Practice #3--Yes, a real practice

The Mudcats convened for their first legitimate two-hour practice of the spring 2011 season on Tuesday evening. Practice began with work on throwing form, which culminated in a throwing competition that was won by JJ. The highlight, however, was Gabe declining to get down on one knee to perform the throwing drills. His reasoning? "I don't want my mom to have to wash my pants." He followed this theory for roughly 26 seconds.

After a brief review of the Mudcat Motto, the Mudcats split into four groups for stations:

1. Infield station with Coach Andrew. Players rotated between second base, shortstop, pitcher and occasionally first base. The fielding emphasis was using good form in getting in front of the ball and receiving it in the triangle, and then following the throw to first base. The highlight of this station was when GM Jenn promised a raise for the entire coaching staff, perhaps in the form of cupcakes.
2. Outfield station with Coach Jim. With Coach Rob still nursing his tennis elbow from last week, Coach Jim took over the tennis ball-smacking duties. It's a pretty simple philosophy: if the Mudcats can catch a tennis ball, squeezing it in their glove and covering it with their free hand, they can catch a baseball. You might have seen a close corollary to this principle in some of America's finest cinema.

3. Baserunning station with Coach Rob. With the aid of a giant plastic bat and some wiffle balls, Coach Rob taught some of the baserunning basics. Without Coach Mike there to whisper instructions in his low, peaceful tone, a substitute had to be found.

4. I don't know exactly what was going on with Coach Tom, but it looked like fun. There were bats being spun around and crab walking and all kinds of things straight out of the Mr. Miyagi handbook. I'm not sure why, but Coach Tom said next practice he is bringing a bunch ofchopsticks.

After stations, the Mudcats huddled quickly at the pitcher's mound. Coach Jim identified Brenner and Anthony as exhibiting great focus. That turned them into captains to pick sides for a quick relay race, which was won by Brenner's squad (Gabe, Smiley, JJ, Zach, Chris and HD).

Coach Andrew capped practice with a few key questions for the group:

"Did you have fun today?"Response: YES!

"Did you work hard today?"
Response: YES!
"Did you have good focus today?"
Response: YES!

"Are your baseball pants irredeemably dirty, causing your parents to have to purchase stock in the Fels-Naptha Soap company?"
Response: Absolutely.

The Mudcats hit the practice field again Thursday, which also marks less than three weeks until the first game.