Collegiate Baseball The Voice Of Amateur Baseball Started In 1958 At The Request Of Our Nation’s Baseball Coaches Vol. 63, No. 13 Friday, Sept. 4, 2020 $4.00 Cause Nightmares For Your Opponents Here is an ingenious At every step, he has studied the game “Another important factor is the as few have to find out how to stop runs slide step in our system. We use it with plan to limit runs by from scoring. a runner on first and also with man on your adversary that will His plan of action is intriguing. second so they can’t get a big secondary reduce team ERA. “Pitchers not only have to slow lead. We also slide step with runners on down the running game of opponents third in case the batter wants to safety By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR. by keeping runners close to bases and squeeze. We are trying to create the Editor/Collegiate Baseball picking them off. But your infielders longest run possible for their offense. (First Of A 2-Part Series) and outfielders must limit runners to “If we can create the longest run for one base at a time. a base runner and can close distance TILLWATER, Okla. — The goal “Whether the third base coach makes from our fielders, we are forcing our of every coach is to shut down the decision to hold a runner or send opponents to go one base at a time except the opponent’s offense so no runs him home will be dictated on when the for obvious extra base hits. S defender in the outfield is touching the “We also play ‘do or die’ outfield score. Rob Walton, one of the elite pitching ball and where he is. With good scouting from the first inning on. The slide step coaches in college baseball at Oklahoma information, our infielders can catch for pitchers is incredibly important in our State, has made this subject his life’s more ground balls hit up the middle and system. With our pick moves, runners work. in the holes. Then we are more likely to are cautious. Many runners at first base He pitched at Oklahoma State in the have the third base coach stop the runner are in that 10-11 foot lead area instead of mid-1980s and also in the Baltimore at third instead of sending him home. 12 foot. With a slide step by our pitchers, Orioles’ organization. Then he became “One year when I was at Oral Roberts, they aren’t really expanding leads. area supervisor for the Cleveland we had 16 more assists than the year “It then allows us to have more double Indians and assistant coach and head before, and our ERA dropped 1.5 runs. plays. On base hits, runners at first trying coach at Oral Roberts from 1999-2012 However, the pitching numbers as far to go to third and are getting thrown out before becoming the pitching coach as strikeout to walk ratio and hits to left and right. innings pitched were virtually identical Photo by Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics Photo by Bruce Waterfield/OSU at Oklahoma State for the past eight Oklahoma St. Pitching Coach Rob Walton years. to the year before. See SHUTTING DOWN, Page 6 Summer Leagues Face Gigantic Hurdles To Play Dealing With Coronavirus Northwoods League forced into 7 pods due to varied state regulations but were on pace to draw over 200,000 fans. By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR. Editor/Collegiate Baseball OCHESTER, Minn. — Nearly half of all summer college baseball leagues didn’t Rplay this summer because of COVID-19 concerns. The leagues that did play faced substantial health obstacles. Collegiate Baseball contacted Commissioner Joe Paolucci of the Futures League and Chairman Dick Radatz of the Northwoods League to find out how they were able to field teams and play games in the COVID-19 shut down numerous leagues. midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have a team in Bismarck, N.D., and the The largest college baseball league in the world Dakotas didn’t have as big a problem as some states is the Northwoods League comprised of 22 teams did with COVID-19. So we were able to get started in the northern area of the USA and one in Ontario, in Bismarck June 15. But they needed somebody to Canada for 23 total ball clubs. play. The closest state was Minnesota which wasn’t Now in its 27th year, the Northwoods League open at the time. started in 1994. “We decided to put three teams into Bismarck One of its co-founders is Dick Radatz who is and create what we called a pod. Our Thunder Bay currently league chairman. ball club from Ontario, Canada couldn’t play. So the “Our league is located in seven states, and we also majority of their players were put in the Bismarck have a team in Canada as well,” said Radatz. pod. We had a problem where American teams “There were different governors who had couldn’t cross the Canadian border. And that is still — The NCAA Baseball different rules when it came to COVID-19 in these the case. So this solved that issue. NEW FOREIGN SUBSTANCE RULE states. Some were progressing with the virus more Rules Committee has proposed pitchers be immediately ejected than others. See SUMMER LEAGUES, Page 2 if they are found using an illegal substance on balls. It is one of 18 proposed rules. To read the story, go to page 10. Inside Collegiate Baseball Web Site: www.baseballnews.com Importance Of Brain Waves Grand Master At Stealing Home Unique Hidden Ball Plays Gary Ward explains why you Nobody taught this exciting play Rich Marazzi explains tactics can become better teacher by better than the late Mike Gillespie of this play pulled off by MLB learning these concepts/Page 12 who made bold moves/Page 13 players over the years/Page 14 Page 2 Collegiate Baseball Friday, Sept. 4, 2020 Summer Leagues That Played Collegiate Baseball The Voice Of Faced Rigid State Regulations Amateur Baseball Continued From Page 1 “We also had a problem with Collegiate Baseball (ISSN 0530-9751) is published twice a month our Duluth, Minn. team. The local January-May and once in June, July, September and October jurisdiction would not allow their (14 total issues) by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, Inc., 2515 stadium open. Kokomo, Ind. was N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705. Periodicals postage paid at also not able to play. Another very Tucson, AZ. liberal area was Madison, Wisc. where we had a team that couldn’t Postmaster: Send address changes to: play. So we took their coaches Collegiate Baseball and players and put them in the P.O. Box 50566 Kenosha, Wisc. pod. Eau Claire, Tucson, AZ 85703 Wisc. was the final team that wasn’t able to play.” Overnight Mail: 2515 N. Stone Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705 Radatz said that the vast majority of players from these teams were Past Publishers: Abe Chanin, Lou Pavlovich, Sr. $28 for 14 issues. relocated so they could play in the Single 1-Year Subscription Rate: Single 1-Year First Class U.S. Subscription: $45 Northwoods League. Single 1-Year Foreign Air Mail Subscription: $50 “Ultimately, we had 22 different Special Team Subscriptions: 11 papers each issue sent to one teams involved in the different address — $110 (save $198 off the single subscription price), and seven pods in the Northwoods 21 papers each issue sent to one address — $189 (save $399). League this summer. Other Multiple Subscription Offers: Please inquire with sub- “We believe we were the first scription department at (520) 623-4530. college league to play baseball this COVID-19 CHALLENGE MET — Chairman Dick Radatz of summer and certainly the first with the Northwoods League (left) and the owners of teams did a Directory fans in the stands. marvelous job of making sure games were played this summer “The regulations in North under extremely trying conditions. Dakota were more loose than the Area Code (520) test positive. We actually had this summer in North Dakota. He Publisher: Lou Pavlovich, Jr. (Call 623-4530) other states who fielded teams Lou Pavlovich, Jr. (Call 623-4530 to report stories) to shut that team down for the laid the groundwork for us, and our Editor: this summer. We self imposed the Advertising Director: Diane Pavlovich (Call 623-4530) maximum attendance we could season in the interest of safety for teams ran with it. Subscription Department: (Call 623-4530) have at each game so they could everyone. We initially had three “We asked coaches to wear Fax Machine: (Call 624-5501) properly social distance. We limited teams in that pod which became masks. But the players weren’t E-Mail: [email protected] it to 500 on weekdays. During the only two after Northern Michigan required to do so. Our home plate Web Site: www.baseballnews.com weekend, we went up to 850. was shut down. umpire had to wear a mask. We “We typically sell out games in “They only were able to play tried to eliminate players touching Bismarck which in a normal year two games before their summer one another. So the high five were 2020 Publication Schedule would be close to 2,000 fans per was cut short.” done away with along with close Radatz said that the reason for contact celebrations. January 3 March 6 May 1 September 4 night.” January 24 March 20 May 15 October 2 Radatz said the seven pods were the pod system in the Northwoods “We did not allow both teams to February 7 April 3 June 12 set up in the following manner.