The game within the game

originally published 4/2/09...

In my opinoin, baseball may be the greatest game ever invented. It is the only sport in which the offense does not have possession of the ball. Sure, the games can long and sometimes boring, but by looking closely at what is happening; by watching the players move around the infield and outfield depending on the pitch count, inning, batter and weather and game conditions, you will see a lot more than you ever thought possible. Talent alone will not make you great. A true understanding of the game and a desire to get better every day is what will make you stand out. There's a reason someone like Greg Maddux played 23 years in professional baseball, and was one of the games most dominating pitchers winning 4 consecutive Cy Young Awards and 18 Gold Gloves. Maddux had an uncanny understanding of what it took to play the game of baseball the right way and how to mentally and physically get himself ready every year. He read scouting reports on batters and knew how to pitch to them, worked on his control and pitched to both sides of the plate, something that has become a lost art. I remember being in little league and my coaches telling me that the inside corner was mine; that it belonged to the pitcher. Ask any great pitcher from any era and he will tell you that in order to maintain success in the bigs, you have to have command of both sides of the plate. But why did so many pitchers stop throwing inside? How did the inside corner slowly become a dead zone to throw to? I think there are some logical reasons why this happened... For starters, major league hitters are wearing more body equipment when hitting than ever before. Then they crowd the plate, sometimes hanging over the inside corner because they know if they do get hit their armour will protect them from serious injury. At the same time, if a pitcher does throw inside the batters stare them down like a school kid whose momma was just insulted. Aluminum bats also play a part in this. I can hear some of you now, "But Poljak, they don't use aluminum bats in the pros." I know, but they are used at the high school and college level. They deter a pitcher from going inside because a bloop hit can still be had by a good pitch in on the hands of a hitter, but because of the aluminum bat they are able to muscle the ball over the infield just enough. It's frustrating to give up so many bloops and pitchers gradually stop going inside to get their outs and try other ways to retire hitters, be it off speed pitches or whatever. But pitchers like Maddux and and Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton knew that they had to pitch inside to win, and win they did.