Bitadome is the art of controlling the hand and glove as a catcher when receiving the ball from the pitcher, characteristically producing a loud slap or cracking sound because of the stiffness of the reception. A catchers ability to do this is apparently lauded in NPB, and it made me think back to my childhood and one of the great framers I have watched, Buster Posey. Lots of Baseball hardheads have some sort of grudge against Buster for the Buster Posey rule which states that a runner may not deviate from a direct sprint at home plate in order to initiate contact with a fielder covering the plate, and I can see where their grievance is because like lots of baseball rules it seems like a challenge to actually enforce in a way that isn’t provocatively annoying. Posey called excellent games according to his pitchers, including a perfect game for Matt Cain and 3 no-hitters, and was unmatched in his ability to create space for interpretation in the last 8 inches of the pitch.
As a young Giants fan, it became apparent to me what a good Catcher actually does for the quality or perceived quality of a bullpen. (as an aside, I distinctly remember watching Busters first actual major league at-bat) The Giants of the middle aughts had a ridiculous bullpen, guys like Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo in relief (and I believe Jeremy Affeldt) backed up the doom patrol of Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, and Madison Bumgarner. In World Series games caught by Buster, Giants pitchers had a combined ERA of 2.85. Not fucking shabby. Going back and watching Posey’s glove behind the plate is still one of my youtube pastimes, him getting up and walking away after pulling a ball in 2 or more inches and the Ump giving him the call will always bring a smile to my face. I think that sort of informality would be frowned upon in NPB frankly, but I sympathize with the Japanese mentality about these sorts of things. We now live in the era of Cal Raleigh and NPB transfers, and I hope that in the near future a Japanese catcher can cross the great blue marble and explain a bit of what makes Bitadome so valuable to NPB fans and players.
2 Likes
