A Pitchers mistake may sound a little corn ball but a pitcher has more important things to concentrate on rather than the strike out.. There is some reasoning behind this bold statement which is counter to all the training a pitcher has received. Bear with me and I will try my level best to provide the logic and reason for such a contradictory statement.

First and foremost let us define the concept of a team. A baseball team is made up of nine defensive players. Should the pitcher be the sole team player to win a game? The answer is obvious. No he is not. Let us quit trying to make the pitcher be or do something that is impossible by winning the game striking out ever hitter who comes to the plate.

Speak with and talk true baseball strategy with any professional level coach,player or team owner and most will agree that the middle fielders are the glue which makes defensive baseball plays. They are the money players, straight-up-the middle pitcher-2nd baseman-shortstop-center fielder. Play well here at these spots and your winning percentage improves.

The pitcher starts the play but he must depend upon his on the field defending backup fielding teammates to deliver the goods making consistent plays for the put outs.

There is chatter in the infield when talking to their pitcher which goes something like this, “Make him leave there running.” The interpretation of this is, “come on pitch put it in there”, make him hit the ball, we are out here to make the put outs. For goodness sakes, do not walk the batter allowing him a free pass.

A pitcher needs to firmly fix into his mind and mental make-up the abiding thought that there will be a tomorrow. What will a pitcher gain by being the hero today while striking out batter after batter during this game? Longevity at his trade with superb to excellent career wins? Pitching control, not this flash and neon lights of strike outs, is where his mind set should be instead of the soon to come worn out pitching arm trying to make every batter a strike out victim.

This longevity thing for all young pitchers should be a prime consideration along with also accepting the game as a play of teammates and teamwork.

The critical and most important thing for a pitcher is to have complete mastery of CONTROL where his pitch crosses that home plate.. Remember the strike zone is across that plate, which is an exact 17 inches wide plus across the chest at the arm pit and down to the top of the knees, which is about 30 inches. This box or window, 17″ by 30″ is where the pitcher needs to control every pitch and work the ball into that box or window coming as close to the corners or the outside edges of that imaginary window as possible

A pitchers mindset and thoughts should be a pure concentration of control and placement of the pitch (Forget The Strike Out Mindset). Strike outs will come by the bushels when based strictly on control pitching.

A young boy or girl, with the gleam in their eye, wanting to be a pitcher needs to train with the concentration of a monastery monk with total fixation on the art of placing that ball toward the fringe of that box/window. The trained habit of body movement, arm and body motion in synchronized action, should always be in perfect harmony with arm reach and leg kick .

If the cardinal rule for pitchers is CONTROL then the next rule is never, never ever aim the throw. A pitcher is only a pitcher if he has the ability to fling that ball using his trained body action to routinely rock back, come forward and let that apple find its way home.

In essence learn to get into the groove with a natural consistent use of the legs, the whole body weight and the full extension of the pitching arm allowing the action, This must become a learned automatic muscle body motion, which allows for that steady and consistent pitching CONTROL we so desperately seek.

One small piece of advice is learn to flick the wrist just at the precise second the ball leaves those finger tips. What did you say do? I said to flick the wrist. Since my pitching experience is limited being definitive into the nuances of pitching escapes me; however, I have been led to believe the flick of the cocked wrist upon the release adds the zip to the speed of the ball.

The relentless day in and day out repetitive practicing of throwing to gain a fixation of body motion and concentration of precise powerful swing of the pitching arm, while the reach and extension with accurate ball release, will make it all happen.

Now I have painted a word picture of what the purpose of the pitcher is to be. Practice to the point where every pitch goes consistently into that imaginary window. There is no talk about throwing at 90+ miles per hour or making the ball curve, or slide, or drop, or doing any of the things we hear so much about .

The true art of pitching is in the ability to control where the pitch ends up going across home plate. A pitcher with control mastery in his delivery of every pitch in his talent arsenal is a guaranteed winning pitcher. Throwing what we call smoke and dippy do curve balls is all part of the arsenal the pitcher uses from his ammunition cache.

So many words for us to come to this one point which is the heart and soul of every good pitcher. CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL. All else is simply the beautiful icing or frosting on the cake.

Now come back with me to what we used as the title of this lesson Strike Outs—Could Be A Pitchers Mistake. A pitcher out there on the pitchers mound toeing the rubber, pitch after pitch, with control of every pitch at his command need not even think about striking out the batter. Pitching with control puts the pitcher at the advantage over the batter. The batter in the batter box has only split second timing to find what part ot the window the little white baseball is going to come ducking into. The pitcher knows where he wants his pitch to be .

Where the pitch is to be thrown is always into the studied weak area of the hitter standing in the batters box. Coaches , catchers and the pitcher have observed and studied the habits and hitting capability of most every player they face in games. The bottom line result is the pitcher has handcuffed the hitter by pitching strikes to the weakness of the hitter.

The hitter will often hit the ball into play, but he does not smash the ball and hit blue darters. He will more consistently hit lazy pop ups or easy grounders which the fielding defense handles with ease.

Now you see the wisdom of a pitcher using his concentration and control of pitches is worth more than thinking strike outs. The cardinal rule of any game of sport is it is a team effort which makes for winning.

Batter Up—-Let’s Play Ball…. is a signature statement of Major Wiley B. Channell USMC (ret) an Introduction to the concept of baseball farming which includes ideas on strategies, training, and winning! at: http://www.baseballfarming.com

Major Wiley B. Channell USMC (ret) invites you to come visit and learn the five essential elements of Hitting A Baseball at: http://www.baseballfarming.com/HittingABaseball.html

Talk baseball at http://www.baseballfarming.com/ShowAndTell.html this is your contact to us with an opportunity to do some of your baseball talk.