The best, to the best

Nolan Ryan was a great pitcher.   Tony Kornheiser is a great writer.  And so when Tony Kornheiser profiles Nolan Ryan, even 31 years ago for Inside Sports, you figured they would avoid cliches like the plauge.  And yet...and yet...

This is what is now important to Nolan Ryan as far as baseball is concerned — that he is a pitcher, not a thrower.

Before Doing Comes Understanding

You might think that people just pitch, not throw, without really thinking about it.  It just starts to happen.  And maybe that's so for some guys.  But Richie Mascheri, pitcher for the Kitsap Bluejackets of Kitsap, Washington doesn't just do it, he understands it.  Or at least his manager, Matt Acker, thinks he does, as he told the Kitsap Sun.

"He understands the concept of pitching, not throwing," Acker said. "He finds a way to compete every day."

Don't laugh...if he didn't understand it...he might just be up there pitching and not knowing why.

Thanks, Zach

Sometimes a writer's job is not just to tell you what happened, but explain what happened.  Or, in this case of Zachary Levine writing about Astros pitcher Brett Myers for the Houston Chronicle's blog. explain what was said:

“I just think I pitched a little bit more, used my head a little bit better,” Myers said, using “pitched” as a contrast to simply throwing.

Thank you, Zach. Without your help, I would have been confused something awful.  Why would throwing more pitches, which I would have thought he meant by "pitched a little bit more," help someone?  I thought they wanted to be efficient, to pitch less.  I am still confused, however, as to how he did it with his head.  Did he throw it with his head?  Or just use his head for other things, like stopping the ball after it was hit?  Help me, Zach!

Bad News For Parnell

Oftentimes you'll have to wait until halfway through an article or blog post to find our favorite phrase.  Not with Matthew Cerrone and his Metsblog.  No sir - he gives Bobby Parnell the kiss of death right in the title of his post:

About Last Night: Parnell is just throwing, not pitching

In case you missed it, Cerrone explains later in his piece:

he still looks like just a thrower, not a pitcher.

Poor, poor Bobby Parnell.  Best watch out, Bobby, we all know the Mets have Scott Moviel in the minors, and I have a feeling Matthew Cerrone might have a soft spot for him.

 

Minor Miracle

Some players are blessed with the pure athletic ability that allows them to get to the Majors on Stuff, and then their eyes are opened.  Some, like St. Lucie Mets (A) pitcher Scott Moviel need to see the light a little lower down the ladder, as he told TCPalm.com reporter Laurel Pfahler:

I'm pitching now, not just throwing, and it's starting to come along well for me.

With an attitude like that, we'll see Moviel in Sheati Park soon enough!  Of course, the way the Mets are pitching, we might see me pitching for them soon.

Getting It

Cody Kukuk, Lawrence (KS) Free State High senior pitcher, knows what it takes to be successful on the mound.  I mean REALLY knows, as he told Dean Backes of MaxPreps.com:

This year I've done a better job of not being a thrower, but a pitcher. Pitching is more than just throwing as hard as you can.

He has pitching, not throwing, down in every format of the cliche.  Watch this kid - great future ahead of him.

Madness!

Shawn Armstrong started the CUSA tourney opener for East Carolina against Houston.  According to Kevin Travis, of the Sun-Journal in New Bern, NC, Armstrong has "lifted his game the the right time."  To what did Armstrong attribute this game lifting?

"I've been working on my delivery and really just going out there and not worrying about pitching," said Armstrong, who went 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA during the regular season. "I'm just going out there throwing the baseball like I have my whole life.

"I'm really going out there and not even thinking; just throwing the ball."

"Just throwing the ball."  Wow, we must have found the anti-cliche, the guy who doesn't even need to "worry about pitching."

Armstrong gave up 3 runs in 3 1/3 innings in an ECU loss.

Never mind.

What's better than saying it? SAYING IT!

Mavo, a commenter on the San Jose Mercury News Giants blog "Extra Baggs" (from either Carl Steward, according to the "posted by, or Andrew Baggarly, of the blog title) wants you to know that Tim Lincecum pitched a good game today.  He also wants you to know he did not "throw" a good game today.  But how to get that across to the average reader, who might miss the subtlety of "pitching, not throwing"?  The answer, of course, CAPS, the currency of the commenter:

What a dominating PITCHING performance from Timmy today! And I mean PITCHING … not just throwing!!

And he remembered the cardinal rule of commenting: when in doubt, use exclamation points!  POINTS, not POINT!!

A Prayer for the Children

 MLB Reports (seemingly his full name) just cares.  He's looking at the guys leading the Majors in walks, and he knows what's wrong.  It's what's wrong with every pitcher having trouble.  He just wants them to get it.  And since obviously their pitching coaches, managers, and teammates have all failed to get the message through, he lays it out for them:

The emphasis is on pitching, not throwing: I hope these guys understand that one day.

We all so, MLB Reports, we all do.

A Cliche is Born

I thought I had heard them all.  Pitch, don't throw.  Throw, don't aim.  Yet, much like baseball itself, the well of baseball cliches is deeper than we ever imagined.  Xavier Candela, a pitcher for Cathedral Prep in Erie, PA, told Tom Reisenweber of the Erie Times News:

I just tried to throw and not think

Unfortunately, Xavier did not make clear if he was just skipping "aiming" and going right to "throwing" on his way to the Holy Grail, "pitching," or if thinking comes between aiming and throwing, and he had already stopped aiming and started thinking.  We'll be sure to let you know if we get any updates.