It is to laugh!
I keep hearing about how this one and that one is the be-all and the end-all, how each one thinks he has all the answers, blah, blah, blah, and I keep thinking about that old poem about the blind men and the elephant. I think I mentioned it once before—it’s about six blind men who encounter an elephant. The first one grabs the elephant’s leg and announces that the elephant is like a tree. The second one grabs the elephant’s trunk and says the elephant is like a rope. And so on. The whole point is contained in the last two lines:
"Though each was partly in the right,
"They all were in the wrong."
And I have to laugh. No one has all the answers. I’ve read some of this material, and my only response is “HUH?” I firmly believe that there is an answer, and that is to get together with a really good pitching coach—preferably, as I’ve said before, an active pitcher, one who will take into account where you’re coming from, what kind of stuff you have and what you can do with it, and who will work with you and show you how to make the most of it.
There’s an expression—“There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” This comes from gymnastics and refers to a maneuver on, I believe, the parallel bars, which can be performed correctly four different ways. And so it is here. You take a look at four different pitchers—each one does something a little different, but all of them get the batters out and win games.
I’ll be back in a few days—I’m headed for Cleveland and the 38th SABR convention. Take care, all of you—I’ll be back on the boards on Tuesday. :greenmartian: