Kew Forest Plumbing #52

The game of baseball is infinitely more complex than most give it credit for. Most that I have learned about baseball is common sense…but each lesson took someone with more common sense than I to point it out. This week's thoughts are based on the great team-style of play of the 2002 World Champion Anaheim Angels and their great coaching staff. For Hitters The batting average is the 'Satan' of hitters! Why?…because you cannot control getting a hit. You can only control hitting the ball somewhere hard…and the more hard hit balls, the higher your batting average will be at the end of the season…and that's when you should look at your numbers! I learned this from Steve Springer, author of one of my favorite tools; an audio CD called Quality at Bats...the mental side of hitting! For Pitchers You can't live forever nibbling on the corners. Pitching aggressively is the ultimate sign of a pitcher with potential and/or one who will experience continual success (and sometimes Barry Bonds takes you downtown too). For Coaches Develop and play for the big inning. Why… because in 65 percent of all wins, the winning team scores more in one inning than the losing team scores during the entire game! You just can't count on scoring in every inning....see game 6 when the Angels were down by 5 runs and trailing the series by 3 games to 2!