Catcher

Catcher is a position in baseball. The catcher crouches behind the home plate and catches the ball thrown by the pitcher, in addition the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to play 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 the best position to direct 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.

Calling the game refers to the act of catchers deciding the type of pitch to be delivered to home plate. The responsibility for selecting the type of pitch was traditionally made by the catcher. It is not unusual for a catcher to briefly look at the posture and position of the batter-in-turn prior to calling the next pitch; even the way a batter holds the bat may shed some indication of what the strategy may be. The selection of which pitch to use can depend on a wide variety of situations such as the type of hitter that is being faced, whether there are any base runners, how many outs have been made in the inning, or the current score, among others.