I Loved Catching - I Had The Whole Game In Front Of Me. I Could See Everything. Placing The Fielders Was My Job. Seeing Whether Long Fly Balls Were Fair Or Foul. What The Pitcher Had Or Lacked, I Saw, As Well. Did The Pitcher Need A Break In The Action Because He Was Tired? If He Did I Would Pay A Little Visit To The Mound. The General On The Field Is What I Was. A Direct Link To The Coach. Switching To Catcher Was The Best Thing I Did As A Player. I Had So Much Fun Behind The Plate.My Office Was Behind The Plate. Having Played All The Other Positions Was Great, But I Felt The Best Place To Be, Was Catching. I Could Cash In On All The Activity That Was In Front Of Me. I Had An Opportunity To Shape The Game. I Had Power In My Office That I Did Not Have Anywhere Else On The Field Except For Maybe Pitching. I Loved That Responsibility.Seeing A Batter Leaning One Way And Then Calling The Pitch That I Thought Would Get Him Out Was One Strategy I Successfully Used. Striking Out A Batter Was A Joint Effort Between The Pitcher And I. I Felt It Was My Job To Study The Batter And Then Relay Any Useful Information I Got, Back To The Pitcher. My Stock As A Catcher Increased When The Pitcher Pitched Well. I Felt I Had To Find The Weakness In The Batter. That Was Part Of My Job. And Then Calling The Game Was The Essence Of Being A Catcher. If There Was A Background Check On All The Catchers That Ever Played, I Think There Is One Thing That Would Be Common. They All Studied The Game.Johnny Bench, Roy Campanella, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Elston Howard, And Ivan Rodriguez Are A Few Of My Catching Heroes. Johnny Bench For His Incredible Arm And Amazing Power. Roy Campenella For His Amazing Arm And Incredible Power. Hey That Sounds Familiar. I Loved All The Yankees. And Ivan - Just An Incredible Talent.Feel Free To Pass This Article On To Anyone You Think Would Enjoy Reading It.
