Did you all catch the article by George Will in the back of the latest Newsweek? It’s entitled The Artistry of Mr Maddux. I normally don’t read Will since he far too right wing for me but when he writes about baseball, I read it. The one thing he and I have in common is love of baseball. And when you read his stuff, it shows.
You can find the article online here.
Here’s an excerpt I found interesting:
One year in spring training, facing a Met who had hit him hard the previous season, Maddux told teammates he would throw dinky sliders to encourage the Met to hit a home run. Maddux figured that hitters remember, and subsequently look for, what they crush. The Met homered—then, always looking for the same pitch, went hitless against Maddux in the regular season.
Leading 8-0 in a regular-season game against the Astros, Maddux threw what he had said he would never throw to Jeff Bagwell—a fastball in. Bagwell did what Maddux wanted him to do: he homered. So two weeks later, when Maddux was facing Bagwell in a close game, Bagwell was looking for a fastball in, and Maddux fanned him on a change-up away.
I have a really hard time believing this is good strategy. Reminds me of an Illini football game back when Lou Tepper was coaching. The Illini were behind by a point or two (I think) late in the game with the opposition inside their five yard line threatening to score a game-sealing TD. Tepper’s strategy was to allow the other team to score so that he could get the ball back quicker. I guess he had a lot more confidence in his two-minute offense than in his goalline defense.