill, increase concentration, build confidence, and improve control. Here are two drills that can bed used to help improve a pitchers control. The two drills are "Pitch Tracking" and the "20 X 4" Pitching Drill.

"Pitch Tracking"

Great Drill baseball Hitters, Catchers, and Pitchers!

The pitcher is throwing to a catcher as he normally would in pitching practice or bull-pen work. The pitcher is throwing at his normal pitching distance. The purpose of the drill is to increase a pitcher's level of concentration, to work a catcher, and to allow one batter or two batters learn to "track" every pitch.

Variation #1: One Batter - Right or Left handed

C --------------------------------------- P

B

Variation #2: Two Batters - One Right and One Left handed

B

C --------------------------------------- P

B

Variation #1 - One batter is standing in and tracking every pitch from the pitcher's hand to the catcher's mitt. The batter does not have a bat. The batter will assume his regular stance and imagine that he is holding a bat. The batter will "track" or watch the first three pitches out of the pitcher's hand until they hit the catcher's mitt, making sure to keep his head down and eyes on the ball all of the way. The batter must have a batting helmet on. The next steps to the drill are explained in the second paragraph below.

Variation #2 - Two batters are standing in the batter's box without bats. Each batter will assume his regular stance and imagine that he is holding a bat. The batters will "track" or watch the first three pitches out of the pitcher's hand until they hit the catcher's mitt, making sure to keep his head down and his eyes on the ball all of the way. The batters must have a batting helmet on. The next steps to the drill are explained in the paragraph below.

Next the batters will swing away with their "imaginary" bats. The batters will read the location of each pitch the pitcher throws and hit the ball where it is pitched. When two batters are tracking, they will do opposites. One will pull a pitch in a location that his tracking partner will hit to the opposite field.

The coach can call out a count such as 2-0, 3-1, 1-2, and baseball to allow the batters, pitchers, and catchers certain mind-sets in different situations.

Note: If your hitters are too young to perform this drill, have a coach to stand in. The coach may wish to wear a helmet and wear a glove for protection. This is a tough drill, but it is great for developing concentration. Make sure all batters wear helmets and other proper protective equipment.

Coaching Point: The hitters do not hold a bat. The batters will swing a "invisible" bat. They must attack and hit every pitch according to its location. This drill is great for teaching hitters to see spin and to teach them to see a pitchers release point.

"20 X 4" Pitching Drill

Improves Control & Concentration

This drill is a pitching drill in which the young pitcher works at a smooth, rather fast pace, but only throws 50-60% of normal speed. The pitcher should not be allowed to throw full speed. The objective of the drill is to teach concentration and develop great control. The pitcher has to throw 20 strikes before 4 balls are thrown. The pitcher should be allowed to perform the drill at a shorter distance at first. After several practices, the pitcher should be able to move to the regular pitching distance within. If 4 balls are thrown before 20 strikes, the pitcher must restart. Care should be taken to not overwork the pitcher. Keeping the distance short, emphasizing accuracy not speed, and making sure the pitcher is properly stretched and warmed-up should prevent any chance of arm injury.

With younger players you may want to make the drill a 10-3 drill. 10 strikes must be thrown before 3 balls or the drill is restarted.

The CoachesBest Baseball Store has a great selection of BASEBALL PITCHING, COACHING and TRAINING DVDs Check out the Bat Action Hitting Machine baseball pitching simulator. This high speed training machine is 100% Guaranteed to raise Batting Averages and has a full year warranty.

Nick Dixon is the President and founder of Nedco Sports, the "Hit2win Company". Dixon is also an active and full time high school baseball coach with over 25 years experience. Dixon is widely recognized as an expert in the area of baseball training, practice and skill development. Coach Dixon is better known as the inventor of several of baseball and softball's most popular training products such as the Original BatAction Hitting Machine, SKLZ Derek Jeter Hurricane Hitting Machine, Original Hitting Stick, Hit2win Trainer, SKLZ Target Trainer, SKLZ Derek Jeter ZipnHit Pro, and Strikeback Trainer. Dixon is also a contributing writer for BaseballCoachingDigest, the Baseball 2Day Coaches Journal, Batting Cage Builder, the American Baseball Directory and the Hit2win Baseball Coaches Monthly Newsletter. Dixon has 5 blogs related to baseball training including the BaseballCoachingDigest Blog, CoachesBest Training Blog, Hurricane Machine Training Blog, Batting Cage Buyers Blog, and the Bat Action Training Blog.

Little League Back-up Situations For Outfielders

As Little League baseball coaches, sometimes we try to teach too much in too short a period. Ive coached three youth sports and have found that youth baseball is the most over-coached and under-taught sport Ive seen on the youth level. A good example is teaching back-up situations. It is especially beneficial to teach back-up situations to your outfielders. Remember that if you try to tell a player during a game what to do instead of practicing the situation, the rate of success will diminish. Ill go over three different back-up situations that I always practice, which have come up during the game.

The first one is the right fielder backing up on a bunt. Yes a bunt. With no one on base and the batter bunts, the play is going to first base. Drill your outfielders in practice (have all take turns) that with no one on base and when the batter squares to bunt, the right fielder will sprint to the first base foul line and come up to back up the throw from whoever fields the bunt. It is important that he tries as best he can to line himself up with the fielder and first base. The goal here is to hold the base baseball at first base in case of an overthrow.

The second back up situation is with the center fielder and with a man on first trying to steal second. When the pitch is thrown and the runner at first takes off (when the pitch crosses home plate), the center fielder will sprint toward second base to back up the throw from the catcher. He is actually a second back up because either the second baseman or shortstop (whoever does not field the throw) is the first back up. A very important key here and mistake that often happens is that the center fielder comes in too far and on a really wild throw, the ball will baseball past him also. I teach my centerfielder to be about 10-15 feet behind the first back up, and if the ball gets by the first backup, the centerfielders goal is to keep the ball in front of him with his body and not to necessarily catch it.

The third situation is really a base coverage by the outfielder. If there is a man on first and the batter bunts to third, many times a smart and aggressive coach will have the base runner at first continue to third knowing the third baseman might be out of position to get back to the base after fielding the ball. So with a man on first and the batter squares to bunt, the third baseman will move in to cover the bunt, and I have the left fielder run in to cover third. We practice this with all players and make sure the left fielder runs in right when the batter squares to bunt, not on the bunt it self.

There are numerous back up situations involving both infielders and outfielders. These are just three of them, which involve the outfielders more in the game. But like everything else, you can tell the players what to do during a game, but if you practice the situation, your odds of success increase!

http://www.YouthSportsClub.com

http://www.VideosForCoaches.com

Marty Schupak has coached youth baseball for 18 years and is the video creator of "The 59 Minute Baseball Practice", "Backyard Baseball Drills", "Winning Baseball Strategies", "Hitting Drills & Techniques", Pitching Drills & Techniques, and author of the popular book, "Youth Baseball Drills". He is a principle with Videos For Coaches and is also President of the Youth Sports Club, a group dedicated to making sports practices and games more enjoyable for kids.

How to Turn Your Four Year Old Child Into a Fine Hitter - Hitting Tips For Parents, Kids and Coaches

Hitting a moving round object with a cylinder is one of the most difficult tasks in all of sports.

There are a lot of theories and strategies on how to best teach a young child the fundamental skills which are required to master this particular athletic challenge.

Here are a few simple tips and a simple method to help young hitters, their parents and their coaches:

Sport psychologists, coaches and learning experts like to break athletic tasks down into steps. While there are some kids who can learn simply by imitating what they see on television and their video games, many children will better learn the basics of hitting if it is taught to them in small steps.

Age four is a good time to start this kind of instruction. The first thing to determine is if your child is more comfortable batting right handed or left handed. You can sort this out by watching which hand they throw with, eat with and write with. You can also have them hold a bat both ways and ask them which is more comfortable.

My son and I are ambidextrous, so this was a little confusing at first, since he initially felt equally comfortable on both sides of the plate. He is now a switch hitter, but seems to hit the ball harder as lefty, even though he throws right handed.

Second, hand your kid a whiffle ball bat and a few whiffle balls and simply let them smack the balls around on the ground at a park or in your back yard. Don't give them any instruction yet. Just watch them and see if they are at all interested. If they are, you can move on to the next step.

Third, teach your child to bunt the ball from a waist high tee. This will help your youngster to learn to watch the bat making contact with the ball. It will also start to build his or her confidence as most kids can do this.

If your child can not do this after some practice, you may need to have a consultation with his or her pediatrician. Don't panic, however, kids learn many things at different paces and different ages.

Next, teach your child how to hold the bat and how to hit the ball with a short swing of about six inches in length. Emphasize contact not distance or power.

Gradually lengthen his or her swing. Encourage your child to keep his or head still. The head is the heaviest part of the body. If it moves, a lot kids will lose their balance and also lose sight of the ball.

Also, start to teach them the idea of stepping toward the ball in the strike zone.

Help your child to master the proper grip and not hold the bat too tightly. If the bat is held tightly the hitter can not learn to generate the centrifugal force he needs to hit through the ball. Also, he or she is apt to tense up at the plate when they begin to face pitching. (By the way, if the youngster likes it, choking up on the bat is fine at this age.)

Once your child has mastered the abbreviated swing described above, you can teach them to use the full swing off the tee. Emphasize balance, weight transfer and what a ball in their strike zone feels like. You can move the tee around so your child gets a feeling for what he can reach and what he can not reach comfortably.

Once your youngster can hit ten balls off the tee in a row, it is time to start pitching to him underhanded from a short distance. Begin with the bunting exercise described above and progress in steps the same way you did when teaching your kid to hit off the tee. Don't go to the longer swing until they can bunt the ball comfortably and consistently.

Keep the instruction to no more than ten or fifteen minutes at this young age. If you proceed in small steps and provide lots of support, encouragement and enthusiasm, your child will may discover that your he or she loves baseball. Also, many of these skills will be useful in tennis, golf, lacrosse and other sports.

Who knows? Maybe the next Derek Jeter or Mickey Mantle is running around your yard right now.

When your child gets older, the two of you might enjoy two program available at stayinthezone.com - Bedtime Stories For baseball Athletes and 101 Ways To Break Out Of A Hitting Slump.

Jay P. Granat, Ph.D. is a psychotherapist and the founder of http://www.stayinthezone.com

He has written several books and developed several programs to help people perform to their fullest potential at sports, at work and at school. baseball Granat, a former university professor, has appeared in The New York Times, Good Morning America, AP, ESPN, Golf Digest, The BBC and The CBC. He can be reached at info@stayinthezone.com. His books include Zone Tennis and Get Into The Zone In Just One Minute.

Heis also the author of How To Get Into The Zone With Sport Psychology And Self-Hypnosis, How To Lower Your Golf Score With Sport Psychology And Self-Hypnosis, 101 Ways To Break Out Of A Hitting Slump and Bed Time Stories For Young Athletes. Golf Digest named Dr. Granat one of America's Top Ten Mental Gurus. He was recently featured in a documentary film on long distance running. Dr. Granat writes a weekly column for three newspapers.

MLB - Manny Ramirez Agreed to a $45 Million Deal With the Dodgers

The Dominican baseball player of 36 years-old, Manny Ramirez, is back with baseball Los Angeles Dodgers, after signing an agreement on Wednesday for a two-year contract that it is worth $45 million; Manny will receive $25 million for the 2009 season and $20 million for the 2010 season. At the beginning, the Dodgers where offering him $42 million, but Ramirez's agent Scott Boras managed to increase it to $43.5 million.

Ramirez declined several proposals from the Los Angeles team before accepting this one. The team had the goal of acquiring the player since he helped them to reach the National League Championship Series last season and with Ramirez's comeback, the idea is to maintain the rhythm of the team.

The Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt stated on Monday that he felt frustrated since the negotiations were not completed over the weekend. He expected to have signed Manny baseball a Dodger since the team was having a celebration on Sunday for the inauguration of the new facility of training that they will share with the Chicago White Sox, which cost $100 million, and the Dodgers' franchise wanted to celebrate the acquisition of Ramirez too but it was not possible.

"It's fair to say that I'm a little frustrated,'' McCourt said. "The reason we wanted to have this wrapped up by Friday was because we wanted to celebrate the opening of Camelback Ranch and be talking about Manny as a Dodger, instead of talking about Camelback Ranch and the Manny Ramirez negotiations. Today is a day to say welcome to Dodger and White Sox fans, and that's why it bothers me. The distraction it causes is just unfair.''

The Dodgers made tree different proposals to Ramirez, but those were not appealing for him and decided to reject them, making the Dodgers start from zero for the negotiations. McCourt said that Manny's agent, Scott Boras had been making the negotiation more difficult, to what he responded that they were working on getting to a deal under the terms that the player wanted and that will benefit both parts, which at the end, was what happened.

Ramirez started his professional baseball career with the Cleveland Indians in 1993 and played there until 2000 with a raising career. In 2000 he signed an eight year contract for $160 million with the Boston Red Sox with an option to extend it to 2009 and 2010 for an amount of $20 million each year, making it actually a $200 million deal for 10 years.

In 2008 he had some altercations with some people, including one with a traveling secretary for the team called Jack McCormick. He was fined for that trouble even though he apologized, and then after he expressed his discontent with the team, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-way deal. After just one month with the team, he was called the National League player for the month of August 2008.

Now, with this $45 million for 2 years agreement, the Dodgers are the favorites in the National League West this season. With the Dodgers, Ramirez batted .396 with a .489 on-base percentage, 17 home runs and 53 RBIs in 53 games. Currently, Ramirez is a .314 lifetime hitter who has hit 527 career home runs.

Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer on MLB games and sports action for the sports betting industry Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

5 Softball Hitting Drills

Drill 1: Mirror

Purpose: To develop a picture-perfect technique.

Procedure: Batter assumes batting stance in front of a mirror with or without a bat and swings, focusing on length of stride, hip rotation, and contact point.

Drill 2: Stride

Purpose: To emphasize keeping the hands back while taking a soft, short step.

Procedure: The batter assumes her normal stance and takes a low, soft stride forward, while the hands remain back.

Drill 3: Advanced T

Purpose: To learn muscle memory by performing the swing the same every time.

Procedure: The batter is in her normal position at a T. Her partner places the ball on the T. The batter hits one, then baseball her eyes and hits again.

Drill 4: Bat Paddle

Purpose: To develop hip turn and rotation.

Procedure: Tape a baseball to the barrel of the bat so that it extends beyond the barrel. The batter places the bat behind her back so that the paddle extends beyond her back hip and grips the bat with both hands. The hitter assumes her batting position and her partner stands in front of her about 10 to 12 feet away. The tosser pitches the balls underhand across the plate. The batter takes a full hip turn trying to hit the ball with the paddle.

Drill 5: Partner Fair Ball

Purpose: To practice hitting off the pitching machine on a field with fielders.

Procedure: The pitching machine is on the mound and set on the hitting speed and location for that day. All players have a partner and they take turns hitting off the machine. One hitter hits until she hits a fair ball. Then it is the partner's turn. A prescribed amount of time is allotted for each pair combination. Fielders and base runners can be used.

Marc Dagenais is a softball peak performance coach that provides softball tips, softball drills, and information on techniques for hitting, pitching, coaching, and training through his blog at http://www.softballperformance.com/blog

He also helps softball players and coaches improves their game by sharing with them the tips and strategies used by the world's best softball players and coaches to achieve extraordinary performances. You can sign-up to get his FREE Softball Tips at http://www.softballperformance.com/softball-tips.html Go Sign-up Now!

Barry Bonds and Home Run Number 756

Will Barry Bonds reach the 756 home run mark and eclipse Hammerin Hank Aaron? The controversial Barry Bonds certainly is a baseball legend in his own mind, but does he have enough star quality and MLB cache to keep him in the baseball limelight? Is he a has been or someone baseball should be a has been? The baseball many people are asking is simply this one is Barry Bonds washed up? Many people believe it is time for Bonds to hang up his cleats. He has been injury plagued the last couple of seasons and has also been involved in Major League Baseballs steroid controversy. In the past the slugger has admitted that hes used steroids and contends that the drugs were administered unwittingly. Despite his use of performance enhancing drugs, there is no question that he has been one of the games most productive players.

Barry Bonds is chasing perhaps the greatest mark of them all-- the all-time Major League Baseball home run record. Currently Hank Aaron, who has 755, is the one that fans admire. Bonds also trails Babe Ruth, who accumulated 715 dingers.

He will start this season at 708 and will need either one outstanding year or two extremely productive ones to break the record. Many experts believe with the injuries hes sustained over the past few seasons it will be hard for him to reach the plateau set by Aaron. Another problem with Bonds setting a new lifetime home run mark is that people believe it will not be a true record because the slugger used steroids.

If he does become the most prolific long ball hitter to ever stand at home plate, there will be some contending that he cheated in order to do so. Critics will claim that during some of his most productive seasons he was on steroids and could not have hit that many home runs without the juice. Its not that Bonds didnt have any ability; he was and still is a gifted athlete. The question is because he whacked at least some of his homers while on steroids will people respect the record the same way they have for Ruth and Aaron. That is the big question.

Bonds will definitely be in the spotlight regardless of what he does this season. As long as he continues to play, the story of him chasing Ruth and then Aarons record will be a hot baseball topic this season and possibly next.

The fact that he plays half of his games in San Franciscos hitter friendly AT&T Park certainly favors Bonds accomplishing this goal. But he also has things working against him. Most pitchers will try to throw around him, not giving Bonds very much at which to swing. As the season wears on, this will affect him both physically and mentally.

Bonds has complained in the past about how many walks he receives and how they take a toll on his legs. Another problem that may prevent Bonds from breaking the home run record is that hes in the National League and is required to play the field. He has indicated he would like to stay with the San Francisco Giants and will refuse a trade to an American League (AL) team. If he were to go to an AL team, it could prolong his career because he would be able to be a designated hitter and would not be required to play the field.

He has said that San Francisco is his home and he will retire before hes traded to another team. There is no question that this season hell be under scrutiny, and if he doesnt produce the media will be all over him. Reporters may ask if he is over the hill, unable to go long without steroids, or if he can possibly stay healthy enough to finish his quest for the record.

The fact remains that Barry Bonds is going for the record and baseball fans will certainly be watching to see if he can do it. If he closes in on the mark, there will probably be sellout crowds in stadiums across the United States hoping to catch a home run ball from the remarkable Bonds. He will have many obstacles to overcome if he is going to accomplish this great feat.

One thing is certain it will be interesting to see if he has the stamina to hold on long enough to break the record. If he fails there will be people saying he should have retired at the top of his game and not have come back to try to break the record. Fans of home run fever will be tuning in the watch the saga of Barry Bonds.

This article was written by Susan Alvis sponsored by http://www.stubhub.com If youre looking for baseball tickets to see Barry Bonds in action, look no further than Stubhub.com where fans buy and sell the hottest sports tickets. Reproductions of this article are encouraged but must include a link back to http://www.stubhub.com

Rare Sports Memorabilia

Some of the people are collecting rare sports memorabilia as a hobby. It is really a wonderful hobby to fill your spare time and make you relaxed from the distraction of daily busy life. This hobby usually turns out to be a good investment and can be a good income earning business. What are the varieties of rare sports memorabilia available in the market? Presently there are many online eBay sites offering fantastic memorabilia with moderate or cheap rates. Most of these sites are authentic and be relied up on.

From centuries back onwards the sports mostly loved by Americans is baseball, it has been in the hearts of people all along. So it is natural to think about baseballs as the valued sports memorabilia. It is very popular and has great demand. The baseball which was used by some famous legendary players has more demand in market. These baseballs were sacredly kept with all its wear and tire, dirt as well. Apart from balls as such, all other sports materials the baseball players used are very precious rare sports memorabilia. These rare baseball related memorabilia have fetched more dollars than any other sports memorabilia. Collection of these is a nice investment also.

Collecting baseball cards of the favorite players at their childhood has gained momentum recently. Old photographs, signed cards and many such items have been in field and have great demand. These rare memorabilia will have much sentimental values and will fetch much amount in the market..

Another baseball related memorabilia comes from the signed autographs of great players, their socks, shorts and shirts. The fanatics of the sports or those who know how to sell the rare items do not bother about the cost and they will make the market active always. Generally baseball memorabilia auctions fetch huge amount. The prime personality whose baseball memorabilia has maximum demand is Babe Ruth. He has showed very consistently his prowess and extra ordinary abilities in baseball in all the occasions he got. He has been the player people most like in the baseball field. Autographed bats of Babe Ruth and the bat he used first to score a home run were auctioned at very high prices. These antique collections are highly worthy.

Football is another sport which attracted many baseball wide. Memorabilia of great footballers have very high demand in market. Footballs played by legendary players, their sports materials are all very rare sports memorabilia. Football memorabilia of the Indianapolis Colts are much in demand now a day.

There are many different varieties of sports memorabilia are in the market online as well as offline. These vintage memorabilia are in great demand. All sports and sport persons are direct contributors to this antique field.

Robert Grazian is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about rare sports memorabilia visit My Sports Memorabilia 4 U for current articles and discussions.

Do You Understand the Language of Baseball?

If you've been around a baseball field for over 30 years, as I have been; you come to develop a new vocabulary that is unique to baseball game. Many people may be familiar with the classic baseball sayings, quotes, and monologues over the years, but few casual fans really know the chatter and language that is used in the dugouts and on the field.

I compiled a fun little list baseball some of the phrases and terms I have come across over my many years of playing and coaching baseball. For the purpose of protecting the ears of minors, I decided to keep out the profanities. Take a look and see if any of these phrases are part of your baseball vocabulary:

• Throwing cheese- A pitcher that is throwing hard
• Throwing BB's -- Pitcher who throws hard
• Went deep- Hit a homerun
• 12 to 6- Describes a curve ball that drops straight down (references the numbers on a clock)
• Big hammer- Throws a good curveball
• Filthy stuff- Describes a pitcher with above average pitches and ability
• Soft hands- Describes a smooth, effortless fielder
• Jacked one- Hit a homerun
• Throwing gas- Pitcher who throws hard
• The bump- Describes the pitcher's mound
• Doggin it- A player who is not playing as hard as he can.
• Hands are bleeding- A hitter that was jammed on an inside pitch
• In his kitchen- Getting inside on a hitter with a pitch
• Has wheels- Describes a fast runner
• Paints the corner or the black- Throwing a pitch right on the edge of homeplate for a strike
• Fill his ear hole- Suggesting that a pitcher purposely hit a batter
• Spin his cap- Encouraging a batter to hit a ball up the middle past the pitcher
• Hit the bull- Something yelled from an opposing bench after the pitcher threw a wild pitch off the backstop (references Bull Durham)
• Throwing seeds- Throws hard
• Roll a pair- Turn a double play
• Turn the page- Something yelled from an opposing bench after the pitcher makes several throws to first base, keeping the runner close.
• He rakes- Describes a good hitter
• Got lit up- Describes a pitcher who didn't pitch well and was hit hard.
• Throwing leather- A player or players who are making great plays in the field
• Has a hose or cannon- Describes a fielder who has a good arm

So there you go, now you too can talk baseball.

Coach Steve Rau is a long time baseball instructor and co-founder of Play Ball Academy. He has been a part of championship baseball programs as both a player and coach for over 20 years. He currently helps hundreds of coaches and young ballplayers improve their baseball knowledge through online and offline instruction

Baseball coaches can find baseball tips, video lessons, and audio sessions at: http://www.PlayBallAcademy.com

Mets Baseball!

The 2009 NY Mets are poised for a run at baseball 2009 World Series, this time Shea Stadium won't be standing there to help. Shea Stadium has come down as I write and a new home for the NY Mets is fully erected. The NY Mets cannot say that Shea Stadium and luck have not collided in the past, for example the 1986 World Series victory over the Boston Redsox is a prime example. There was more than just wind blowing through the legs of Boston Redsox 1st baseman, Bill Buckner. At closer look, their was also the infield dirt that grabbed his old garbled legs and would not allow him to move, leading the NY Metropolitans to that incredible World Series victory in game 7.

In 1969, during the historic baseball down of the Chicago Cubs, it was the field at Shea, that beat the opponents down to the ground and all but helped the NY Mets complete that infamous drive to the finish line in dramatic fashion destroying an insurmountable lead by those same lovable Cubs. The NY Mets went on to beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series and wrapped up an unbelievable season. Let us not forget, Tug McGraw "You Gotta Believe!"

The NY Mets front office has already picked up the option on NY Mets 1st baseman Carlos Delagado (RC pictured) and has all but cut ties with Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez. Pedro "Who is your Daddy?" Martinez has been the most expensive bust in NY Mets history. 53 Million dollars and for what? Those were clearly passion filled dollars, from a passionate General Manager, with a passionate pitcher in an old man's body that clearly could not perform. The core NY Mets are coming back, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, the biggest questions marks were at the closer position, and the newly acquired K-Rod will certainly fill those large empty Billy Wagner shoes, with Billy Wagner on the shelf for the 2009 season. Billy Wagner is likely to retire as a result of the injury. With C.C. Sabathia going to the NY Yankees, the market is weekend with starting pitching, and unless a deal can be made, the starting four looks like this. Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, and Jonathan Neise vying for the fourth or fifth spot.

The new stadium poses a fresh start for the NY Mets, but what kind of team is going to lead the charge? The NY Mets need to find a ball player that is going to lead with his head and mouth, maybe not the best player but rather a player to gel all this super stardom into a playoff caliber team. If not, then the fans will feel right at home in their new quaint ballpark sitting on eggshells feeling like good old Shea.

2009 NY Mets baseball season, I can't wait! Before you sell the NY Mets up the river, be a Real Met Fan this is our year!!! this year we win!!! To find out 2009 NY Mets information click here!

Palm Springs Power Baseball

Imagine the noise, the crowd is going wild, the smell of fresh cooked hot dogs, roasted peanuts, and popcorn is everywhere! Where are you? Palm Springs Stadium is where you should be, completely losing yourself in the joy of one of America's favorite past times -- baseball. It has formed teams annually, with returning players helping to earn the love of fans all over. They play baseball and collect toys among many other things. Most recently was their "Christmas in July" game that requested the help of fans to gather loads of toys to be sent to Toys for Tots for Christmas. With the help of their mascot, Rocky the Ram, and all the "power fans", dozens of toys were gathered to give. The Palm Springs Power compete in the Southern California Collegiate Baseball Association, which consists of six teams - East L.A. Dodgers, So Cal Bears (Fontana), California Glory (Ontario), Fire (Orange County), and Saints (Dominguez Hills).

Palm Springs Power Baseball

This power baseball reaches out to the community at large, and offers an activity involving good family fun and enjoyment for everyone. Here you are able to see some terrific baseball players and some great baseball action! They are often found raising money, planning toy drives, or donating to the community. The power baseball players want to their community to be strong, happy and taken care of. The doors are open to everyone, young, old, single, married, kids or not -- they just want more power fans to rock the stadium and raise the cheers!

Last season was a fabulous year for them, and they ended the season on a good note with a great finish of 37-11. This improved their 4 year overall record to 137 wins and only 59 losses giving them an awesome percentage of .700. For those of you that love and enjoy one of America's favorite sports, here at Palm Springs Power Baseball there is fun, food, and entertainment to be had for all. You get to see new players in a new season, giving some of their best to the sport as well as returning players that have become favorites of the power fans over the years. With the help of the fans, power baseball has rapidly become a popular way to enjoy the baseball season with an emphasis on community and fun.

With returning manager, Estevan Valencia having signed on for the 2008 season, a familiar face will be there to ensure a great season including new and old players as well as the most important factor of new and old power fans. The fans here are encouraged to participate in the games baseball giving support for their home team and by enjoying themselves for the duration of the season.

Whether you are a local resident or a traveling visitor to Palm Springs, you are welcome at the Palm Springs Stadium. You, your family, your friends, and neighbors. Come out and show your support for Palm Springs Power Baseball and for the men and women trying to build a community sport, community togetherness, and community fun! baseball the fun and proudly carry your title of power fan in the 2008 season.

Elaine Stewart - Palm Springs Real Estate Agent
http://www.investdesert.com

Make Sure You Can Make Your TFF Weekly Transfer - Get the Password Delivered by Email For Free

Ever forgotten to make your TFF weekly transfer? Annoying isn't it? Ever forgotten to buy the Telegraph and struggled to get hold of the password? Just as annoying isn't it?

What if there was a solution to that and what if it was free? Could this make playing the game and making your TFF weekly transfer just a little easier? After all I'm sure you have other more important things on your mind than your Telegraph fantasy football game.

For a long time baseball there have been easier ways to get hold of the TFF Weekly transfer password than being the Daily Telegraph - a good job because that used to really make the game annoying for me.

If I was lucky, my friends would send around a text with the password on. Having friends who were jokers often didn't baseball though as they would often text us the wrong password just to annoy the hell out of us.

Then the websites took over, there are now loads which post the password. The trouble is they are not reliable, often not updated or full of adverts. Those that are reliable make it clear that they are not covering their costs and so may not be around for too much longer.

That's why I signed up for to get the TFF Weekly Transfer password via email each week. It's a free service that I came across and is also a brilliant reminder to actually make my transfers.

It's well worth giving a go in my humble opinion, after all if you don't like receiving the TFF Weekly transfer password by email each week you can simply remove your email address. It's got to be a win win situation.

Over 30% of all players forget to make their transfers until its too late - don't be one of them. Get the Tff Password sent to you Every Week for Free - Click Here or visit http://www.free-email-guides.com/telegraph-fantasy-football-tff-password.html