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Friday, August 08, 2008
Real men don’t throw underhanded?
By Tangotiger, 09:53 AM
What is it about the male mindset that obligates power over cunning? There are literally thousands of minor league, college and high school pitchers who think they can make it to MLB. Of all pitchers born between 1968 and 1977 (that’s 10 years), there have been a little over one thousand guys to pitch in MLB. That’s about 100 pitchers born every year. And yet, millions of parents and thousands of kids think they are part of the elite 100.
If you want to distinguish yourself, why not throw a knuckler or throw sidearm. Really. And why don’t MLB teams actively create a “sidearm” training program, selecting 10 low-prospect pitchers every year for their sidearm program. That must have a better ROI shouldn’t it?
Some organizations won’t let their minor-leaguers even experiment with the knuckleball. The Braves are one example. In spite of Phil Niekro’s success with the pitch, they do not permit their players to learn the pitch. This dates back to when Bobby Cox was the GM for a few years. He doesn’t like knuckleballers.
However, it isn’t only in baseball that certain things aren’t tried because of irrational prejudices. Even though Rick Barry set the NBA record for foul shot percentage with the two-handed, underhanded shot, NBA players won’t use it. Barry tried to get Shaq to adopt it to improve his foul shooting, but Shaq refused because he feared he would look silly.