Author Archive: David Laurila

In Part Two of the 1980s pitching roundtable, the panel discusses pitching inside, and the strike zone. Part One appeared yesterday.

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1980s PITCHING ROUNDTABLE [Part Two]: BUD BLACK, DANNY DARWIN, MIKE FLANAGAN, GREG MADDUX, JON MATLACK AND BOB WALK.

ON PITCHING INSIDE TO INTIMIDATE HITTERS:

Bud Black: I don’t know if “intimidate” is the right word; I don’t know if there’s more. I think there’s still as much pitching inside today as there was, but back then there wasn’t as much hullabaloo if you did. Now the hitters make a bigger deal of it. You didn’t have that same reaction back in the ‘80s.

Danny Darwin: I think that pitchers pitched inside more in the 80s than they do today and a lot of that stems from if you throw a ball inside today, it seems like you get a warning. The players policed the game themselves back then. At least for me, I don’t know if the guys were maybe more hard-nosed, but you know — you have brawls nowadays, but back then the players policed themselves. We hit a guy, you hit a guy, and it’s over with. I think it’s just the nature of the game.

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Was it different pitching in the 1980s than it is today? If so, just how different and in which ways? In a two-part roundtable, six prominent pitchers from that decade — three right-handers and three left-handers who won a combined 1,044 big-league games — address topics that will help answer those questions.

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1980s PITCHING ROUNDTABLE [Part One]: BUD BLACK, DANNY DARWIN, MIKE FLANAGAN, GREG MADDUX, JON MATLACK AND BOB WALK.

ON PITCHER USAGE, INNINGS, AND PITCH COUNTS:

Bud Black: I don’t recall pitch counts being as prevalent as they are now. In my starts, in the 1980s, I was never told how many pitches I threw. I didn’t know and it wasn’t important to me. I’m sure that the pitching coaches knew, but it wasn’t common knowledge in the press box and in the newspapers like it is now. I think that starting pitchers felt as though they wanted to throw nine innings; the goal was to throw a complete game. Back then, I used to say that the biggest satisfaction I had was to complete a game that we won, and that was the mindset of guys who were embedded in a starting rotation. You were expected to take the game into the seventh, eighth or ninth innings, and if by performance or tiredness — if you were running out of gas — in came the closer. In our case, in Kansas City, it was Dan Quisenberry, who would go one-plus inning, two-plus innings, or just the ninth. It was the same around the league with guys like Gossage, Righetti, and the other closers in the age who were multiple-innings guys.

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Darwin Barney is a throwback middle infielder, and to the surprise of many, a Rookie-of-the-Year candidate. The 25-year-old Oregon State product came into spring training battling for a backup position, but instead established himself as the Cubs everyday second baseman. His skill set is more Glenn Beckert [fans under the age of 40 may need to look him up] than Starlin Castro, but there is nothing wrong with being scrappy when you’re hitting .297 and playing quality defense. In Barney’s opinion, there is also nothing wrong with following instructions from Carlos Zambrano. As for the infield surface of Wrigley Field…well, the youngster is a fan of historic ballparks.

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David Laurila: This year’s Baseball America Prospect Handbook says of you: “He isn’t flashy, but he’s the best defensive infielder in the organization, including the majors.” Do you agree with that?

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One year ago tomorrow, Chris Sale nervously awaited word on where he would begin his professional career. The Florida Gulf Coast left-hander didn’t have to wait long to find out, as the White Sox called his name with the 13th overall pick of the amateur draft. A mere two months later he became the first player in his draft class to reach the big leagues, debuting on August 6 and going on to log four saves and a 1.93 ERA in 21 appearances. The 22-year-old native of Lakeland, Florida sat down to talk about the whirlwind experience of Draft Day, and the process that surrounds it.

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David Laurila: You were drafted out of high school, by the Rockies in 2007, but didn’t sign. Why?

Chris Sale: I had a lot more to learn. Both physically and mentally, I just wasn’t mature enough to go out on my own and start living my own life. I really liked the school that I was going to, and felt that it was a better opportunity than starting my professional career. It was a big decision. I talked it over with my family, and my coaches, and everyone came to the same decision, which was that three or four years of college would be better than starting right then and there.

DL: How different was the scouting process the second time around?

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When Mark Buehrle takes the mound tonight, against the Tigers, he may or may not throw an indoor sinker to a right-handed hitter, which he recently did for the first time in several years. He might also throw a cut changeup, although it would be by accident rather than by design. Both pitches could come from either side of the rubber, as could the game’s best pickoff move, which Buehrle admits may reasonably be defined as a balk. The crafty lefty may also throw his third career no-hitter, or second perfect game, and he would do so following a simpler approach than you might imagine.

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David Laurila: What is your approach on the mound?

Mark Buerhle: I just get the sign from the catcher and try to make the best pitch I can, to the best location. I’ve never been a guy who studies film or goes over scouting reports. I go with my catcher, and Coop [pitching coach Don Cooper] usually sits down with us and goes over the game plan beforehand. For the most part, I figure that the less that’s on my mind when I’m out there — if I’m not thinking about, and worrying about, what to throw to guys — the better off I’m going to be.

I have four pitches that I have confidence in, and I’ll throw almost all of them in any count, in any situation. I feel that if I make a quality pitch, sometimes it’s going to be a hit, but a lot of times I’m going to get an out. Who’s to say…if I’m thinking of throwing a fastball to a certain guy, and A.J. [Pierzynski] calls for a changeup, why am I right over him? I just take it as, “Hey, whichever pitch you throw down, I’ll try to throw it to the best location, the best spot, and see what happens.”

DL: You’ve worked with A.J. for a long time. What if it’s a catcher you don’t know very well?

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It is common knowledge that starting pitchers take the mound every five games, but what happens between starts isn’t as widely know. A lot of work goes into those days between starts, and it typically happens within the parameters of a set routine. The routine itself can differ from pitcher to pitcher, but for almost everyone, it includes a bullpen session. Tigers right-hander Max Scherzer, and his pitching coach, Rick Knapp, talked about their respective approaches to getting ready for day five.

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David Laurila: Max, what do you do on the day after a start?

Max Scherzer: For me, the next day is one of the hardest-working days to get my body right. I’ll do a total body lift, lifting every major area. I’ll exercise my legs, back, chest, arms — kind of the whole nine yards. Then I’ll go out and run for awhile, trying to get as tired as I can. Throwing is very minimal. I just kind of loosen up, getting the arm moving to get ready for my pen the next day.

DL: Rick, what do you expect from a pitcher in his bullpen session?

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Adrian Gonzalez is a student of hitting, which should come as no surprise given that he is one of the game’s premier sluggers. The left-handed-hitting first baseman has a career slash line of .288/.369/.510, and this season he’s been even better. In his first 50 games with the Red Sox, he’s hitting a superstar-caliber .337/.385/.553.

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David Laurila: Is hitting simple or is it complicated?

Adrian Gonzalez: “Hitting is simple. We make it complicated. We look into mechanics and a lot of different things that could be wrong, instead of simplifying everything by staying back and letting our hands go to the ball. In this profession, because of how good the pitchers are, it’s hard not to look at a lot of different things.

“Getting hits is extremely hard. Swinging, just getting up there and hitting, and doing the right mechanics, that’s what I’m saying is simple. But when you put in all of the equations, like the pitcher on the mound and the defense that’s behind him, that’s what makes it complicated.”

DL: What role do hitting coaches play for you?

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Marlon Byrd won’t be facing live pitching in the near future, having suffered multiple facial fractures when hit by an errant Alfredo Aceves fastball on Saturday. When he does get back into action, he’ll go back to following a detailed routine that has served him well. The 33-year-old Cubs outfielder is a .294 hitter over the past four-plus seasons, and was hitting .308 at the time of the injury.

Prior to Saturday’s game, Byrd sat down to talk about how he prepared to face Florida’s Chris Volstad earlier in the week, and the results of each at bat.

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Byrd, on preparing for the game: “My pre-game preparation stays the same; nothing changes. I go in and do my one-hand drills, which I’ve been doing since 2003. I started that with Bobby Abreau. I’m seeing the ball coming right at me when I’m doing my flips. First I start with my two-hand swing, with a short bat to make sure the ball gets close to me, then I go to a one-hand drill to make sure my bottom hand is where it should be.

“Everything in the beginning is with a short bat. The reason you use a short bat is because the longer the bat is, the further your hands can go and you can still hit the ball. If you do that with a short bat, you won’t even hit it, so it teaches you to keep your hands inside the ball. It makes sure that your hands stay close to your chest, going to the ball, which helps you stay inside the ball when you swing.

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Justin Masterson and Chris Perez are having success against American League hitters — Masterson is 5-2, 2.52; Perez has 10 saves — but what would happen if they went up against a lineup of Indians legends? How would they pitch to the likes of Napoleon Lajoie and Rocky Colavito? The Cleveland right-handers tackled that question head on, often with tongues firmly in cheek, prior to a recent game.

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David Laurila: Shoeless Joe Jackson is playing left field and leading off. How do you go after him?

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Throughout much of sabermetric cyberspace, The Beauty of Short Hops: How Chance and Circumstance Confound the Moneyball Approach to Baseball, is being panned, its co-authors, Alan and Sheldon Hirsch, labeled as backwards-thinking ignoramuses [and worse]. Some of the criticism is merited — the book certainly has its flaws — but looking at its content objectively, it is also necessary to ask: Do the authors make some valid points? In this interview, Alan Hirsch defends, and clarifies, several of them.

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David Laurila: The first chapter of the book is, “Where Moneyball Went Wrong.” Why do you feel that Moneyball — most commonly defined as “identifying undervalued assets in baseball (often through the use of statistical analysis)” — is a failed approach?

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