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.

Cole in your Stocking

How do you know you've made it?  Is it when you make the All-Star game?  Win the World Series?  Heck, win the World Series MVP?  Nope.  It's when you make it to the Hall of Fame...the CLICHE Hall of Fame.  Welcome, Mr. Cole Hamels, thanks to your pitching coach, Rich Dubee, and/or Matt Gelb, Philadelphia Enquirer Phillies beat man:

The 24-year-old kid who won a World Series MVP by throwing a fastball and change-up has become, in Dubee's estimation, a pitcher - not a thrower. 

Whether Dubee used those words or not, one way or another, you, Cole Hamels, have made The Big Time.

Cliche Averted

For once, the cliche...is not a cliche but just a fact.  It's true: throwing is not pitching.  However, it has been generally treated as a lazy way of saying that a pitcher is not working his craft, but merely throwing the ball as hard as he can.  But Ashley Burnett, coach of Gilbert High in South Carolina, actually used the phrase to differentiate between two radically different activities performed by Austin LaBounty, as reported at TheState.com:

For the last few weeks, he was able to start throwing. We put out of a bucket of balls for him, but that’s not the same as pitching.

Thanks you, Mr. Burnett, thank you.

Over the Hurdle

When you're managing the worst team in baseball over the last decade+, why not break out the worst cliche in baseball?  Pirates manager Clint Hurdle on James McDonald:

He needs to pitch. I don't think he's been pitching. There's been more throwing going on.

Double bonus for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Colin Dunlap throwing (not pitching) it into his headline:

Pirates Notebook: McDonald must pitch, not throw, says Hurdle

Going South

As old school as Rays Manager Joe Maddon's glasses are, so are his cliches, this time to the St. Pete's Times about Wade Davis:

So as of right now, I'm liking what he's doing. I like the feel. He's using all of his pitches. He's pitching. He's not just out there throwing.

The Kids Aren't Alright

Like a kid on the playground imitating his favorite player's stance, Sheffield, AL coach Chuck Smith obviously takes his cues from the pros, as he told the Florence, AL Times Daily:

The main thing now is that they have learned how to pitch. A lot of high school kids know how to throw, but not how to pitch.