Practice #14--Lingering layoff

So, what did everyone do with two whole days away from the baseball field? Take a trip around the world? Put together a 10,000 piece puzzle? Eat dinner somewhere other than the back seat of the car?

Aw, you know you missed it. The Mudcats were back on the field Wednesday night at Method Road for the first practice since Sunday. In many ways, it was a very typical practice, but in one way, it was very unique (and that's not a reference to the fact that Coach Mike wasn't there to water the field).

The first part of practice was devoted to three stations:

1. An outfield station, in which Coach Jim handed out one piece of gum for each catch of a fly ball. Once players were awarded one piece, they had a chance to earn another piece by catching three more fly balls--but all three had to be two-hand catches in order to count.

2. The usual hitting stations.

3. An infield station devoted to the 4-6/6-4 drill. Now, I know there is at least one of you out there who has a Chicago song in their mind right now. Or maybe that's just me, since the Carolina band has had that song in their rotation since approximately the moment Chicago put that song on paper. But thankfully--given the relative music ability of the coaching staff--the 4-6/6-4 drill is a little different. Instead, it required players to go to either second base or shortstop, where they had one of two responsibilities: either field a grounder, or cover second base. The player fielding the ball flipped to second to get the force out, and then the player covering the bag fired over to the (inept) first baseman to complete the double play.

Seeing the overwhelmed nature of the person he originally assigned to first base, Coach Andrew eventually allowed individual Mudcats to play first, where JJ--perhaps intuitively realizing the volume level of practice was way down due to Coach Mike's absence--did an especially good job being assertive and letting everyone know where to make each play.

Around the time the stations concluded, Hayes had to depart, Deion Sanders-style, for a hockey game, with Neal piloting the helicopter that transported the Anderson family from field to rink.

Before the final practice period, Coach Andrew called the Mudcats around him near first base for a quick life lesson. Always eager to try out the things the team talks about in practice, Coach Andrew tried to carry the Mudcat Motto with him into his daily life. This gave him the opportunity to try out the "confident but humble" facet recently. As he explained to his players, sometimes someone who is standing up for themselves can land in trouble even if they are fully in the right and the other people involved make about as much sense as NCAA suspension guidelines. For that reason, Coach Andrew will not be at Thursday's game, which will cause him some serious emotional distress and extremely high text messaging fees on this month's cell bill.

To simulate Thursday's conditions, the conclusion of Wednesday's practice was devoted to a scrimmage, with Coach Tom on the mound. Coach Andrew sat on the bleachers and observed, where other parents helpfully taught him how to mumble, "If the dang pitcher could ever throw a strike, my kid would be hitting a homer every time up there."

Following the confident but humble theme, Coach Rob awarded helmet stickers to a group of older players who have been consistently good leaders this season: Christopher, Drew, Smiley and Anthony.

Tomorrow's game begins at 5:30 p.m. (pregame at 4:30). Coach Andrew, who will be found at the Backyard Bistro after the game, is expected to show severe withdrawal symptoms around 4:45. A victory means the Mudcats earn a coach-promised 10 minutes of postgame wall ball.