Del Crandall On The Art Of Catching

Delmar Wesley Crandall became a major leaguer in 1949 at 19, and he has been twice picked for the All-Star team. Few players-run on Crandall—his arm is outstanding (he led league catchers in assists in three out of the last five years). Big, strong and highly intelligent, Crandall at 28 is acclaimed one of the finest catchers in baseball and a big factor in the brilliant success of the World Champion Braves pitching staff. I guess it's a fact that pitching is most of a ball game. But then catching has to be a big part of that percentage, too. After all, pitching and catching go together. How much of a part catching plays depends on the catcher. The better he is, the higher the percentage.

The pitcher-catcher relationship has to be based on confidence—confidence of the pitcher in his catcher. The more confidence he has in you, the better job he's going to do. You have to prove to him that you know what you're doing all the time.

Any time you have two minds thinking about the same thing you're liable to have two ideas on how to do it. I may be thinking along one line on how to pitch to a batter and my pitcher may differ with me. If he has confidence in my judgment, he will go along with me. And he's going to do the best job he can with his pitch. If not, he's going to be hesitant, and that pitch won't be as good as it might have been.

A pitcher's sense of security in his catcher is also based on how the latter handles the ball. If a catcher is sloppy behind the plate, it's going to undermine the pitcher's confidence in him. Everything you do to help your pitcher, no matter how small, is going to make a better pitcher on the mound. And that's what you're there for.

There are few pitchers in the majors who control the game. By that I mean the catcher is the man calling the signals. When you call your pitches in the same pattern as your pitcher is thinking, you've arrived. If you're a good catcher and have proved yourself to your staff, all your pitchers will respond in the same way to you. And if your pitching staff tells the new pitcher on the team to go along with you, to listen to you, that's the ultimate in my book.

Since I came up to the majors I've learned a lot of things. Some I've picked up from watching other catchers, and some through hard experience. It's sometimes easier to do things the wrong way. But when you're catching every day in the major leagues, you discover there might be better ways to do things. I'd like to talk about five important lessons I've learned in the majors which I feel have made me a better catcher. I wasn't taught them in the minors. I feel they can make a better catcher out of anyone. Any one of them can spell the vital difference in a game.

TARGET for the pitcher

After giving the signal for the type pitch I want thrown, I give my pitcher another hand signal. I think this is very important. I indicate where I want the ball thrown, high or low, inside or out. The pitcher generally knows this, so it's usually a reminder. In some cases he doesn't. I want to eliminate as far as possible any chance of misunderstanding between my pitcher and myself as to where that pitch is supposed to go.

Now I give my pitcher a target to aim for. Some catchers use only the glove. Others prefer some part of the body. I believe in giving the pitcher all the help possible. And in my opinion, I can give him more help by using both my body and my glove as a target.

Some people might say this involves a lot of extra movement. But it's a matter of inches, shifting one way or the other when you set yourself to catch. It doesn't take any more out of you to shift to the left or right. I have to make a movement anyway, after I've given my signals, to get into a ready position to catch.