I can’t help but wonder about pitchers like Zack Grienke and Shaun Marcum. Maybe it’s not just them but all pitchers.
After a game when the other team has scored a lot of runs, you frequently hear pitchers or managers or coaches say something like, "he didn’t have his best stuff tonight." Or "his location was off," or "he couldn’t get the slider working."
My question is "how come?"
Pitching would seem, on the surface, to be immune from the vagaries brought about by external factors. There is nothing to interfere with where you throw the ball.
Nobody is pushing you or waving hands in your face, the way they do to a shooter in basketball. Nobody is trying to tackle you or throw you to the ground, the way they do in football.
It should be easy. You are the only one who can direct where the ball is thrown, what speed it goes, what the spin is. And it’s not like you’ve never done it before. If you are a major league pitcher, you’ve done this thousands of times before.
The grip is easy. You know where to stand, how high to kick, what speed to throw on the ball. You know exactly where you’d like the ball to be when it gets to the plate.
So, how come it doesn’t happen all the time? Why are there days when you "don’t have location?"
With a history in Milwaukee stretching back decades, Dave tries to bring a unique perspective to his writing, whether it's sports, politics, theater or any other issue.
He's seen Milwaukee grow, suffer pangs of growth, strive for success and has been involved in many efforts to both shape and re-shape the city. He's a happy man, now that he's quit playing golf, and enjoys music, his children and grandchildren and the myriad of sports in this state. He loves great food and hates bullies and people who think they are smarter than everyone else.
This whole Internet thing continues to baffle him, but he's willing to play the game as long as OnMilwaukee.com keeps lending him a helping hand. He is constantly amazed that just a few dedicated people can provide so much news and information to a hungry public.
Despite some opinions to the contrary, Dave likes most stuff. But he is a skeptic who constantly wonders about the world around him. So many questions, so few answers.
