Bobby Humphrey: I am an advocate and on the side of lefty catchers all day, every day.
Rob D.: what determines or how do you measure pop time? Apparently, catching a rise ball moving at warp speed from 43 feet away is considered fun by some people. Let's find out why. Welcome to the Softball Central Podcast, your comprehensive look into the world of fast pitch softball. In softball, the catcher is the undisputed leader on the field. And our guest today is the man training the next generation of generals. We are joined by Bobby Humphrey, the catching coach for Bridgewater College, whose incredible baseball and softball resume spans over two decades as a college coach, author, and professional scout for the New York Mets in the Philadelphia Phillies. Welcome to the show, Bobby.
Bobby Humphrey: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Rob D.: so the first thing I wanted to ask you about is you you've coached across everything from youth to high school, college levels. what's the biggest single misconception people have about coaching the modern catcher?
Bobby Humphrey: So I can get kind of preachy on this one because I'm kind of the antithesis to what I'm about to explain. And for me, it's that there's one way to do everything. and I, you know, I I haven't been coaching for 40 years, so I'm not entirely sure if it was like this years ago. But right now, and I think in part it's it's due to social media and and clicks and you know seeking out monetary gain. But for me, it's it's one way, one style, and cloning robotic catchers. and I am completely against that. We we always have to have a why for everything that we do. And you know, everybody right now is one knee down for the most part, for example, and you know, at at Bridgewater or as I'm doing lessons and clinics, we have in-depth conversations about we're gonna do what's most efficient for you, not necessarily my style. And I see that all the time, especially on your TikToks and the and the Facebooks and things like that. It's it's more hammering a style. versus unla unlocking athletic potential. So I really think that that's you know, an area of concern. If if if if maybe that's a little cliche or dramatic, but it's just something that I'm seeing constantly. And, you know, we we have fundamental expectations, of course, that are under, you know, an umbrella of what we expect at Bridgewater College or anyone that I work with. so, you know, we certainly have those building blocks, but ultimately it's about what's best for the player and what's going to allow them to be most efficient.
Rob D.: I absolutely love that because e every every catcher is an individual and every catcher has their own screw loose because my dad always said if you're gonna be a catcher you can have a bit of a
Bobby Humphrey: You know. Yeah.
Rob D.: screw loose, right? So I I
Bobby Humphrey: Right, yeah.
Rob D.: I kinda relate it to golf, as far as like the swing, okay? So to to have a good golf swing you can do anything you want at the top of the swing, but when you come down you need to be in the slot. So in catching If you have good mechanics in throwing, I don't care if you're doing it from your knees, from behind your back,
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah.
Rob D.: or you're standing up as long as that's the most efficient way. And I I love that that you said that. That's fantastic.
Bobby Humphrey: And you know, I again another area I get quite preachy on. I I get preachy on everything as it relates to catching
Rob D.: Exactly.
Bobby Humphrey: because I'm somewhat obsessive about it. But you know, you just talked about throwing from your knees. And if you have a catcher that is equally good from knees and feet, really from the pop to their release should be no different. The transfer time should be no different. And for us, it's you know, it's pitch dependent. But there's some girls. In fact, I just worked with one a little while ago that's a high school kid out of Ohio. I told her that she's probably gonna go off her knees a lot better. So anything face down, she's gonna go knees. Our returning starting catcher at Bridgewater, I don't recall ever throwing a throwing a runner out at second base from her knees, unless it was like a ball that took her down, like into the dirt. so she was exclusively feet. And then their other one, conversely, was almost exclusively knees, but the transfer times are right there. And and you know, there's this This is a big misconception that throwing from your knees is faster. And that simply is not the case. If it was Reese Atwood would never come up off her feet. So for for Texas. So
Rob D.: Yes, right.
Bobby Humphrey: you know, I I get pretty passionate about that one. And ultimately, I think what it is is, well, it looks cool. And I hear it all the time. Well, she throws from her feet. Or I'm sorry, throws from her knees. Well, I don't care. It doesn't matter. Like whatever's most efficient.
Rob D.: That's right. That is I love that, Coach Humphrey. Preach, my friend. Preach.
Bobby Humphrey: Right, right. But again, it's about I use the word unlocking, and maybe I'm gonna be more redundant throughout this conversation, but I think sometimes that's okay. We have to figure out what's best for the kid, not what's best for our own egos.
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Bobby Humphrey: So certainly it's relatable because I did it so much. So I think I have you know, an equal amount of empathy as I do expectations for the catchers. But I think that this is a very simple answer and that it's relatable with all sports, all positions is we got to move on. for us, I hope anyway, I I hope I've never given the idea that I'm glaring at them if a ball gets away from them or they don't make a good throw. because the way that I see myself, and hopefully they see it the same, is is when we have those mistakes, it's whatever and we move on. the only time that, you know, there may be a little bit more of a conversation is usually gonna come from the head coach is when there's effort and clear you know, some sort of lack of effort. You know, then it's a problem. But you know, catching is so complex, there's so many moving parts and and there's there's such high expectations for so much from the cerebral to the mechanical to the physical aspects of it that, you know, we're gonna make those mistakes. And for me personally, I just have the attitude of moving on. And if there's carryover in the practice, or you know, the next day, maybe after we had a rough game, to me, that conversation is very short. And let's let's see what we can do to correct it. And I don't want to get off too too much, but one of the things that we're quite proud of at Bridgewater that we do is an analytics sheet. Now I'm I'm kind of in the middle in terms of analytics, but we are essentially scoring all receiving, all blocking, all throwing. So throughout the entire game and we're on defense, I'm charting nonstop. So what that is doing in turn is allowing us to have very focused practices. So just for example, if we're missing pitches on our glove side, then that's our target the next day. And we have this analytic sheet that that has percentages broke down from game to game.
Rob D.: so two things there. One w when you when you talk about effort, like if there's a lack of effort it's a it's a longer conversation and so that's like pass ball and they kinda do the body language thing like, and walk back and get the ball while the girl has run to second because she's already given up. She knows the girl's gonna get the second, but if you start if you start
Bobby Humphrey: Right. Yeah.
Rob D.: being lazy about it, she might get to third, and then the other the the the analytics I I love analytics. I love the data. I don't always you know, follow it to a T or what it's telling me, but I d I just like to have the knowledge. You know what I mean? I like to see it on paper. So that's that's another
Bobby Humphrey: Yep, and especially because especially because that really doesn't that really doesn't exist with catching. And it's really, really helpful once we get into the regular season in terms of, you know, this is the area that we're that we really need to improve upon. And it's it's been helpful. And it you know, and it tracks blocking the ball and as I said, the pop times between innings and end game and things like that. But that receiving piece is is huge.
Rob D.: what determines or how do you measure pop time?
Bobby Humphrey: so the literal pop time is pop of the catcher's glove to pop of the middle infielder's glove. and just you know, for the audience, two point one is is average for high school. we want to be in the one nines. we've been very fortunate the last couple of years that we can work middle to upper one eighths. And when you get down to the one sevens, you're talking elite. even though a lot of people want to put this out on social media that there are one six, that
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: is extremely rare. So But no, the the pop time should be the same from knees or feet. And and again, that's that's why I talked previously that it's pitch dependent. So if it brings you down and player dependent. Going right back to our starter that's returning to Bridgewater, even if the pitch is low, if she can receive it in her glove, she's almost always coming off of her feet. So you know, that expectation is always there. I will say, so now I guess it's maybe my turn to get a little bit more off topic. Pop we are way, as I say we as a society, we are way too obsessed with pop time.
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: And and I talk about this all the time. So a couple of things at Bridgewater and instructionally, when I'm working with girls, we do transfer time more. So we want to be pop of the glove to release under a second, which really for us at the college level, we want to be 0.8 or better. The reason is because when we think pop time, let's say I throw a 2.0 or something. That's not what I want. Well, what a girl or boy is going to do is they're going to get longer and slower because they're going to try to throw the ball harder. So what a transfer time does is really shrinks it. To focus on everything that, you know, from the pop to the release versus looking ahead, if you will. I I'm not sure if I'm explaining it well, but it really, it really brings the focus on what we need to do mechanically versus the end result. and then, you know, we inflate these, again, we society, we inflate these things so much. I saw, I see it all the time from 159, I saw somebody try to say that's. Like literally you'd have to be standing up. There's nobody that I've ever seen throw a one five nine or even a one six. So I tell girls to keep them off their profiles, like on X or whatever recruiting platform they're on. And then the final thing that I'm gonna say, hopefully you have some parents and catchers listening in is you are better, your worth is more than a stopwatch.
Rob D.: Mm.
Bobby Humphrey: If you are athletic and you have good arm strength, I am not going to go to a game and say, she's a two one or a two two and walk away. I mean, it because most girls or and boys really don't understand the intricacies of the technique throwing to second base. And really within the first couple of weeks and fall practice as a freshman, those are going improve. Now, again, if we're like 2.5 and it's just a really weak arm, then you know, there's only about so much you can do. But we just we get too hyper focused on pop time and I never even really bring it to showcases. You see what you see. And as a scout for all those years, I I didn't get a pop time all the time because we grade tools. So that's just my little again sermon on pop times. The there we value them too much.
Rob D.: The Sermon on the Mound. Exactly.
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right.
Rob D.: I'm glad you asked that question because I think a lot of people and this is probably where the misconception comes from throwing from the knees and throwing from their feet, is that they think that pup time is them popping in your interview with From the Coach's Mouth, you mentioned that catchers should be as quiet as possible when receiving. how do you coach
Bobby Humphrey: Mm-hmm.
Rob D.: a player to develop this subtle calm presence behind the plate?
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah, this is one of the things that we hammer the most from September to May when we're done is being as quiet as possible. Now, certainly it's through a lot of drill work. how do we get them there? I think it's I think it's through a lot of repetition and a lot of discussing and a lot of understanding. Because, you know, I think all catchers really have to understand what they're doing, but I I appreciate that maybe a little bit more on the softball side of things, girls really want to know the why behind everything. And so we talk about not having any upper body movement because that can give the illusion of too much movement for the umpire. So what we talk about often is is thinking mostly moving your shoulder to to to get to the corners and and to the low pitches. But how we get there, I've never really been asked how we get there. I think it's just starting off with the understanding of of being as quiet as possible. Now there's different drills that I could discuss and you know that that really promotes being as stationary as possible, but it's it's a focus point from the beginning. And, you know, whether we're Doing drills or catching off machine or catching bullpen sessions, we talk about it nonstop. And just one more layer to what we do at Bridgewaters, we have a bullpen accountability chart too. So it's not just what happens in a game. and it's mostly used in the fall, but that can get a little rough because we're still learning, especially incoming. But then once we pick things up at the end of January and into February, that's when, you know, when we're catching bullpen and we're already starting to mark those good moves, bad moves. So that's a long answer to just basically saying that it happens consistently and almost daily.
Rob D.: Love it. Love it.
Bobby Humphrey: So I'm gonna I'm gonna tell this story a little bit again for the listeners. A couple years ago, I coached as a temporary coach for the Charlottesville Tomsacks of the Valley Baseball League. I was a temporary coach because the other coaches were still in the junior college world series. And again, this is baseball. Had three catchers, one from Clemson, Auburn, and Virginia Tech. And I, you know, we're just doing stuff before the season started and working them out. And I said, who do you think the best catcher was? And I hate that I forgot his name. He's a kid out of Miami. This kid from Clemson, who also may have just gotten called up to the Guardians, by the way, he said you didn't know he was back there. Now,
Rob D.: Mm-hmm.
Bobby Humphrey: if I could have that like in our dugout or tattooed on the girls' heads or or you know, whatever, it's so they could see it all the time. You don't know you're back there. So I think. Just that mindset of we need to be again as quiet as possible. Too much movement is counterproductive. So you don't know you're back there. We hit that all.
Rob D.: so a lot of times on the show someone will say something and I'm like, I'm getting that engraved in stone. That's another one right there. He I didn't know
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah, right. Yep.
Rob D.: he was back there. and I think the listeners will know this as well. When you mean quiet back there, you didn't know they were back there, it's from the perspective of the umpire versus catchers pretty much their one of their roles is because they can see the defense is is going out and being vocal in softball and calling out plays,
Bobby Humphrey: So you're talking about literally being verbal.
Rob D.: A verbal leader on the field. Yeah. Right.
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah, well, no, we we certainly want that any any age, from yeah, from youth to yeah, and thank you. Cause again, I have to recognize sometimes people don't always understand the jargon. I'm firing out so quickly. we we want to be loud and and certainly authentic. it's gotta be authentic, not fake, and you can kind of see right through that. but yes, we we need to have a leader. And you know, a lot of times The catcher's call quarterback of the team. And I and I think sometimes that can be misconstrued. Truly known what that means. To me, it's about the mannerisms, the demeanor, and and and how we, for lack of better terms, control ourselves and the pitcher, not necessarily the verbal, but yeah, you know, we need to have loud catchers, no doubt about it. So but being quiet receiving just means lack of body movements, as as as few body movements as possible.
Rob D.: Perfect. Love that. Yeah, yeah. That's why I just wanted to get that clarity out there 'cause I knew that was your what you meant. But just sometimes if a younger player might be
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah.
Rob D.: li listening and not kind of understanding. So perfect, love it.
Bobby Humphrey: Hundred percent. And I love that you're not only catching that, but but delving a little bit deeper because that that's important that everybody understands.
Rob D.: so y you mentioned catcher, quarterback kind of. it seems like they're more of an extension extension of the coaching staff. I mean
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah. Yeah.
Rob D.: there's been many great coaches, w whether it's college, major leagues, whatever, that have been catchers. It's usually like catchers and shortstops make the make the best coaches. Coach Bobby, you played college baseball at Spring Arbor University, but you've spent a significant time coaching softball at Bridgewater. What was the biggest culture shock or technical adjustment you had to make when tailoring your catching logic to fast pitch softball?
Bobby Humphrey: I guess what I what I notice as one of the biggest differences is our secondary stances, the runners on base. Baseball players are now for the most part staying on one knee and then there's a shift and it's a timing mechanism for the transfer to the throw, all of that. Whereas mostly softball players are if they remain one knee down, they're not going to have that shift as baseball players can because they can see the runner going, of course. Baseball Catchers have much more time to be instinctive than softball catchers do. But, you know, as I was looking at this question, mechanical adjustments and, you know, the differences, I think it begins with stance. And and and so what I'm talking about here is is I still see on the softball side of things very faulty secondary stances. And again, for people listening, secondary stance is when there's runners on base. And you know, when I came up, it was pretty old school, get your butt way up and your hand in front of the or behind the glove, and it was very, very uncomfortable. But what I'm still seeing quite often really at camps and even when I see video of of girls working with coaches is they're upright. So what I'm saying by this is basically their knees are at a ninety degree angle, so their butt is way up. And and I I guess there's this false understanding, this false idea that that's going to be quicker. So that's where my head went when I was looking at this question. So a secondary stance should be very, very subtle. But the number one thing that I'm getting at here is when you're when your butt is that high up and your knees are at a 90 degree angle, you're impeding the ability to focus on the most important part of the zone when receiving, and that's low. We can't drop down to receive the low pitches. We have to make sure that we maintain our thumb under the ball. But also, you know, I see this and people don't understand that that's slower. Well, and I think there's this idea that if I'm upright, I can be quicker, but that's not true. Because if I'm in that sort of 90 degree position, all my my upper body is essentially falling forward. And what that's going to do is create long feet and a long throw. If that's making sense. And anything long or sorry, and yeah, anything long is slow. Anything short is quick. So if anyone's listening and maybe have their catchers doing this, just please understand that that upright position. takes away the ability to receive and it's actually much slower throwing to second base.
Rob D.: what is it about the s the softball that just makes you just like, my gosh, this is so great?
Bobby Humphrey: I think girls generally have a better learning posture, especially when you when you when they know the why. And that's what I thrive off of as a coach. I want them to know why we're doing every single drill. So I think the fact that that typically girls want that, and that's a strength of mine. I think it's just it's kind of a good match. but you know, I love the game. It moves fast. you know, you're you're in and out of a game in an hour and a half to two hours. There's not a lot of slow parts to the game. But honestly, you know, one of the things, and you know, I'll I'll say this. Sometimes I'm sitting in the dugout at Bridgewater in a game and just enjoying the moment with the girls. you know, we we've won more games than we've lost. but, you know, just the silliness and the passion in the dugout, how hard they work, the laughter, but also those very, very serious, those tight moments. I there's some times really that I'm sitting there just kind of looking around and just like, this is this is so awesome. It's it's really truly been a blessing you know, to be on the softball side of things. And I still dabble sometimes in baseball a little bit, worked with a couple of baseball players this summer, but it's just kind of where my heart ended up.
Rob D.: You wrote The Tools of Greatness, a book dedicated entirely to catching. What gap In traditional catching literature were you desperately trying to fill when you sat down to write it?
Bobby Humphrey: man. just to have a I think the gap was to have a resource. Now, this is before everybody came an expert on TikTok and social media.
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: So in terms of an instructional gap, I don't think there, I think that wasn't anything that was on the forefront of my mind. It was just to have an instructional resource for coaches, parents, and catchers to have to help them develop as catchers. But, you know, I just I kind of wanted to write a book when I was in college and and it just kind of came to fruition in 2013. And then I repeated it in 2015 as a second edition. And I just I just wanted to get the the tools in their hands. And then I'd similar to my second book, which is on hitting, I wrote that because I was just literally going to blast it for free to any coach that was willing to listen after watching, you know, little league practices and high school practices, things like that. Ended up being a full blown book too.
Rob D.: do you have the same philosophy when it comes to hitting as you do with catching? Like let the person be more of an individual rather than everybody must swing the same like a robot.
Bobby Humphrey: One hundred percent yes. you know, every everything in sports is is pretty much ground up, right? Feet up. And and hitting's no different. But yes. when I wrote the hitting book, I had a lot of great people help with excerpts that added to the book. from Derek May, who played in the majors in the nineties, I remember him very well when he was with the Cubs, to you know, different coaches around the country. And all of them really hit on that, that it's it's again, it's about the individual.
Rob D.: Okay. that no, that's that's awesome. I I I figured it was, but I I wanted to get your explanation on it because I I could listen to you talk forever. so I something on the catching, and at the end I'll ask your opinion. But the other day I was at the field and my daughter was on one field getting her catching lesson and I noticed on the other field that there was a another catcher over there and the dad who is also an assistant coach on her travel team. She was out there and she was a little discouraged. And I went over and I I gave her a l little bit of pep talk. Her name's Gabby Gonzalez. and I wanted to give her, Give us some pep because you you know what it's like when when dad's there, you know, they don't want to listen to dad, maybe
Bobby Humphrey: Yep.
Rob D.: they'll listen to somebody else. But so this all leads up to my question. She was she was a lefty, and th there was a girl from southeast Louisiana, I think she graduated this year, and her name is her first name is Sydney, and I can't remember her last name, but she she was everything you want in a catcher. She she would never walk anywhere. She was Constantly running and she was an incredible catcher. What is your thoughts and feelings on left handed catchers?
Bobby Humphrey: This is another fantastic question and I love it. I went on a rant on my catching Facebook page and and to make sure I hooked everybody, I s I said something along the lines of lefty catchers find new positions, because I knew that'd get everybody's attention, right? And I did. And no, I we I love lefty catchers. Look, if you if you have everything that you just described, I couldn't we could not care less. We have a lefty catcher right now that was a freshman this year, and she grew so much and she's fantastic. you know. I can't certainly predict the future, what's gonna happen, but I I am an advocate and on the side of lefty catchers all day, every day. You know, there were some that said, well, you know, throwing to third base might take them more time. Well, how many times are you gonna straight steal to third base? Not very much at all. But on a bunt or swing and miss, any back picks at first base are so much quicker. You're gonna throw to first base a lot more than third base. But again, if you can block, you can throw, you can catch, and you can lead. That's what we want. And I believe Florida had a lefty this year. Washington had a really good one a couple of years ago. Amanda Chittister, who's now a coach at Michigan, she was a lefty and an Olympian. Jenny Topping, who just got a co coaching position in California. She was an Olympian lefty. So I don't know why lefties are written off, but we will gladly accept them if they have what it takes.
Rob D.: Amen. Amen. I d her her and her dad will be glad to hear that. and that's and that's basically what what I was telling her. I'm like, don't let anybody tell you that you're at a d disadvantage
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah.
Rob D.: being a being a lefty catcher. You just you do you. So that's fantastic. Thank
Bobby Humphrey: Yep. Yep. Amen.
Rob D.: you for that.
Bobby Humphrey: Worse.
Rob D.: Look looking back at trajectory of your career, how would you summarize your personal mission statement?
Bobby Humphrey: My my person my personal mission statement. is to help girls unlock and realize their potential. I think that's I think that's really where it begins and ends. on the monetary side, I don't I don't collect a whole lot. I don't charge a whole lot. When I have girls and guys that are willing to put in the work, that's that's where it's at. And and I just want to help families and girls to reach their potential. That's I think that's really what it boils down to. I am incredibly passionate about, you know, not just the physical side of things, but the character side of things and and helping guide them and anything that I can do to help, whether it's recruiting or just straight up improving their catching skills.
Rob D.: We'll be right back with the seventh inning walk off. Welcome back, everybody, to the seventh inning walk-off. This is a trivia in an opinion game. We play with our guest. Bobby has agreed, maybe a little reluctantly, to play play with us. this game consists of seven questions, a couple opinion questions, mostly trivia questions. obviously each trivia question has one correct answer. And if it's a two part question, then you get two points. We call those runs. So the second run is an RBI, kind of the play on the whole softball theme. All
Bobby Humphrey: Okay.
Rob D.: right. So here we go. You ready, Bobby?
Bobby Humphrey: Yes, sir.
Rob D.: Okay. What year was Bridgewater College founded?
Bobby Humphrey: I don't feel I don't my gosh. I don't know. nineteen, eighteen, I don't.
Rob D.: not bad, eighteen eighty. Eighteen eighty close.
Bobby Humphrey: See, I was gonna I was gonna say eighteen ninety, but I wasn't it se that just seemed too early for me. But yeah, and it's it's literally on my classring So
Rob D.: Okay, for you can still get an RBI.
Bobby Humphrey: okay.
Rob D.: can you name the person that founded it? That founded the school.
Bobby Humphrey: man, no, I can't. My I I assume they're a free Methodist of some sort, but
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: no, I I I have no idea.
Rob D.: It was Daniel Christian Flory. I I I I take it there's
Bobby Humphrey: Okay, yeah.
Rob D.: probably no statues around campus of him.
Bobby Humphrey: No, and I do not recall the name at all. As my if my buddies listen to which they will if my buddies listen to this, I don't I don't think they'd get that either. So
Rob D.: Okay. All right. What is the three word tagline for the NCAA division three? Little hint, all words start with D.
Bobby Humphrey: Here's the thing, we're about to get a new coach. And if it is a new person and they have to interview me here and I don't know this,
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: three d dedication, determination and Am I right with those?
Rob D.: Dedicate. Dedicate's one of them. So it's discover, develop, dedicate.
Bobby Humphrey: I'm trying to Okay. Okay. Okay. All right. I was thinking of something that was along the lines of service, but anyway, so
Rob D.: yeah, that's I yeah. I I'm sorry. Sometimes I gotta r I gotta dig really deep for these questions because a a lot of the trivia questions that will come up will be like What's the distance between the bases and softball? You know, it's like sixty feet, you know what I mean? Okay, so this is an opinion question. Can't get this wrong. You're good. Okay.
Bobby Humphrey: Okay, that's good. Yeah.
Rob D.: and this could span across baseball, softball, whatever. Best catcher. Best catcher you ever saw.
Bobby Humphrey: see, this is an easy one. This should be like a home run. Yvonne Rodriguez. and I I did everything I could to emulate my game after him. Not, you know, I I never never had the ability to throw like him, of course, or hit or anything really, but just how he played the game, the energy that he had. I had a lot of heroes growing up. you know, certainly on the baseball side of things. I can talk about Mickey Tettleton and you know, Javi Lopez a little bit later, but Pud Rodriguez had his picture like like pasted on my desk. So a hundred percent.
Rob D.: So speaking speaking of that, my hero growing up was Carlton Fisk, who also went by Pudge Pudge Fisk. you went to Spring Arbor College in Michigan. Their mascot is the Cougar. How many schools in N A I A, including Spring Arbor, use the name Cougar Teams?
Bobby Humphrey: Honestly, don't know if I can name one. If I if I saw the school without the logo or without the mascot, I I I could probably identify it, I'll say thirty eight. No, that's too many for NAI. Twenty one.
Rob D.: Six.
Bobby Humphrey: Okay, see, okay here.
Rob D.: And then you already answered this. It was can you name any of the another school that uses Cougar? So the answer is Columbia College, Indiana University,
Bobby Humphrey: Okay.
Rob D.: Kokomo,
Bobby Humphrey: yeah.
Rob D.: Mount Vernon, Nazarene University.
Bobby Humphrey: See it, I should've got them. Should have got them. Yep.
Rob D.: Saint Xavier University and the University of Saint Francis.
Bobby Humphrey: Okay, yeah, and all of those yeah. All of those are similar and in the Midwest, to Spring Arbor. So
Rob D.: It's you know, it's it's it's easy it's hard to find questions. Yeah, it's it well it's it's easy for us to go, Wow I can't believe you you didn't get that. It's right there in front of us. But if if somebody
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah. Right, right.
Rob D.: asked that question about my alma mono when it was founded, I'd be like, I don't know. Yeah. I have no
Bobby Humphrey: Right.
Rob D.: idea. Okay. okay, here we go. I love this question. Okay. True or false? Johnny Bench often used the one knee down technique long before it was popularized in twenty twenty.
Bobby Humphrey: Just based on video that I have seen of him, I'm gonna say True
Rob D.: he did use it not not a ton, but they give him credit for being like one of the first guys to ever get down on that one knee. All right. Thisis an opinion question. Coach Humphrey, would you prefer winter in Michigan or summer in Florida?
Bobby Humphrey: my goodness. Everybody that knows me, if they hear this it's not even close. Winter in Michigan all day, every day.
Rob D.: nice. question number seven. Last one, Bobby. Who gets credit for inventing the catcher's mask?
Bobby Humphrey: Frederick Thayer.
Rob D.: Wow. Nice dude. Nice pull, bro. do you know where he went to college?
Bobby Humphrey: Can I have like a region?
Rob D.: Boston, Northeast.
Bobby Humphrey: Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Yale. Okay, okay, there we go.
Rob D.: Harvard. Harvard. Harvard. Nice. Awesome job, brother. Where'd it go? so again, I I I can't thank you enough for being here. This this has been a blast. Like I said, I could listen to you talk all day. I love your passion. I you know what the exact word I was just gonna be like, it's so clear that you are passionate about catchers and a passionate about what you do. And I think that's what's the most fun and refreshing is when we get to have a guest on that just as excited and passionate about what they do. And I know that that resonates more with the the folks out there and especially the young gals that are catchers is you know, hearing someone that's passionate about this topic. So sorry it didn't I cut you off. You're used to it though. Yeah, I am. I'm totally used to getting cut off. It's fine.
Bobby Humphrey: Huh.
Rob D.: I love what you said about lefty catchers. I love what you said about
Bobby Humphrey: I can use.
Rob D.: being quiet. I love how you explained the pup time. I think that this will help a a lot of players and parents kinda understand you know what college coaches are looking for and what they should be what
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah.
Rob D.: they should be working on at at
Bobby Humphrey: Right.
Rob D.: their lessons. and making sure you find the right catching coach that's that's gonna help you with those. so w when you do have like clinics lined up like you just had going through Michigan, do you have a website or is that just through IG or how do you how do you advertise that and what's the best way to be able to find you?
Bobby Humphrey: yes, I so yes, I have a website on my Facebook page pinned. but I'm just I don't actively seek travel. I would like to. I would like to do more. And honestly, I think it'd be beneficial to do more of a combined player and coaches clinic. Like the coaches gotta see this stuff too. Cause a girl walks away. after three hours or depending on what we do, all the way up to five hours, like like it's somebody's gotta be there to have the eye and to have the drills for to continue. So that's something I would like to do.
Rob D.: and what's the the name of your Facebook page? Is just Bobby Humphrey?
Bobby Humphrey: Bobby Humphrey catching. My private page, of course, is Bobby Humphrey, but the Facebook catching page is Bobby Humphrey Catching.
Rob D.: and what's your X handle?
Bobby Humphrey: Humphrey underscore Bobby.
Rob D.: all this information, folks, will will be in the show notes and during the the video portion of this we'll we'll have it flashed on the screen as well. it was just a really great getting to know you, talking to you, and hearing everything. I wanted to encourage everyone as well. can people find your book, The Tools of Greatness and Hitting Home with Fundamental Purpose Intent? Is is that on Amazon?
Bobby Humphrey: is. It's on Amazon, yes. Or they both are on Amazon, yes.
Rob D.: so once again, Bobby, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for being here. It was it was fantastic.
Bobby Humphrey: Thank guys very much. That was a great conversation and I was glad to share certainly some of that passionate energy.
Rob D.: what determines or how do you measure pop time? Apparently, catching a rise ball moving at warp speed from 43 feet away is considered fun by some people. Let's find out why. Welcome to the Softball Central Podcast, your comprehensive look into the world of fast pitch softball. In softball, the catcher is the undisputed leader on the field. And our guest today is the man training the next generation of generals. We are joined by Bobby Humphrey, the catching coach for Bridgewater College, whose incredible baseball and softball resume spans over two decades as a college coach, author, and professional scout for the New York Mets in the Philadelphia Phillies. Welcome to the show, Bobby.
Bobby Humphrey: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Rob D.: so the first thing I wanted to ask you about is you you've coached across everything from youth to high school, college levels. what's the biggest single misconception people have about coaching the modern catcher?
Bobby Humphrey: So I can get kind of preachy on this one because I'm kind of the antithesis to what I'm about to explain. And for me, it's that there's one way to do everything. and I, you know, I I haven't been coaching for 40 years, so I'm not entirely sure if it was like this years ago. But right now, and I think in part it's it's due to social media and and clicks and you know seeking out monetary gain. But for me, it's it's one way, one style, and cloning robotic catchers. and I am completely against that. We we always have to have a why for everything that we do. And you know, everybody right now is one knee down for the most part, for example, and you know, at at Bridgewater or as I'm doing lessons and clinics, we have in-depth conversations about we're gonna do what's most efficient for you, not necessarily my style. And I see that all the time, especially on your TikToks and the and the Facebooks and things like that. It's it's more hammering a style. versus unla unlocking athletic potential. So I really think that that's you know, an area of concern. If if if if maybe that's a little cliche or dramatic, but it's just something that I'm seeing constantly. And, you know, we we have fundamental expectations, of course, that are under, you know, an umbrella of what we expect at Bridgewater College or anyone that I work with. so, you know, we certainly have those building blocks, but ultimately it's about what's best for the player and what's going to allow them to be most efficient.
Rob D.: I absolutely love that because e every every catcher is an individual and every catcher has their own screw loose because my dad always said if you're gonna be a catcher you can have a bit of a
Bobby Humphrey: You know. Yeah.
Rob D.: screw loose, right? So I I
Bobby Humphrey: Right, yeah.
Rob D.: I kinda relate it to golf, as far as like the swing, okay? So to to have a good golf swing you can do anything you want at the top of the swing, but when you come down you need to be in the slot. So in catching If you have good mechanics in throwing, I don't care if you're doing it from your knees, from behind your back,
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah.
Rob D.: or you're standing up as long as that's the most efficient way. And I I love that that you said that. That's fantastic.
Bobby Humphrey: And you know, I again another area I get quite preachy on. I I get preachy on everything as it relates to catching
Rob D.: Exactly.
Bobby Humphrey: because I'm somewhat obsessive about it. But you know, you just talked about throwing from your knees. And if you have a catcher that is equally good from knees and feet, really from the pop to their release should be no different. The transfer time should be no different. And for us, it's you know, it's pitch dependent. But there's some girls. In fact, I just worked with one a little while ago that's a high school kid out of Ohio. I told her that she's probably gonna go off her knees a lot better. So anything face down, she's gonna go knees. Our returning starting catcher at Bridgewater, I don't recall ever throwing a throwing a runner out at second base from her knees, unless it was like a ball that took her down, like into the dirt. so she was exclusively feet. And then their other one, conversely, was almost exclusively knees, but the transfer times are right there. And and you know, there's this This is a big misconception that throwing from your knees is faster. And that simply is not the case. If it was Reese Atwood would never come up off her feet. So for for Texas. So
Rob D.: Yes, right.
Bobby Humphrey: you know, I I get pretty passionate about that one. And ultimately, I think what it is is, well, it looks cool. And I hear it all the time. Well, she throws from her feet. Or I'm sorry, throws from her knees. Well, I don't care. It doesn't matter. Like whatever's most efficient.
Rob D.: That's right. That is I love that, Coach Humphrey. Preach, my friend. Preach.
Bobby Humphrey: Right, right. But again, it's about I use the word unlocking, and maybe I'm gonna be more redundant throughout this conversation, but I think sometimes that's okay. We have to figure out what's best for the kid, not what's best for our own egos.
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Bobby Humphrey: So certainly it's relatable because I did it so much. So I think I have you know, an equal amount of empathy as I do expectations for the catchers. But I think that this is a very simple answer and that it's relatable with all sports, all positions is we got to move on. for us, I hope anyway, I I hope I've never given the idea that I'm glaring at them if a ball gets away from them or they don't make a good throw. because the way that I see myself, and hopefully they see it the same, is is when we have those mistakes, it's whatever and we move on. the only time that, you know, there may be a little bit more of a conversation is usually gonna come from the head coach is when there's effort and clear you know, some sort of lack of effort. You know, then it's a problem. But you know, catching is so complex, there's so many moving parts and and there's there's such high expectations for so much from the cerebral to the mechanical to the physical aspects of it that, you know, we're gonna make those mistakes. And for me personally, I just have the attitude of moving on. And if there's carryover in the practice, or you know, the next day, maybe after we had a rough game, to me, that conversation is very short. And let's let's see what we can do to correct it. And I don't want to get off too too much, but one of the things that we're quite proud of at Bridgewater that we do is an analytics sheet. Now I'm I'm kind of in the middle in terms of analytics, but we are essentially scoring all receiving, all blocking, all throwing. So throughout the entire game and we're on defense, I'm charting nonstop. So what that is doing in turn is allowing us to have very focused practices. So just for example, if we're missing pitches on our glove side, then that's our target the next day. And we have this analytic sheet that that has percentages broke down from game to game.
Rob D.: so two things there. One w when you when you talk about effort, like if there's a lack of effort it's a it's a longer conversation and so that's like pass ball and they kinda do the body language thing like, and walk back and get the ball while the girl has run to second because she's already given up. She knows the girl's gonna get the second, but if you start if you start
Bobby Humphrey: Right. Yeah.
Rob D.: being lazy about it, she might get to third, and then the other the the the analytics I I love analytics. I love the data. I don't always you know, follow it to a T or what it's telling me, but I d I just like to have the knowledge. You know what I mean? I like to see it on paper. So that's that's another
Bobby Humphrey: Yep, and especially because especially because that really doesn't that really doesn't exist with catching. And it's really, really helpful once we get into the regular season in terms of, you know, this is the area that we're that we really need to improve upon. And it's it's been helpful. And it you know, and it tracks blocking the ball and as I said, the pop times between innings and end game and things like that. But that receiving piece is is huge.
Rob D.: what determines or how do you measure pop time?
Bobby Humphrey: so the literal pop time is pop of the catcher's glove to pop of the middle infielder's glove. and just you know, for the audience, two point one is is average for high school. we want to be in the one nines. we've been very fortunate the last couple of years that we can work middle to upper one eighths. And when you get down to the one sevens, you're talking elite. even though a lot of people want to put this out on social media that there are one six, that
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: is extremely rare. So But no, the the pop time should be the same from knees or feet. And and again, that's that's why I talked previously that it's pitch dependent. So if it brings you down and player dependent. Going right back to our starter that's returning to Bridgewater, even if the pitch is low, if she can receive it in her glove, she's almost always coming off of her feet. So you know, that expectation is always there. I will say, so now I guess it's maybe my turn to get a little bit more off topic. Pop we are way, as I say we as a society, we are way too obsessed with pop time.
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: And and I talk about this all the time. So a couple of things at Bridgewater and instructionally, when I'm working with girls, we do transfer time more. So we want to be pop of the glove to release under a second, which really for us at the college level, we want to be 0.8 or better. The reason is because when we think pop time, let's say I throw a 2.0 or something. That's not what I want. Well, what a girl or boy is going to do is they're going to get longer and slower because they're going to try to throw the ball harder. So what a transfer time does is really shrinks it. To focus on everything that, you know, from the pop to the release versus looking ahead, if you will. I I'm not sure if I'm explaining it well, but it really, it really brings the focus on what we need to do mechanically versus the end result. and then, you know, we inflate these, again, we society, we inflate these things so much. I saw, I see it all the time from 159, I saw somebody try to say that's. Like literally you'd have to be standing up. There's nobody that I've ever seen throw a one five nine or even a one six. So I tell girls to keep them off their profiles, like on X or whatever recruiting platform they're on. And then the final thing that I'm gonna say, hopefully you have some parents and catchers listening in is you are better, your worth is more than a stopwatch.
Rob D.: Mm.
Bobby Humphrey: If you are athletic and you have good arm strength, I am not going to go to a game and say, she's a two one or a two two and walk away. I mean, it because most girls or and boys really don't understand the intricacies of the technique throwing to second base. And really within the first couple of weeks and fall practice as a freshman, those are going improve. Now, again, if we're like 2.5 and it's just a really weak arm, then you know, there's only about so much you can do. But we just we get too hyper focused on pop time and I never even really bring it to showcases. You see what you see. And as a scout for all those years, I I didn't get a pop time all the time because we grade tools. So that's just my little again sermon on pop times. The there we value them too much.
Rob D.: The Sermon on the Mound. Exactly.
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right.
Rob D.: I'm glad you asked that question because I think a lot of people and this is probably where the misconception comes from throwing from the knees and throwing from their feet, is that they think that pup time is them popping in your interview with From the Coach's Mouth, you mentioned that catchers should be as quiet as possible when receiving. how do you coach
Bobby Humphrey: Mm-hmm.
Rob D.: a player to develop this subtle calm presence behind the plate?
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah, this is one of the things that we hammer the most from September to May when we're done is being as quiet as possible. Now, certainly it's through a lot of drill work. how do we get them there? I think it's I think it's through a lot of repetition and a lot of discussing and a lot of understanding. Because, you know, I think all catchers really have to understand what they're doing, but I I appreciate that maybe a little bit more on the softball side of things, girls really want to know the why behind everything. And so we talk about not having any upper body movement because that can give the illusion of too much movement for the umpire. So what we talk about often is is thinking mostly moving your shoulder to to to get to the corners and and to the low pitches. But how we get there, I've never really been asked how we get there. I think it's just starting off with the understanding of of being as quiet as possible. Now there's different drills that I could discuss and you know that that really promotes being as stationary as possible, but it's it's a focus point from the beginning. And, you know, whether we're Doing drills or catching off machine or catching bullpen sessions, we talk about it nonstop. And just one more layer to what we do at Bridgewaters, we have a bullpen accountability chart too. So it's not just what happens in a game. and it's mostly used in the fall, but that can get a little rough because we're still learning, especially incoming. But then once we pick things up at the end of January and into February, that's when, you know, when we're catching bullpen and we're already starting to mark those good moves, bad moves. So that's a long answer to just basically saying that it happens consistently and almost daily.
Rob D.: Love it. Love it.
Bobby Humphrey: So I'm gonna I'm gonna tell this story a little bit again for the listeners. A couple years ago, I coached as a temporary coach for the Charlottesville Tomsacks of the Valley Baseball League. I was a temporary coach because the other coaches were still in the junior college world series. And again, this is baseball. Had three catchers, one from Clemson, Auburn, and Virginia Tech. And I, you know, we're just doing stuff before the season started and working them out. And I said, who do you think the best catcher was? And I hate that I forgot his name. He's a kid out of Miami. This kid from Clemson, who also may have just gotten called up to the Guardians, by the way, he said you didn't know he was back there. Now,
Rob D.: Mm-hmm.
Bobby Humphrey: if I could have that like in our dugout or tattooed on the girls' heads or or you know, whatever, it's so they could see it all the time. You don't know you're back there. So I think. Just that mindset of we need to be again as quiet as possible. Too much movement is counterproductive. So you don't know you're back there. We hit that all.
Rob D.: so a lot of times on the show someone will say something and I'm like, I'm getting that engraved in stone. That's another one right there. He I didn't know
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah, right. Yep.
Rob D.: he was back there. and I think the listeners will know this as well. When you mean quiet back there, you didn't know they were back there, it's from the perspective of the umpire versus catchers pretty much their one of their roles is because they can see the defense is is going out and being vocal in softball and calling out plays,
Bobby Humphrey: So you're talking about literally being verbal.
Rob D.: A verbal leader on the field. Yeah. Right.
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah, well, no, we we certainly want that any any age, from yeah, from youth to yeah, and thank you. Cause again, I have to recognize sometimes people don't always understand the jargon. I'm firing out so quickly. we we want to be loud and and certainly authentic. it's gotta be authentic, not fake, and you can kind of see right through that. but yes, we we need to have a leader. And you know, a lot of times The catcher's call quarterback of the team. And I and I think sometimes that can be misconstrued. Truly known what that means. To me, it's about the mannerisms, the demeanor, and and and how we, for lack of better terms, control ourselves and the pitcher, not necessarily the verbal, but yeah, you know, we need to have loud catchers, no doubt about it. So but being quiet receiving just means lack of body movements, as as as few body movements as possible.
Rob D.: Perfect. Love that. Yeah, yeah. That's why I just wanted to get that clarity out there 'cause I knew that was your what you meant. But just sometimes if a younger player might be
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah.
Rob D.: li listening and not kind of understanding. So perfect, love it.
Bobby Humphrey: Hundred percent. And I love that you're not only catching that, but but delving a little bit deeper because that that's important that everybody understands.
Rob D.: so y you mentioned catcher, quarterback kind of. it seems like they're more of an extension extension of the coaching staff. I mean
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah. Yeah.
Rob D.: there's been many great coaches, w whether it's college, major leagues, whatever, that have been catchers. It's usually like catchers and shortstops make the make the best coaches. Coach Bobby, you played college baseball at Spring Arbor University, but you've spent a significant time coaching softball at Bridgewater. What was the biggest culture shock or technical adjustment you had to make when tailoring your catching logic to fast pitch softball?
Bobby Humphrey: I guess what I what I notice as one of the biggest differences is our secondary stances, the runners on base. Baseball players are now for the most part staying on one knee and then there's a shift and it's a timing mechanism for the transfer to the throw, all of that. Whereas mostly softball players are if they remain one knee down, they're not going to have that shift as baseball players can because they can see the runner going, of course. Baseball Catchers have much more time to be instinctive than softball catchers do. But, you know, as I was looking at this question, mechanical adjustments and, you know, the differences, I think it begins with stance. And and and so what I'm talking about here is is I still see on the softball side of things very faulty secondary stances. And again, for people listening, secondary stance is when there's runners on base. And you know, when I came up, it was pretty old school, get your butt way up and your hand in front of the or behind the glove, and it was very, very uncomfortable. But what I'm still seeing quite often really at camps and even when I see video of of girls working with coaches is they're upright. So what I'm saying by this is basically their knees are at a ninety degree angle, so their butt is way up. And and I I guess there's this false understanding, this false idea that that's going to be quicker. So that's where my head went when I was looking at this question. So a secondary stance should be very, very subtle. But the number one thing that I'm getting at here is when you're when your butt is that high up and your knees are at a 90 degree angle, you're impeding the ability to focus on the most important part of the zone when receiving, and that's low. We can't drop down to receive the low pitches. We have to make sure that we maintain our thumb under the ball. But also, you know, I see this and people don't understand that that's slower. Well, and I think there's this idea that if I'm upright, I can be quicker, but that's not true. Because if I'm in that sort of 90 degree position, all my my upper body is essentially falling forward. And what that's going to do is create long feet and a long throw. If that's making sense. And anything long or sorry, and yeah, anything long is slow. Anything short is quick. So if anyone's listening and maybe have their catchers doing this, just please understand that that upright position. takes away the ability to receive and it's actually much slower throwing to second base.
Rob D.: what is it about the s the softball that just makes you just like, my gosh, this is so great?
Bobby Humphrey: I think girls generally have a better learning posture, especially when you when you when they know the why. And that's what I thrive off of as a coach. I want them to know why we're doing every single drill. So I think the fact that that typically girls want that, and that's a strength of mine. I think it's just it's kind of a good match. but you know, I love the game. It moves fast. you know, you're you're in and out of a game in an hour and a half to two hours. There's not a lot of slow parts to the game. But honestly, you know, one of the things, and you know, I'll I'll say this. Sometimes I'm sitting in the dugout at Bridgewater in a game and just enjoying the moment with the girls. you know, we we've won more games than we've lost. but, you know, just the silliness and the passion in the dugout, how hard they work, the laughter, but also those very, very serious, those tight moments. I there's some times really that I'm sitting there just kind of looking around and just like, this is this is so awesome. It's it's really truly been a blessing you know, to be on the softball side of things. And I still dabble sometimes in baseball a little bit, worked with a couple of baseball players this summer, but it's just kind of where my heart ended up.
Rob D.: You wrote The Tools of Greatness, a book dedicated entirely to catching. What gap In traditional catching literature were you desperately trying to fill when you sat down to write it?
Bobby Humphrey: man. just to have a I think the gap was to have a resource. Now, this is before everybody came an expert on TikTok and social media.
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: So in terms of an instructional gap, I don't think there, I think that wasn't anything that was on the forefront of my mind. It was just to have an instructional resource for coaches, parents, and catchers to have to help them develop as catchers. But, you know, I just I kind of wanted to write a book when I was in college and and it just kind of came to fruition in 2013. And then I repeated it in 2015 as a second edition. And I just I just wanted to get the the tools in their hands. And then I'd similar to my second book, which is on hitting, I wrote that because I was just literally going to blast it for free to any coach that was willing to listen after watching, you know, little league practices and high school practices, things like that. Ended up being a full blown book too.
Rob D.: do you have the same philosophy when it comes to hitting as you do with catching? Like let the person be more of an individual rather than everybody must swing the same like a robot.
Bobby Humphrey: One hundred percent yes. you know, every everything in sports is is pretty much ground up, right? Feet up. And and hitting's no different. But yes. when I wrote the hitting book, I had a lot of great people help with excerpts that added to the book. from Derek May, who played in the majors in the nineties, I remember him very well when he was with the Cubs, to you know, different coaches around the country. And all of them really hit on that, that it's it's again, it's about the individual.
Rob D.: Okay. that no, that's that's awesome. I I I figured it was, but I I wanted to get your explanation on it because I I could listen to you talk forever. so I something on the catching, and at the end I'll ask your opinion. But the other day I was at the field and my daughter was on one field getting her catching lesson and I noticed on the other field that there was a another catcher over there and the dad who is also an assistant coach on her travel team. She was out there and she was a little discouraged. And I went over and I I gave her a l little bit of pep talk. Her name's Gabby Gonzalez. and I wanted to give her, Give us some pep because you you know what it's like when when dad's there, you know, they don't want to listen to dad, maybe
Bobby Humphrey: Yep.
Rob D.: they'll listen to somebody else. But so this all leads up to my question. She was she was a lefty, and th there was a girl from southeast Louisiana, I think she graduated this year, and her name is her first name is Sydney, and I can't remember her last name, but she she was everything you want in a catcher. She she would never walk anywhere. She was Constantly running and she was an incredible catcher. What is your thoughts and feelings on left handed catchers?
Bobby Humphrey: This is another fantastic question and I love it. I went on a rant on my catching Facebook page and and to make sure I hooked everybody, I s I said something along the lines of lefty catchers find new positions, because I knew that'd get everybody's attention, right? And I did. And no, I we I love lefty catchers. Look, if you if you have everything that you just described, I couldn't we could not care less. We have a lefty catcher right now that was a freshman this year, and she grew so much and she's fantastic. you know. I can't certainly predict the future, what's gonna happen, but I I am an advocate and on the side of lefty catchers all day, every day. You know, there were some that said, well, you know, throwing to third base might take them more time. Well, how many times are you gonna straight steal to third base? Not very much at all. But on a bunt or swing and miss, any back picks at first base are so much quicker. You're gonna throw to first base a lot more than third base. But again, if you can block, you can throw, you can catch, and you can lead. That's what we want. And I believe Florida had a lefty this year. Washington had a really good one a couple of years ago. Amanda Chittister, who's now a coach at Michigan, she was a lefty and an Olympian. Jenny Topping, who just got a co coaching position in California. She was an Olympian lefty. So I don't know why lefties are written off, but we will gladly accept them if they have what it takes.
Rob D.: Amen. Amen. I d her her and her dad will be glad to hear that. and that's and that's basically what what I was telling her. I'm like, don't let anybody tell you that you're at a d disadvantage
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah.
Rob D.: being a being a lefty catcher. You just you do you. So that's fantastic. Thank
Bobby Humphrey: Yep. Yep. Amen.
Rob D.: you for that.
Bobby Humphrey: Worse.
Rob D.: Look looking back at trajectory of your career, how would you summarize your personal mission statement?
Bobby Humphrey: My my person my personal mission statement. is to help girls unlock and realize their potential. I think that's I think that's really where it begins and ends. on the monetary side, I don't I don't collect a whole lot. I don't charge a whole lot. When I have girls and guys that are willing to put in the work, that's that's where it's at. And and I just want to help families and girls to reach their potential. That's I think that's really what it boils down to. I am incredibly passionate about, you know, not just the physical side of things, but the character side of things and and helping guide them and anything that I can do to help, whether it's recruiting or just straight up improving their catching skills.
Rob D.: We'll be right back with the seventh inning walk off. Welcome back, everybody, to the seventh inning walk-off. This is a trivia in an opinion game. We play with our guest. Bobby has agreed, maybe a little reluctantly, to play play with us. this game consists of seven questions, a couple opinion questions, mostly trivia questions. obviously each trivia question has one correct answer. And if it's a two part question, then you get two points. We call those runs. So the second run is an RBI, kind of the play on the whole softball theme. All
Bobby Humphrey: Okay.
Rob D.: right. So here we go. You ready, Bobby?
Bobby Humphrey: Yes, sir.
Rob D.: Okay. What year was Bridgewater College founded?
Bobby Humphrey: I don't feel I don't my gosh. I don't know. nineteen, eighteen, I don't.
Rob D.: not bad, eighteen eighty. Eighteen eighty close.
Bobby Humphrey: See, I was gonna I was gonna say eighteen ninety, but I wasn't it se that just seemed too early for me. But yeah, and it's it's literally on my classring So
Rob D.: Okay, for you can still get an RBI.
Bobby Humphrey: okay.
Rob D.: can you name the person that founded it? That founded the school.
Bobby Humphrey: man, no, I can't. My I I assume they're a free Methodist of some sort, but
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: no, I I I have no idea.
Rob D.: It was Daniel Christian Flory. I I I I take it there's
Bobby Humphrey: Okay, yeah.
Rob D.: probably no statues around campus of him.
Bobby Humphrey: No, and I do not recall the name at all. As my if my buddies listen to which they will if my buddies listen to this, I don't I don't think they'd get that either. So
Rob D.: Okay. All right. What is the three word tagline for the NCAA division three? Little hint, all words start with D.
Bobby Humphrey: Here's the thing, we're about to get a new coach. And if it is a new person and they have to interview me here and I don't know this,
Rob D.: Yeah.
Bobby Humphrey: three d dedication, determination and Am I right with those?
Rob D.: Dedicate. Dedicate's one of them. So it's discover, develop, dedicate.
Bobby Humphrey: I'm trying to Okay. Okay. Okay. All right. I was thinking of something that was along the lines of service, but anyway, so
Rob D.: yeah, that's I yeah. I I'm sorry. Sometimes I gotta r I gotta dig really deep for these questions because a a lot of the trivia questions that will come up will be like What's the distance between the bases and softball? You know, it's like sixty feet, you know what I mean? Okay, so this is an opinion question. Can't get this wrong. You're good. Okay.
Bobby Humphrey: Okay, that's good. Yeah.
Rob D.: and this could span across baseball, softball, whatever. Best catcher. Best catcher you ever saw.
Bobby Humphrey: see, this is an easy one. This should be like a home run. Yvonne Rodriguez. and I I did everything I could to emulate my game after him. Not, you know, I I never never had the ability to throw like him, of course, or hit or anything really, but just how he played the game, the energy that he had. I had a lot of heroes growing up. you know, certainly on the baseball side of things. I can talk about Mickey Tettleton and you know, Javi Lopez a little bit later, but Pud Rodriguez had his picture like like pasted on my desk. So a hundred percent.
Rob D.: So speaking speaking of that, my hero growing up was Carlton Fisk, who also went by Pudge Pudge Fisk. you went to Spring Arbor College in Michigan. Their mascot is the Cougar. How many schools in N A I A, including Spring Arbor, use the name Cougar Teams?
Bobby Humphrey: Honestly, don't know if I can name one. If I if I saw the school without the logo or without the mascot, I I I could probably identify it, I'll say thirty eight. No, that's too many for NAI. Twenty one.
Rob D.: Six.
Bobby Humphrey: Okay, see, okay here.
Rob D.: And then you already answered this. It was can you name any of the another school that uses Cougar? So the answer is Columbia College, Indiana University,
Bobby Humphrey: Okay.
Rob D.: Kokomo,
Bobby Humphrey: yeah.
Rob D.: Mount Vernon, Nazarene University.
Bobby Humphrey: See it, I should've got them. Should have got them. Yep.
Rob D.: Saint Xavier University and the University of Saint Francis.
Bobby Humphrey: Okay, yeah, and all of those yeah. All of those are similar and in the Midwest, to Spring Arbor. So
Rob D.: It's you know, it's it's it's easy it's hard to find questions. Yeah, it's it well it's it's easy for us to go, Wow I can't believe you you didn't get that. It's right there in front of us. But if if somebody
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah. Right, right.
Rob D.: asked that question about my alma mono when it was founded, I'd be like, I don't know. Yeah. I have no
Bobby Humphrey: Right.
Rob D.: idea. Okay. okay, here we go. I love this question. Okay. True or false? Johnny Bench often used the one knee down technique long before it was popularized in twenty twenty.
Bobby Humphrey: Just based on video that I have seen of him, I'm gonna say True
Rob D.: he did use it not not a ton, but they give him credit for being like one of the first guys to ever get down on that one knee. All right. Thisis an opinion question. Coach Humphrey, would you prefer winter in Michigan or summer in Florida?
Bobby Humphrey: my goodness. Everybody that knows me, if they hear this it's not even close. Winter in Michigan all day, every day.
Rob D.: nice. question number seven. Last one, Bobby. Who gets credit for inventing the catcher's mask?
Bobby Humphrey: Frederick Thayer.
Rob D.: Wow. Nice dude. Nice pull, bro. do you know where he went to college?
Bobby Humphrey: Can I have like a region?
Rob D.: Boston, Northeast.
Bobby Humphrey: Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Yale. Okay, okay, there we go.
Rob D.: Harvard. Harvard. Harvard. Nice. Awesome job, brother. Where'd it go? so again, I I I can't thank you enough for being here. This this has been a blast. Like I said, I could listen to you talk all day. I love your passion. I you know what the exact word I was just gonna be like, it's so clear that you are passionate about catchers and a passionate about what you do. And I think that's what's the most fun and refreshing is when we get to have a guest on that just as excited and passionate about what they do. And I know that that resonates more with the the folks out there and especially the young gals that are catchers is you know, hearing someone that's passionate about this topic. So sorry it didn't I cut you off. You're used to it though. Yeah, I am. I'm totally used to getting cut off. It's fine.
Bobby Humphrey: Huh.
Rob D.: I love what you said about lefty catchers. I love what you said about
Bobby Humphrey: I can use.
Rob D.: being quiet. I love how you explained the pup time. I think that this will help a a lot of players and parents kinda understand you know what college coaches are looking for and what they should be what
Bobby Humphrey: Yeah.
Rob D.: they should be working on at at
Bobby Humphrey: Right.
Rob D.: their lessons. and making sure you find the right catching coach that's that's gonna help you with those. so w when you do have like clinics lined up like you just had going through Michigan, do you have a website or is that just through IG or how do you how do you advertise that and what's the best way to be able to find you?
Bobby Humphrey: yes, I so yes, I have a website on my Facebook page pinned. but I'm just I don't actively seek travel. I would like to. I would like to do more. And honestly, I think it'd be beneficial to do more of a combined player and coaches clinic. Like the coaches gotta see this stuff too. Cause a girl walks away. after three hours or depending on what we do, all the way up to five hours, like like it's somebody's gotta be there to have the eye and to have the drills for to continue. So that's something I would like to do.
Rob D.: and what's the the name of your Facebook page? Is just Bobby Humphrey?
Bobby Humphrey: Bobby Humphrey catching. My private page, of course, is Bobby Humphrey, but the Facebook catching page is Bobby Humphrey Catching.
Rob D.: and what's your X handle?
Bobby Humphrey: Humphrey underscore Bobby.
Rob D.: all this information, folks, will will be in the show notes and during the the video portion of this we'll we'll have it flashed on the screen as well. it was just a really great getting to know you, talking to you, and hearing everything. I wanted to encourage everyone as well. can people find your book, The Tools of Greatness and Hitting Home with Fundamental Purpose Intent? Is is that on Amazon?
Bobby Humphrey: is. It's on Amazon, yes. Or they both are on Amazon, yes.
Rob D.: so once again, Bobby, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for being here. It was it was fantastic.
Bobby Humphrey: Thank guys very much. That was a great conversation and I was glad to share certainly some of that passionate energy.
