McClue on Bannister

Via The Book Blog, Bob McClure talks about Brian Bannister with David Laurila. As a pitcher, what I’m trying to do is keep you off balance just enough, and locate my pitches. I’m trying to get ahead in the count, keep you off balance, and make pitches. That’s all I’m trying to do. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that. The first three pitches are the most important ones you throw. If you can get to 1-2 on three quarters of the batters you face, you’re probably going to have a good game. Banny got a little overboard and tried to do more than he was capable of doing. The next thing you know, his walks go up and his hits go up. He’s trying to sink the ball instead of what he was doing in the first place, which was commanding his fastball and his cutter. It kind of turned into a mess. The whole passage on Brian is well worth the read.