Painting the Corners — Baseball Bench Coach

This past Thursday afternoon I attended the Cubs vs. Braves game with my uncle at Wrigley Field. He regaled me with some wonderful stories of his going to games with his Dad, and seeing the all-time great Cubs. My attention turned to the left and right field foul poles and the player numbers retired and recognized with pennants flying majestically – Banks (14), Williams (26), Santo (10), Sandberg (23), Jenkins (31), Maddux (31, not a typo), and of course Jackie Robinson (42). That second #31 (both a Cub and a Brave) gave me pause to reflect on the lost art of pitching, an ability to work the batter instead of trying to overpower him.

Greg Maddux was a pitcher’s pitcher, painting the corners of home plate and the hearts of baseball fans in Atlanta and Chicago. His lifetime statistics are staggering. In his 23 MLB seasons, the Hall-of-Famer won 355 games (8th all-time) and is the only pitcher to win at least 15 games over 17 consecutive seasons. Maddux won the NL Cy Young four straight seasons (1992-1995) during the peak of his career with the Braves and garnered an ERA of 1.98 during that stretch.

Pinpoint control was his trademark. I remember watching one of his outings during the 1995 World Series against the Indians in a sports bar where most of the patrons were rooting for Cleveland. The broadcasters and cameramen kept focusing on Maddux getting strike calls that were off the plate, much to the chagrin of the loud fans in the bar. I just chuckled, knowing that any smart pitcher takes the plate that the umpire allows. Give me an inch, and I will try for another. Maddux was once quoted: “It’s not your arm that makes you a great pitcher. It’s that thing between both of your ears we call a brain.”

With precise control a pitcher can take charge of a game. Maddux was famous for his complete games with low pitch counts (under 100). In his career he struck out more than 3 times the number of batters he walked. He could also help himself and his team defensively, winning 18 Gold Gloves! With his 2-seam fastball (just around 90 mph) and circle change he made hitters at-bat after at-bat shake their heads on how he was doing it. Some might want to call Maddux the ultimate finesse pitcher; I call him the ultimate pitcher.

There have been some other control artists and savvy pitchers of note. Jim Kaat comes to mind. “Kitty” Kaat’s 25-year career began with the Twins in 1959. He had 283 career wins and won 20 games in three seasons. During the Twins 1966 AL pennant run, he won 25 games and incredibly completed 19 games. That is just unheard of in today’s game; in 2018 there were 8 MLB pitchers tied for the lead of complete games with just 2 apiece! Kaat could also field his position with 16 consecutive Gold Gloves. After his career, Kaat was a broadcaster providing exceptional analysis about pitching in particular. In the booth he was very much like my favorite current national analyst, John Smoltz, who in his playing years teamed with Maddux and Glavine to form one of the best 1-2-3 starting staffs ever.

A lesser known “soft tosser” is Randy Jones, affectionately known as “Junkman”. Jones had a ten-year career (1974-1983), mostly with the Padres. In his first season, his record was 8-22, but he rebounded with a 2.24 ERA in 1975 and a 22-14 record, 2.74 ERA in 1976. In 1976 Jones won the NL Cy Young award with a fifth-place team, his Padres. He was the nemesis of the Big Red Machine during those two years, finding a way start after start to foil one of baseball’s all-time great lineups. Much like Maddux and Kaat, Jones was a defensive specialist, establishing an MLB record for most chances by a pitcher without an error (112).

Having a standout season is also the story of crafty John Tudor, who pitched in 12 MLB seasons (1979-1990). Tudor is most known for his 1985 season (1.93 ERA) with the Cardinals that sparked their NL pennant run. It was a tale of two seasons for Tudor in 1985. Through May he was 1-7 with a 3.74 ERA, but the next four months he finished with a 20-1 record, 1.37 ERA and ten complete games. It was one of the best streaks a pitcher has ever had, and Tudor did it with a fastball clocked in the mid-80s! You don’t have to blow it by everyone, just get outs.

A pitcher’s pitcher in the MLB today is certainly Kyle Hendricks in his sixth season with the Cubs. In 2016 Hendricks had the same kind of dominating second half as Tudor did in 1985. He started the first half with a 7-6 record, but only had two losses in the last three months finishing with a 16-8 record and 2.17 ERA. This year, on May 3, I was at Wrigley for his masterpiece against the Cardinals, an 81 pitch complete game. It was dubbed by sportswriters as Hendricks’ “first Maddux”.

What are the unique qualities of all these pitchers? They don’t try to overpower a hitter, but combine precise control, pitching to contact, and exceptional defense as ingredients for success. They all paint the corners of home plate with such consistency that umpires are more likely than not barking “STRIKE” when they are on the mound.

Until next Monday,

Your Baseball Bench Coach