Defensive position in baseball and softball played behind home plate, facing the field
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to field the position well. The role of the catcher is similar to that of the wicket-keeper in cricket.
Positioned behind home plate and facing toward the outfield, the catcher can see the whole field, and is therefore in the best position to direct and lead the other players in a defensive play. The catcher typically calls for pitches using PitchCom, or hand signals. The calls are based on the pitcher's mechanics and strengths, as well as the batter's tendencies and weaknesses. Essentially, the catcher controls what happens during the game when the ball is not "in play". Foul tips, bouncing balls in the dirt, and contact with runners during plays at the plate are all events to be handled by the catcher, necessitating the use of protective equipment. This includes a mask, chest and throat protectors, shin guards, and a heavily padded catcher's mitt. Though rare, some chest protectors may extend lower to provide some shield to the genitalia; wearing a pelvic protector or cup, depending on the case, is preferred and more common.
Because the position requires a comprehensive understanding of the game's strategies, the pool of former catchers yields a disproportionate number of managers in both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball, including such prominent examples as Yogi Berra, Connie Mack, Steve O'Neill, Al López, Mike Scioscia, Joe Girardi, Stephen Vogt, and Joe Torre. The physical and mental demands of being involved on every defensive play can wear catchers down over a long season, and can have a negative effect on their offensive output. As a result, catcher is the only position (other than pitcher) to not have a member of the 3,000 hit club (not counting Craig Biggio, who only played four seasons as a catcher and was a second baseman when he reached the milestone); the current hit leader for the position is Iván Rodríguez, with 2,844.
Because of the strategic defensive importance of catching, if a catcher has exceptional defensive skills, teams are often willing to overlook their relative offensive weaknesses. A knowledgeable catcher's ability to work with the pitcher, via pitch selection and location, can diminish the effectiveness of the opposing team's offense. Many great defensive catchers toiled in relative anonymity, because they did not produce large offensive numbers. Notable examples of light-hitting, defensive specialists were Jerry Grote, Jeff Mathis, Martín Maldonado, Ray Schalk, Jim Hegan, Jim Sundberg and Brad Ausmus. Schalk's career batting average of .253 is the lowest of any position player in the Baseball Hall of Fame. His selection for enshrinement in 1955 was largely a tribute to his outstanding defensive skills.
In the numbering system used to record baseball plays, the catcher is assigned the number '2'. (See "Baseball scorekeeping".)
History and evolution of the position.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, the game of baseball began to evolve from a sport played by amateurs for recreation into a more serious game played by professionals. One of the most dramatic changes was the transition of the pitcher's delivery from an underhand motion to an overhanded throw. Before the American Civil War, the pitcher's role was to initiate the action by offering an underhanded throw to the batter, in much the same way that a basketball referee offers up a jump ball to begin play. Since this type of pitching often caused the batter to hit lazy, foul pop-ups, catchers played their position approximately twenty to twenty-five feet behind the batter, and wore no protective equipment.
As the game progressed towards professionals and became more serious, pitchers began to attempt to prevent the batter from hitting the ball by throwing faster pitches. With the introduction of the called strike in 1858, catchers began inching closer to home plate due to the rules requirement that a strikeout could only be completed by a catch. The rules governing the delivery of pitches proved to be hard to enforce, and pitchers continued to stretch the boundaries of the rules until the 1870s when the release point of pitches had reached the pitcher's waist level. Pitchers had begun throwing overhand by 1884, when the National League made a rule change removing all restrictions on the pitcher's delivery.
These developments meant that catchers began to take on a crucial defensive role, as a pitcher's deceptive deliveries could only be effective if the catcher was capable of fielding them. The progression of the catcher positioning themselves closer to the plate would lead to changes in pitching deliveries that would revolutionize the sport. In the 1870s, pitcher Candy Cummings was able to introduce the curveball because his catcher, Nat Hicks, fielded his position in close proximity to home plate and was able to catch the deceptive pitch. Other specialized pitches such as the spitball and the knuckleball followed, which further emphasized the defensive importance of the catcher's position.
At about the same time that catchers began fielding their position closer to home plate, baseball teams began using a less rubbery ball which led to a decline in the number of runs scored. In the 1860s it was common for teams to score fifty or sixty runs in a game. The combination of the new, harder ball and the continuation of the rise in pitcher's release points helped usher in what became known as the Dead-ball era. The decrease in run production placed greater significance on stolen bases and bunts, which in turn emphasized the crucial defensive role played by catchers. In 1901, the National League introduced a new rule specifying that the catcher must stand within 10 feet of home plate. The American League adopted the rule the following year.
The rising velocity of pitches in conjunction with catchers gradually moving closer to home plate significantly increased the risk of injuries for catchers, especially face and hand injuries. By the late 1870s, catchers began to use padded, fingerless gloves to protect their hands, and in 1877 the first protective catcher's mask was used. The first catchers to use protective masks sometimes had their courage called into question, but the effectiveness of the masks in preventing injuries meant that they became widely accepted. In the 1880s, the first padded chest protectors came into use, and in 1888 specialized catcher's mitts used on the non-throwing hand began to be used. The final pieces of protective gear were shin guards which were first worn by catcher Roger Bresnahan in 1907. Together, the rules changes and the new protective equipment transformed the catcher's defensive role to the way that it is presently played.
Catching pitches.
The catcher is usually the first to notice the tendencies, quirks, and peculiarities of each home-plate umpire. Some umpires favor high strikes, pitched balls that are technically above the strike zone but appear, to the umpire, to be good. Conversely, some umpires will call low pitches strikes even when they are slightly below the knees. Other umpires have an inside bias or an outside bias; some umpires have more than one bias; some are uniformly lenient; some have very restricted notions of the strike zone, and the pitcher will constantly feel that their pitches are unfairly judged. The catcher can exploit an umpire's tendencies by taking them into account in when receiving the ball.
The catcher can help their pitcher get more strike calls from the umpire by using a technique called "framing". This practice is a matter of a catcher keeping the mitt inside the strike zone, or making the pitch appear as close to the strike zone, when receiving the pitch, thereby giving the plate umpire the impression that the pitch is in the strike zone, even if it is not. When framing, a catcher will also hold their mitt still for a second or two so that the umpire has an opportunity to thoroughly consider their call (and, hopefully, let their innate biases influence their decision in a direction favorable to the catcher's team).
The catcher, when receiving a borderline pitch, usually has several options in how they make the catch. They can catch the pitch in the webbing of their mitt or in the heel; they can catch the pitch on their forehand or backhand, as necessary; they can catch a low pitch with the mitt pointed upward or downward. These choices help the catcher to create a favorable presentation (or frame) for the umpire.
A variation on "framing" is called "pulling pitches". The general approach is to catch the half of the ball that is outside the strike zone and show the umpire only the half of the ball, lodged in the mitt, that is closer to the zone. The illusion is often enhanced with a slight 'tug' of the mitt (of an inch or two) toward the strike zone.
By rule, the catcher must station directly back of the plate (generally in the catcher's box) the moment a pitch is thrown but may leave at any time to catch a pitch or make a play. The moment an intentional ball leaves a pitcher's hand, the catcher must have both feet in the catcher's box. The catcher is the only defensive player who is allowed to be in foul territory when a pitch is thrown.
"Catcher's Balk".
A Catcher's Balk occurs when the catcher is not properly set in the designated box. Once the pitcher releases the ball and the Catcher is caught outside of this zone, the play is thrown out. The term "Catcher's Balk" is not an official term, however it is common to hear among Catchers and umpires alike.
Catcher's Interference.
If a pitch is thrown and the catcher has extended their arm resulting in the catcher's glove being contacted by the batter's swinging bat, a catcher's interference is called, and the batter is awarded first base. This is recorded as an error. If the bases were loaded, it results in a run being scored, but since it is an error it is not awarded to the batter as run batted in. The catcher's interference call is uncommon. Also, an interference penalty may be declined by the batting team, such as when a better result ensues.
Blocking balls in the dirt.
To block balls that a pitcher throws on a bounce toward home plate (pitches that are said to be "in the dirt"), the catcher will slide their body to the left or right, as necessary, to place themselves directly in the path of the ball. Once in position, they push towards the ball while dropping to their knees, place their mitt between their legs to prevent the ball from passing through, and lean forward to deaden the rebound when, and if, the ball bounces off their thigh or torso. Although inexperienced catchers may try to catch the errant pitch with the mitt, coaches often prioritize the catcher's ability to "keep the ball in front of the body" than to make a catch with their mitt. Ideally, the catcher will be able to knock the ball to the ground where it will stop within arm's reach. To perform this properly, without the ball being deflected in an undesirable direction, the catcher must angle their body so that their chest is always leaning forward, toward home plate. Tucking your chin or looking the ball in will help with deadening the ball like this. This maneuver is often difficult, and its difficulty depends largely on how fast the ball is traveling, the angle at which the ball is thrown into the ground, where it first hits the ground, the firmness of the ground it hits, and the manner in which it is spinning.
Calling the game.
As of  2011[ [update]] 15 of 30 Major League Baseball managers were former catchers. Because catchers are considered a captain on the field (and some, such as Thurman Munson and Jason Varitek were in fact team captains), they are often in charge of planning defensive plays; thus, the catcher will give signs to the pitcher for what pitch is to be thrown.
Calling the game refers to the act of catchers deciding the type of pitch delivered to home