Good-natured teasing goes on all of the time. Houston relief pitcher Scott Elarton steps into the cage and hits a few balls. The ball soars into the outfield, but then it suddenly dies and falls harmlessly to the turf. Elarton laughs and walks away. I would want him to see the guys running around and joking.
Batting practice is divided into areas.
One area is where the BP pitcher throws to batters, another area is for players to take infield and a third is where a coach hits balls to outfielders. All of this is going on at the same time with four screens strategically placed on the field to protect fielders from errant line drives. The coach hitting balls to the outfield uses what is called a fungo bat, thinner and lighter than the normal bat, and he might hit as many as 300 balls during each batting practice. You don't have to swing it very hard and the ball jumps off this bat pretty good. One of the hardest working people in these pre-game warmups is the pitching coach.