Catching Greg Maddux with your Eyes Closed
How good is Greg Maddux’ accuracy and control? Good enough for San Diego Padres bullpen catcher Ben Risinger to attempt catching a pitch from Maddux with his eyes closed. If you think it’s easy, consider this:
A catcher’s mitt is roughly 33 inches in circumference. To be caught, the ball must hit an area that is roughly one-third the size of the mitt. A regulation major league baseball has a diameter of roughly 2.9 inches. We’re not talking about throwing a strike here; we’re talking about hitting the palm of a hand from 60 feet 6 inches away.
It took three times, but Risinger successfully nabbed one blindly. Impressive indeed.