Ball Four

           You have thrown every pitch exactly where you want it. First pitch strike. An offspeed pitch has him out front and it’s now 1-2, the scales tipping in your favor.  You feel the strikeout humming in the back of your mind. Your catcher is on the same page and puts down the fingers you wanted to see. Nodding in agreement, you feel a rhythm, drive forward and fire. The ball feels like it explodes out of your hand and the pitch is on its way, low outside fastball headed into the glove. But the glove never pops, and your focus is broken by a piece of wood that slaps across the plate and directs your best laid plans into the stands over the dugout sending fans sprawling out of harms way. Great. A work of strikeout art ruined by a half swing, like a streak of spray paint across a wall painting. Frustration. “He has no business spoiling that pitch, it was unhittable,” you fool yourself.  You can fix this, after all he was leaning over the plate for that pitch, and now I’ve got him set up inside.. “But you better not leave it over the plate,” you think, “because he’s seen the fastball twice already.”

             You shake your head to the fastball inside, your catcher favoring the slider. You think “I need to get it in there, jam him up and get a ground ball.”  All of a sudden, you feel like you HAVE to get the ball inside. Pressure. It’s still the same count, but feels completely different. You force the pitch inside too far, backing the hitter off the plate. 2-2.

            “That’s fine” you tell yourself, now confident in your mistake, because you moved his feet, and can go offspeed away next pitch.  Silver lining. You pull the slider trying to make it nasty, the strikeout scent lingering in your nostrils. But the 2-2 count gave the hitter renewed confidence and renewed discipline. He starts his hands, “Check that!” You beg. “No he didn’t” chops the base umpire, extending his arms.

            You catch the throw back from the catcher and the ball feels an ounce heavier.“Don’t give him a free pass, it’s the ninth inning and this guy’s got speed” you try to keep the negative thoughts away, but a drop of red dye is already in the water, and its beginning to change color.

            Catcher calls fast ball away, your bread and butter.  “Here we go” you say shakily. You try to place the ball in the glove,  The leather snaps it’s reply. No pitch ruining foul ball, no fans sprawling, no swing. Only an umpire’s judgement remains. The hitter confidently tosses his bat under his shoulder, you hold out hope for a strikeout dance. The umpire looks away, as if the pitch offended him and thus never existed.

            Ball Four. You were one pitch away, and let one bad swing, a foul ball, really only another strike, take your mind out of rhythm and turn into a free pass to first base. Clear it out. Be quick to home plate, and know who you got on a comebacker.

Written (and acted out countless times) by Anthony Slama

Baseball Cards--What's the scoop?

I am interested in where the baseball card industry is, and where it will be in the future. I asked a sports memorabilia company owner what he thought about the industry. Here's what he had to tell me:

As a young kid the hobby of collecting baseball cards was passed on to me like many other kids around the world. This allowed us to collect all of our favorite players, trade them with friends as well as learn the history of baseball with statistics and other important information from the back of a baseball card. Another thrill of collecting was the expected return on investment, a return that never came.

This hurt the industry in the late 90’s, as many of the cards from the late 70’s had little or no value. This didn’t mean every card was worthless, you still had harder cards such as the Cal Ripken Jr Charlotte O’s in 1980 which can stil be quite valuable in the right condition. Cards also hold their value  if they are graded in a gem mint condition with the best grading companies including Beckett and PSA Grading.

An example of a card that still holds value

Despite the big hit the industry took, the baseball card industry is still alive and evolving. It continues to get stronger each year. This is a positive for kids as well as the adult collector. Nowadays, a collector won’t find the variety of brands that existed in the past, such as Fleer, Flair or even Donruss, will find Topps and Bowman are the major players. These are the only companies that haver rights to print MLB affiliations on their cards. The other company is Panini who bought many of the brands including Donruss and Leaf.

Nolan Knows Bo card from 1990, An example of the plethora of cards printed during this time.

Is there another collapse or bubble in the near future?  Is the bubble now growing, making this an optimal time to hop in the industry? Nobody really can see the future, but the card companies have put a lot of additional time and resources into adding additional features to baseball cards to increase their value and thus evolve the industry into something else entirely. These features include authentic autographs from professional baseball players, authentic pieces of game used jerseys from the past and present as well as parallel versions of the cards that might have a different color border than the base card. These cards have different print runs that could include numbered to 50 or 25 or even as low as only one card. This is how baseball cards will continue to build value and the hobby of collecting cards will continue to grow.  Collectors are seeking that rare border card or game used jersey piece card. 

Limited Edition cards are printed to increase value and give collectors that golden ticket search

As far as the hobby in the years to come I can’t imagine it slowing down being around the industry for the past few years working in a sports memorabilia/card store.  I still get a kick out of when I see a father buy a pack of cards for a son and he opens the pack to find his favorite player. The other side is when you get to see a grown adult open a pack and pull a card that sells online for a few hundred bucks. As long as the consumer has a positive experience with a baseball card, there will always be an industry. This is what I tell every customer when they say the baseball card industry isn’t doing well.

One thing is for certain and that is the hobby is safe for fathers, uncles and grandfathers to pass down to their kids to cherish as many of us did as we were kids.

Written by: Peter Tebin 

Long Toss like a PRO!!!

Long Toss Like a PRO

Long toss for pitchers is a debated issue. At Pitch Pro, we have all seen the player who can throw the ball from foul pole to foul pole, very impressive-- but impressive is all it is. Pitching is equal parts control and power, this kind of long toss is sacrificing finesse and fundamentals for power and distance. Not many pitchers would say throwing more strikes correlates to how far they can throw a baseball.  But some do claim training throwing a baseball longer distances increases their power and velocity. We disagree, and so does The American Sports Medecine Institute, who have concluded a study on the functionality of long toss for pitchers.[1] Their conclusion reads “Hard, horizontal, flat-ground throws have biomechanical patterns similar to those of pitching and are therefore reasonable exercises for pitchers.”  They also concluded “Maximum distance throws produce increased torques and changes in kinematics.” The ASMI advises caution with long toss in training and rehabilitation. We also believe a long toss program that increases launch angle for maximum distance can be detrimental to arm health and more importantly, to pitching mechanics..

That said, at Pitch Pro we stretch our athletes throwing distances to a point where they will have to keep a slight arc on the ball to get it to their partner. However, footwork and mechanics, not arm strength is the training target.  We judge this distance based on the athlete and don’t stress distance, but sound fundamentals. The athlete stops where he can accurately reach his partner on a line or on a slight arc and keep proper form.  We stress lower body rhythm and athletic footwork, keeping a closed front side, and strong hip rotation through release. All are familiar to our players, since we also stress them in moundwork. 

There are many long toss supporters and many respected baseball minds embrace long toss programs for arm strength.  Through experience and studies like the one mentioned above we believe arm strength is trained in pitchers through repetition, not distance. Strong arms can throw far, but throwing far does not train strong arms. It would be great if it were that easy, progressively increase throwing distance, like a weightlifter increasing loads, and after a few weeks, you would be throwing harder! It is true the ability to throw a baseball and consistently hit a target that, at times, seems no bigger than a coffee can is an acquired athletic skill, just like any other. But unfortunately, you will not see an increase in velocity from trying to throw a ball the length of an aircraft carrier, but you will with quality repetitions of fundamentally sound pitching movements coupled with a solid, functional strength training program.  Don’t complicate it or hurt yourself, or your muscle memory with an exhaustive long toss program. Keep it simple, keep on a routine, and keep working on pitch command by developing an athletic, repeatable delivery everyday during your throwing program. 

At Pitch Pro, we have developed our own sensible throwing program enforcing these principles and will be posting it soon for free!!!  So please come back and don’t forget to leave us a comment!

[1] Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. Vol 41:296-303

Baseball products YOU should be using in 2014 

 Part 1 : Ubersense Video Analysis Tools

At pitchpro we use Ubersense video analysis because it is the best way to demonstrate areas players can improve. You cant hide whats on video, and  when you slow it down, it is the best way to see faults that are too difficult to see at regular speed. Ubersense has a user friendly  interface which can record, edit and playback video for frame by frame analysis. There is also a community of baseball players who post useful videos and drills.  Best of all, it is free to use and operate.  If you have a smartphone or tablet, and want to get better, video analysis couldn’t come easier.

Personally, I struggle with dropping my elbow too low through my delivery and getting underneath the baseball. With ubersense, I can slow my video down, mark the elbow, and pinpoint when my elbow drops and how far it drops. I can record one video and split screen another video alongside of it for comparison. I am amazed by the things I can do with the app.   

I wish a tool like Ubersense was availiable to me when I was really getting serious about baseball and working to perfect my delivery.  I remember specifically putting pictures of my favorite players on my mirror and studying their deliveries until I could mimic them.   I kept a picture of Mark Prior at leg lift, foot strike and follow thru on my mirror and would mimic these movements until my delivery looked similar. If I had a tool like this, I could see an actual video of my self and compare it to that of pro pitchers. 

You can find the ubersense app on the IOS appstore….and its free!!

About the author:  This article was written by Anthony Slama, a professional baseball player for 7 years with the Minnesota Twins. He pitched in the major leagues with Minnesota, and is a contributing partner with PitchPro.  Have a baseball product question or comment?  Leave it in the box below and he will get back to you! 

(Photos and vids: courtesy of blog.ubersense.com)

Build a strong shoulder, and become a stronger pitcher!!

Here is a list of simple rotator cuff strengthening exercises that every pitcher should know. A solid shoulder strength and maintenance program helps prevent injury and works to stabilize the muscles surrounding the all important shoulder capsule. Each movement should be coordinated slowly and purposefully with no more than two or three pound weights.  We recommend our pitchers master these movements along with a tubing program (coming soon) and perform them daily prior to their stretching and throwing programs. 

Six exercises, Eight reps each set   6x8

1. Simple Shoulder Raise

   

Elbows at shoulder height.  Hands at 90 degree angle 

Fully extend arms above crown of the head and repeat 

2. Simple Shouler Fly

Elbows at shoulder height. Hands at 90. Scap retracted

With Elbows shoulder height, bring forearms parallel in front and return to scap retract position.

3. Shoulder "Full Can" Exercise      

Shoulders retracted, arms in neutral position

Keep scap retracted, hold the weights thumbs up (like full soda cans) lift straight arms to shoulder height and back down

                    

4. Shoulder "Empty Can" exercise

Scap Retracted, shoulders pulled back and arms neutral position

Scap retracted, hold the weights thumbs down (emptying out soda cans) lift to shoulder height and back down

5. Bent over rows

Bend back like a hinge, don't arch the back. Hang arms at neutral position

Lift elbows slightly past shoulder height, forming a "W" 

6. Bent Over Swim Fly's

Bend like a hinge, Hang arms at neutral and don't arch your back

Lift weights to chest

From the chest, fly the weights to shoulder height and straight back down to the beginning position

 7. External Rotation

Elbows tight to sides, 90 degree angle with elbows, thumbs up

Keep elbows tight to sides, no gap inbetween side and elbow, rotate weights externally

At PitchPro, we want our athletes to know these like the back of their gloves.....Keep working on these few simple movements until you can do them in your sleep! 

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