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| Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals |
With that being said, the fastest pitcher I ever faced in high school was clocked at 91 mph. When seeing a 90 mph fastball, the pitch generally hits the glove in .21 seconds. It takes about .1 seconds to blink, so if you blink while that pitch is coming you might as well give up and move out of the way. Let's go over this now: you have .21 seconds till that ball hits your glove if you're a catcher. What if that fastball is low and away and in the dirt? You have .21 seconds to slide over, drop to your knees, get your glove in between your legs, and hunch your shoulders forward. That's four things you have to do in .21 seconds before you can even think about stopping the actual pitch from hitting the backstop.
That is where foot work comes in. Catchers have to be quick and on their toes because if you're sitting back on your heels while you're in a squat you're a sitting duck. Not to mention the flexibility that goes into a catcher's hip-flexors that enables them to slide over in that .21 seconds. Guys like Yadier Molina make catching look so easy, but given these numbers it can really make any fan appreciate how hard he has worked to be, what I believe, the best catcher in the MLB.
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| Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils |
With a goal that is only four feet tall and six feet wide, one might think being a goaltender is not as hard as people think simply because of these three sports we are referring to, hockey goaltenders have the smallest amount of space to defend. A hockey puck and baseball differ in diameter by merely fractions of an inch (a puck is 3" and a baseball is 2.9"), so the argument is already somewhat similar. Throw in the fact that most hockey shots are clocked between 90 mph and 100 mph and the goaltenders have alot in common with catchers.
The key factor in this debate, however, is where the puck or ball is coming from. In baseball, it's just the catcher and the hitter with only a hitter in between on one side of the plate. In hockey, bodies are flying and the shot is coming from the ground. A pitch in baseball is coming from 60.6 feet away and the reaction time is .21 seconds as I discussed earlier. Now imagine that a hockey puck traveling at the exact same speed is coming from the same distance of, generously, 60 feet. The reaction time from when the puck leaves the stick to when it reaches the goal line is up from .21 seconds to about 1.17 seconds. Believe it or not, that is a huge difference in time. Yet when you throw in that you probably have three or four bodies between you and the player ripping the shot, your vision is nothing short of limited. Yes you have more time, but picking up on that puck is going to be a crazy task. And, much like baseball, the flexibility needed to make the jaw-dropping saves is something to behold. Being on skates and trying to move as quickly as required is an art of it's own.
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| Tim Howard of Team USA |
A soccer goal stands 8 feet tall and 24 feet wide which is quite a large amount of space compared to soccer or hockey. There isn't a specific reaction time that can be referred to due to the fact that a shot in soccer could come for numerous spots on the field with different spin on the ball and at different angles. Alot goes into defending a shot and perhaps the toughest situation, other than a penalty kick of course, is a free kick from just outside the box. If the ball is placed in the middle at the top of the box, most goalies would place five defenders in the wall. Those five cover, say, the right side of your goal and it is your responsibility to cover, or at least position yourself, on the left side of your goal. The shot is coming from about twenty yards out and could reach a maximum of about 60 mph.
So once again, you have 60 feet of space in front of you but a considerably slower pace behind the ball. Factor in that you have 24 feet of total width to cover in that small window of time, not to mention that you have to read the shot as it comes over the wall, and you have alot of work to do in very little time. Being a goalie is tough, but in a different sense than being a catcher or goaltender in hockey.
These three sports are the three biggest sports in the world and they have presented us with phenomenal athletes from multiple countries. These sports will never fail to be appreciated but today I wanted to shed light on what I believe are the toughest positions to play in these three sports. While I grew up playing baseball and soccer, after reading thinking about being a goaltender in hockey I believe that it would have to be the toughest of the three. The game is the fastest-paced of the three and your focus as a goaltender is at a higher demand than a catcher or goalie. It's a tough call to make, but ultimately I believe that hockey presents the hardest job.
Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas are great examples of great goaltenders who have very contrasting styles. I grew up around the Detroit area, so I have watched a ton of hockey. I am Blue Jackets fan which is strange but it works out. If you ever got to see Boston vs. Vancouver in the Stanley Cup Finals a few years ago, you would have seen a 6'3 monster vs. a 5'11 scrapper. Luongo's style is to play big and deflect behind the net. Thomas's style is to play kind of small and force all shots high. Both goalie's used the butterfly but they both used it differently. I think you might know that a butterfly style is exposing the 5 hole and closing it with both legs tucked together.
ReplyDeleteTim Thomas would end up beating Luongo basically because he was more aggressive and more physical around his crease. Canuck players were complaining because Thomas was being so physical. Luongo was screened often by the Bruins but was still able to save majority of the shots. Even though he was incredible, he was only incredible for 3 games in the best out of 7 series.
So your definitely right, very hard to play this position. Thomas was hot and was aggressive which worked for him, but not everyone can play the way he did.
In my opinion it's not even close. Hockey is the hardest sport to play in the world and the players and goaltenders don't receive nearly as much support and respect as they deserve. Think of this. .21 seconds to stop a fastball coming at 90mph is insanely hard. I get it. But in hockey the players shoot 90+ mph much more frequently then pitchers throw 90+ mph plainly because its not possible. The pitcher will blow their arm out. Now account for the numerous bodies in front of you, constantly in motion and bumping into you. In baseball the batter is stationary and you can see clearly. I also understand that when the pitcher throw a bad pitch it's really stressful to get up and make that quick motion to get the ball as a catcher. And now say a runner steals home and scores because of the error. It's not nearly as important as a deflection of you own teammate into your net as a goalie. You don't see 15 goals scored in hockey as opposed to a 15-2 rout in baseball. Also think about the 15,000+ fans screaming at you at the top of their lungs when you let up a goal on the road. It doesn't happen in baseball like that. Lastly, as the author of this article wrote, a baseball is 2.9" in diameter, almost the same as pick. But come to think of it, when you are stopping a puck, it's not that diameter. It's roughly 1 inch thick, making it three times as hard to stop let alone a faster speed most of the time. On a different note, the pitcher is trying to throw the ball toward a catcher, while a hockey player is aiming past the goalie. A goalie blocks, a catcher catches. Two totally different roles, blocking being the tougher of the two. Catchers block occasionally, but not as frequent as a goaltender in hockey. I respect baseball considering its very precise, but hockey is ultimately the hardest to play
ReplyDeletePro baseball catcher constantly squatting for half the game, calling pitches, catching/blocking pitches, dealing with base runners, having to hit as well, doing that outside in the elements, playing majority of 162 games a year
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