Poets, novelists and Playwrights have been writing for the last century about a great muse. This inspiration is the game of baseball.
It is a resource for writers that can never be drained. It always keeps giving and giving and never seems to empty. The reason it can never run out is because baseball continues to remind us how life is, was and will continue to be.
I am going to attempt to shed a little light on the intricate plays of baseball and somehow relate them to life.
This entry is dedicated to pitching patterns.
I recently watched a pitching machine throw a no hitter. I’m not kidding. A pitching machine was set up on the field of a high school practice. All the fielders were in their normal spots. The pitching machine was set up to throw outside fastballs to right handers and inside fastballs to left handers. The machine was set up at a normal speed for a high school hitter.
I saw balls put in play and fielders making plays, but in the end I saw one team get four hits and the other team get no hit.
It got me thinking about the way we pitch and possibly why we over think or outsmart ourselves. A fast ball is and always will be the best pitch in baseball. If a pitcher can locate a ball on the outer half and let his defense work for him, success is usually close.
I saw balls hit hard and line drives that were caught. I saw a defense that were ready to make the next play. I also think the pitching machine threw about 50 pitches in seven inning game.
A fifty pitch no hitter in a high school practice. This made me realize that as pitchers, sometimes the most effective way to pitch is simply just stick with what works. Pitchers often feel that they have to be perfect and show all their pitches to every hitter. Throw the fastball away, change up down, curveball away, fastball up and in and finish with a curveball away.
Sometimes this pitch sequence is needed but sometimes a good located fastball is all pitcher needs. If the pitcher is getting outs with fastballs then stick with the fastball until the offense makes the adjustment. Don’t show everything unless you have to. Stick to what works.
Be brave enough to realize simplicity is the first sign of genius. Overthinking and overpitching is not a sign of genius, it is a sign of overthinking. If the fastball away is getting the hitting the hitters to roll over, swing through it and loft fly balls to the right side then stick with the fastball away.
Throw a curveball, changeup, a ball inside, or up and in to mix up timing and eye levels if the situation arises but don’t feel like you have to change just to change.
In life I feel like we feel like we have to show everything all the time. Here are all my toys, here are all my books, and here are all my games. Sometimes it becomes overwhelming and the child does not enjoy the first game, toy or game.
I have seen a three year old operate an IPAD like an experienced adult because the beauty of the IPAD is its simplicity. Keep it simple.
If a strategy works then why change. If a pitch works then why change. Fastball away is and always will be a good pitch.