Pitching Drills Part 1

THE PITCHER

Little need be said of the relative value of a pitcher to his team. To any one who knows baseball at all, this value is quite apparent. Other things being equal, the team with the best pitcher usually wins. And yet how few people know just what constitutes good pitching! To the average spectator, a man seems to be a good pitcher if he has lots of speed and good curves. But to a close student of the game it becomes at once apparent that a first-class pitcher must have a fast ball (and generally a curve), a slow ball, and control. The last-named qualification is the vitally important one.

Control

And yet how few pitchers to-day can define the word control! The significance of the word pitcher to them is that he is one of nine men occupying a definite position in the game of baseball. He works by prearranged signals with the catcher, who may—for illustration—use one finger for a fast ball and two fingers for a curve ball. We will grant that the pitcher has an abundance of speed and good curves; if the catcher signals for the fast ball, it is thrown, high or low, over the centre of the plate or wide—it does not seem to matter much to the pitcher—he has pitched a fast ball since it was called for. The same thing is often true of the curve ball. And the majority of pitchers to-day are satisfied to let it go at that! How often one hears the remark, "He has everything in the box to-day; yet the opposing batters are hitting the ball all over the field," and again, "He has a thousand-dollar arm and a five-cent head."

These pitchers think that control means placing every ball that they throw right over the heart of the base, waist-high. That is exactly what it does not mean. Strictly speaking, control means that ability in a pitcher which enables him (after studying the batter) to throw that ball which the batter cannot hit safely—always placing it either high or low (at the shoulders or knees) and either on the inside or outside corner of the base, avoiding the waist-high ball over the centre of the base.

Study the batsman as he takes his position to hit. In delivering the fast ball, try to place it at what is the batter's weakest point. And in pitching the curve, try to break it low; that is the only safe and successful place to break it.

How often the remark is heard that " He hasn't a thing but a glove!" and yet this same pitcher may be a consistent winner. But study him well, and it will be found that he has two of the greatest assets—namely, brains and control: brains to note and remember a batter's weakness, and the control to pitch to it.

The pitcher, on those days when he is not pitching, should study the batters from the bench. This will enable him to pick out the various batters' weaknesses, and he can use the knowledge thus gained when he is in the box. While in the game, remember the balls which the various batters hit successfully—and try something else on them the next time they are at bat. If you find that during the game you are being hit freely, stop and try to "think out" what the trouble is; and the chances are you will find that you have been putting the ball over the middle of the base, breaking your curves high, or giving the batters just what they like. Stop and think! Do not become enraged and try to drive the ball past the batter's club, because "the faster they come, the farther they will go" (unless you mix a little brains with your speed). In these days when everybody has the art of curving the ball the successful pitcher depends to a great extent upon a change of pace; that is, the alternating of fast balls with curves and slow balls. This change of pace will do more than anything else to prevent being hit freely.