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All-In [27368]
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,How many of you have
Jun 10, 2021, 4:12 PM
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Friends or hear other baseball people, especially fans who refer to the number 2 position as the “Hind Catcher?
I hear it every time I watch a youth game. I’ve had dozens of Dads ask me why their son isn’t the hind catcher
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As well as I think that I know baseball I have idea where that begun or why it has lasted forever.
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CU Medallion [64519]
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Years ago, in youth baseball...
Jun 10, 2021, 4:20 PM
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you had a kid who would stand behind the catcher and the ump. His job was to chase any balls the actual catcher didn't catch or stop. He was called the "hind catcher" because he stood behind the actual catcher. This was not one of the nine position players so the hind catcher didn't hit. As time passed, some people used the term to refer to the actual catcher.
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All-In [27368]
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Re: Years ago, in youth baseball...
Jun 10, 2021, 5:04 PM
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Odd that baseball In America was played way back in the civil war and really took hold after the war in the northern states. New York had a number of teams. I read a book when I was a Child about the Rebels playing a game in South Carolina. I think it was in the Hilton Head area but this recollection has some years behind it. The book referred to SC being the first game. Not sure about that.
I’ve made numerous post to the internet experts asking about the hind catcher and NONE knew the answer. Most said it was a phrase that began in the rural Appalachian mountains. I can see that being true.
Had a No it All Dad ask me why his son was playing first base instead of Hind Catcher. I told him I needed him in the field because he was my best fielder and I couldn’t afford to have him arrested for catching hinds. Never say that kid or dad again. Their loss.
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CU Medallion [52192]
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Re: ,How many of you have
Jun 10, 2021, 4:24 PM
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I was a catcher on my little league team many moons ago. Was told it was the hind catcher because it was the only position that was behind the batter. Have no idea (or memory) of who told me this.
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110%er [5013]
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When I played baseball - about 60 years ago
Jun 10, 2021, 5:27 PM
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we had pitchers who usually threw the ball where the catcher could catch it and we had catchers who could stop most errant throws - so we didn't have any "hind" catchers,
cause we didn't need them.
Maybe the "hind catcher" was invented to generate business for the supplier of "participation trophies".
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Hall of Famer [22127]
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Re: ,How many of you have
Jun 10, 2021, 5:30 PM
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I coached Little League players in the early 1950's in Belle Glade, Fl. Every one of the boys used the term "hind catcher'. The other coach and I got the boys together and told them we did not have a hind catcher on our team.
I don't know where the term originated but I tend to believe it started on the sandlots. There were a lot of missed catches by the catcher and it was usually the smallest guy who was assigned to retrieve the missed catches by the catcher.
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All-In [27368]
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None of you will believe this, but to let you know
Jun 10, 2021, 5:55 PM
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Youth baseball has changed dramatically over the years. I played in a church league in the Mill Town of Inman and our coach was the principal of the local school system. Only thing is.. he never made it to a single game all year. I especially didn’t want to miss a game so I had to recruit some other nine and ten years old. And I put together a team every game of the season. I posted the line up, coached the guys on some of the rules and we really played decent baseball but I can’t remember a single win! But we had a great time with each other and that what kids were looking for in those days. No video games, no TV games, one radio game from Mutual network and it was always the Yankees. This was made almost impossible for me not having access to a telephone. Practice never existed!
As I look back on my early days, not very long after the war had ended, I don’t think I would change a single thing in those three or four years. I grew up a lot at the Inman Mill Ballpark.
Today’s game is so structured that I’m not sure my early players would have ever survived.
No uniforms, a couple of bats and a new ball every game. I played my first game there in 1950(l think) and my last in 1959. For the first time since I got married and moved to NC in 1964 I had never been back to a place so dear to me
Earlier this year in January my oldest son and I went to the area for a covid funeral, and I took my son by to see the mill village where I was born. The expression on his face made the trip worthwhile.
Sorry so long but I get wound up on baseball talk. I’m glad my sons know what a long road it is to where the country is today.. I only wish my grandson was along but he never takes my advice!!
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