#greatplays

[premierleaguewiffle]

Crazy Hustle to Make the Play! | Top 10 POTW

[amlitlover]

Henrik Ibsen premier in Chicago

"Ghosts" premiered in Chicago today, 1882. Artist Edvard Munch (The Scream) was stage designer. https://americanliterature.com/author/henrik-ibsen/play/ghosts/summary

[amlitlover]

Victor Hugo, born today in 1802

Hugo was nearly caught in the gunfire of the Paris Uprising (June Rebellion) of 1832, which inspired his work that took more than 30 years to finish. https://americanliterature.com/author/victor-hugo/book/les-miserables/summary

[rakonteur]

Our lives, our efforts, our civilisation, the works of our hearts and brains mark forever the triumph of human life and the value of the world. We live; our life is glorious; our sin is to deny it and despair.

Stephen Sewell (Dreams in an Empty City)

[coachhilliard-blog]

Plus Plays: The Split Step and Reacting to the Swing

Professional baseball players make fielding a baseball look so easy. One reason is that they do not make fielding harder than it needs to be. It all begins with the split step- the first move of fielding a baseball. 

Professional baseball players use this same split step to get ready to field groundballs and pop ups. The players execute the split step as the pitched ball enters the hitting zone. In practice, the split step can be executed just before the fungo hits the ball. Watch the St. Louis Cardinals infield practice and notice the split steps utilized by every infielder.

After the split step, the fielder is to look in the zone and react to the swing of the hitter. This means that even though a hitter may swing and miss or foul a ball off, the fielder reacts by moving to the space where the ball would have been hit. In other words, it's anticipating where the ball would be. For instance, if a hitter fouls a ball off to the right side, every infielder should have taken a step or two towards the ball. The key is not to be passive, but to expect the ball and attack it. When fielders are reacting to the swing, they are showing that they are ready to attack the ball. The reaction to the swing is just another reason that major leaguers seem to be at the right place at the right time.

Executing a split step and reacting to the swing consistently will put fielders in a position to make the plus plays that stop rallies and shift momentum.