Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson were unhittable by a majority of major league baseball players during their many seasons playing. John Smoltz was great and should go into the Hall of Fame following his teammates Tom Glavin and Greg Maddux. Craig Biggio was good and probably one of the best Astro hitters ever, but it was a slap in the face again for Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Pete Rose who all had once in a lifetime careers.
What I mean by once in a lifetime career is that I will not grow old enough to see another baseball player have the kind of career that any of the 4 I just mentioned had. Unfortunately McGwire, Bonds and Sosa were all linked to performance enhancing drugs for their era along with Mike Piazza. What is so unfortunate is that they were the best during their era playing baseball with the talents, abilities and equipment available to them. I will classify the drugs as equipment as it is not that much different than pictures throwing spit balls, loaded bats or knuckle balls. Yes, I threw knuckle balls in there too. Go ahead and throw split finger fastballs in there too.
There are many ways to throw the ball over home plate. The pitchers have always had the advantage of throwing at different speeds, angles and directions. Hitting a baseball is simple, swing. The mechanics of a baseball swing are not different from one successful hitter to the next. This is why a great hitter in baseball is unsuccessful 7 out of 10 times. The most successful pitchers keep batters unsuccessful 8 out of 10 times. There is not a huge difference there, but if it was that easy everyone would be doing it.
Growing up in California, my father taught my brother and I the basics of throwing and the rest we learned from watching the "Pete Rose Way" series of VHS videos our mother would rent from the public library. Between Pete Rose and Johnny Bench videos, we learned how to play baseball right.
I just hope one day the nations past time will be here again. I did find some interesting instructional websites that would help someone become a better pitcher,...
Pitching: Increase Velocity
Pitching: Curveball Power - FAVORITE
Swing Mechanics
I hope you enjoyed this article.
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