Thanksgiving WishList 2010.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there in LIM Land. Having finished up what feels like ten days worth of food, I thought it was due time to fire up the 'ole blog and shed some light on some things that we as baseball players and, specifically, pitchers can be thankful for. Similar to last year's edition with updates and improvements as we head into the think of the off-season.

In no particular order, here is our Thanksgiving Top Ten.

10. Ground Ball Double Plays
With men on first and third and 1 out, there is nothing better than throwing a good harder sinker and getting out of the inning with a nice 6-4-3.

09. Catcher's Who Can Block Balls and Call Games
Mike Metheny (SF Giants) comes to mind. There is nothing better than having the confidence that your catcher has studied the hitters as much as you have and will block every single slider you throw in the dirt.

08. Pitcher's Toe
No this isn't some odd disease only pitchers can get. Instead, the perfectly dipped plastic mold on the back foot prevents the violent movements of a delivery from tearing your new Nike's apart at the seams.

07. Long Toss
Sometimes, there is nothing better than getting outside and jushttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7889015573646278483t airing it out. Designed to teach the body and the arm how to throw harder and longer, it is essential to every pitchers 'in-season' and 'off-season' throwing program.

06. Single Leg Romanian Dead Lifts with Single Leg Squat
This complex full body exercise is one of the single best moves a pitcher can execute to increase balance and body control. Performed by balancing on one leg and, with the opposite arm, bending at the waste and touching the foot on the ground with that arm. At the same time, lift the other leg up to parallel. Then, return to upright and lift the free leg into a leg lift position and perform a single leg squat.

05. Roy Halladay
A pitcher who pitches the way it was meant to be. Throwing strikes, getting ahead, and getting out. He's thrown more complete games than any other pitcher is recent history. Expects to go the distance every time and doesn't rely on anyone but his defense to get the job done.

04. Free Swinging Hitters.
Only Vlad and Pablo Sandovol have been successful at swing at everything. The majority of these types of "hackers" are great at getting themselves out with pitches not in the zone. Think about Sammy Sosa early in his career or Mark Reynolds and Carlos Pena now. Sure they may hit one out of a hundred 900 feet, but the rest of the time, they usually end up back in the dugout.

03. The Change-Up
Easily the most difficult pitch to hit. Ask any pro-hitter, especially the aforementioned free swingers. Anything that looks like a fastball until it reaches the hitting zone, but isn't, tends to be the toughest pitch for a hitter to hit.

02. Phiten Necklace/Sinker Sleeves/Lucky Shirt
In other words, superstition. Pitcher's are notorious for relying on other worldly rituals to give them the edge (in addition to all other necessary work) on the mound. Whether its keeping a nickle their grandpa gave em in their back pocket during the game or always putting the left spike on first, if you believe it works....then it does.

01. Pine Tar
Like my old high school used to say..."if you ain't cheatin, you ain't tryin." Used by big leaguers across the land (literally....tons of them). This little piece of sticky heaven placed under the cap, on the laces of the glove, on the belt buckle, behind the back of the hat keeps your fingers tacky and the feel of the ball secure in any and all conditions.

So there are just a few things to think about all this Thanksgiving Holiday. Feel free to post your comments and suggestions.

Until Next Time

The PItcher's Thanksgiving Wish List

In honor of the second coolest holiday of the year (behind Christmas, of course) I decided to create a Thanksgiving list of things that all pitcher's would without a doubt be thankful for (assuming they had or possessed them). Now I've left out any performance factors here. Of course, every pitcher would be thankful for being able to throw 95 mph with super sink, but lets take a second to look at some other less obvious things a pitcher would benefit from having...and therefore be thankful. Please feel free to comment and add to his list. I'll start with the top ten!!!

1. A catcher who throws out over 50% of their runners and never misses a blocked ball.

2. A shortstop that lays out for every ball from beyond second to behind third...and hits .350.

3. A set of outfielders who consider running through outfield walls a personal hobby...and hit 25 hrs each.

4. A field crew who keeps the pitcher's mound precisely at the correct angle and the dirt at exactly the right density and dampness.

5. An umpire who loves calling both the high strike AND the low strike as well as gives 2 to 3 baseballs off the outside AND inside black.

6. Hitters who know how to hit balls right at fielders...all the time.

7. A glove (and set of reflexes) that always manage to nab that chopper up the middle...even the ones behind the back ala Cliff Lee.

8. Pine tar.

9. Really long, flexible fingers that put phenomenal spin on every pitch they throw.

And last but not least.........and I had to include one performance 'thank' because its that important.

10. The ability to throw first pitch strikes in every different way possible whenever and however he wants.



So there is it boys....The "Intelligent Pitcher's Thankful List" Please leave comments and add to the list