Forrest Pitching101 COACH BURKETT : SESSION #1

Pitching is Mental  “People think I’m smart? You know what makes you smart? Locate your fastball down and away. That’s what makes you smart. Ask any of the greats like Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, or Tom Seaver. They’ll all tell you the same thing. It’s not your arm that makes you a great pitcher. Its that thing between both of your ears we call a brain.” – Greg Maddux

Managing a Baseball Game  If you watch baseball enough, two things typically happen:  1. One team scores more runs in ONE SINGLE INNING than the other team scored throughout the ENTIRE ballgame OR…  2. The winning team has put together 3 or more runs in one inning.  Discussion: As pitchers, how do we combat this?

Breaking a Baseball Game Down  For high school purposes, I believe we can break down a single game into three mini-games:  1. (Innings 1-3) is GAME ONE  2. (Innings 4-6) is GAME TWO  3. (Inning 7) is GAME THREE  In my opinion, you have to win two out of the three of those games. If you do, most of the time you will win.  This is where game management comes into play…

Example: We’re up 1-0 and the leadoff batter hits a shot off the wall for a leadoff triple …  What is our strategy here if it is Game ONE?  What is our strategy here if it is GAME TWO?  How does our strategy CHANGE here if it is GAME THREE?  How would our strategy change in general?

RECAP: Leadoff Triple  Obviously we would love to stop this guy from scoring, but the odds are with no outs, he will get in 82% of the time.  Instead of trying to stop him from scoring, we need to use damage control, and trade the run for an out in order to clear the bases.  Why do we do this?  If we can do that, then our team is staying away from “THE 3 RUN INNING”. If we stay away from “THE 3 RUN INNING” we will always be in the ballgame.  How many times have you seen pitchers give up a triple and then try to stop the runner from scoring as he presses? Next thing we know, he has loaded the bases with no outs. That leads to the 3-run inning. Whether by walks or base hits, the more we press, the more problems we have. Trade the run for the out with the bases now clear, then we move on from there = Damage Control.

Greg Maddux Story #1  Maddux has been credited by many of his teammates with a superior ability to outthink his opponents and anticipate results. Braves catcher Eddie Perez tells the story of how Maddux intentionally allowed a home run to the Astros Jeff Bagwell, in anticipation of facing Bagwell in the playoffs months later.  In Maddux’s opinion, he felt like Bagwell would instinctively look for the same pitch again, which Maddux would then refuse to throw.  In that year’s playoff series with the Braves, Bagwell then went 0-8 versus Maddux with 6 strikeouts over the course of two separate games…

Greg Maddux Story #2  On another occasion while sitting on the bench, Maddux once told his teammates, “Watch this, we might need to call an ambulance for the first base coach.”  The batter, Los Angeles’ Jose Hernandez, drove the very next pitch into the chest of the Dodger’s first base coach.  Maddux had noticed that Hernandez, who’d been pitched inside by Braves pitching during the series, had shifted his batting stance slightly open.  Maddux had done so much research over the Dodger’s lineup that he could read exactly where the ball would react if he placed his pitch exactly where he wanted it…

Greg Maddux Story #3  On another occasion, a former teammate, outfielder Marquis Grissom, recalled a game in 1996 when Maddux was having trouble spotting his fastball.  Between innings, Greg told Marquis, “Gary Sheffield is coming up next inning. I am going to throw him a slider and make him just miss it so he hits it to the warning track.  With a runner on second base, and two outs, Gary Sheffield then hit the first pitch he saw to the warning track right to Marquis Grissom for the third out.  When Grissom asked how Maddux knew that Sheffield would do that, Maddux’s reply was simple. He smiled and said, “Gary has been swinging at the first pitch since he was in Little League. Its just my job to give him something that he keeps in the ball park.”

Greg Maddux Story #4  Early in the 2000 season, Maddux was asked by sportswriter Bob Nightengale what had been the most memorable at-bat of his pitching career. Maddux said it was striking out Dave Martinez to end a regular season game.  Nightengale was surprised Maddux hadn’t picked a postseason game, or a more famous player. Maddux then explained:  “I remember that one because he got a hit off me in the same situation (full count, bases loaded, two out in the 9 th inning) seven years earlier. I told myself if I ever got in the same situation again, I’ll pitch him differently. It took me seven damn years, but I finally got him…”  So why do we study or listen to these stories about Greg Maddux?

Learning How Hitters Hit  Maddux was increasingly successful using a strategy I like to call “reverse teaching”  I want you to be able to understand how a hitter hits both mechanically and mentally.  If a guy is going to hunt a deer, what does he do? He studies the habits of a deer.  If he goes duck hunting, he studies the patterns and the habits of the duck.  It is important for you to realize little things like “How does the hitter get into the box? How to look for any sign of a breakdown in their swing?  This was what made Greg Maddux so good. He was very good at reading subtle changes in a hitter’s body. He knew when a guy was seeing the ball well, when he was struggling, and how to approach every hitter in every lineup.

Maddux Videos  

Next Lesson: Mixing up Linear Pitches  In our next lesson, we will study how to mix speeds and still be successful. You may remember from last week’s bullpen sessions that I started asking you to think about the linear path in which most of your pitches were traveling…  This is specific with the changeup, 2 seam Fastball, and curveball.  Think about a circle change. As a right handed pitcher, what is its naturally movement? To tail to the right. Do you have the guts to throw a 1-3 to a left handed batter?