Pitching Lessons from Mike Mussina

A few weeks ago, I did a post on the many magazines I was fortunate enough to get from unknowing Amherst students. I did not mention Play magazine in that post. That's because for some reason Play, like many high school newspapers, comes out every three months.

With the U.S. Open looming, Play came out this past weekend. It is without a doubt the best sports magazine out there.

Every week the The New York Times Magazine comes out, I quickly glance to see if there are any articles about sports. Nothing beats a thoughtful, well-written sports article from the NYT Mag.

Play is basically a collection of sports articles that would otherwise find their way into the NYT Mag. SI and ESPN serve the fluff, Play has the substance.

There is one excerpt from the magazine I want to point out. There is neat two-page spread titled "The Art of Pitching" in which Mike Mussina takes you through the intricacies of pitching in the majors. Yes, I know Mussina should probably not be giving advice on pitching right now, but it is still interesting.

There is one section from the spread that particularly stands out. It was under the heading "The Scuffed Ball". Here's the excerpt:

Defacing a ball brings a 10-game suspension for pitchers, who have been known to apply scuff marks using sandpaper, a belt buckle, even a thumbtack. But a batted ball can easily get scratched up on the infield dirt. "If there's a scuff, I'm thinking, 'I've gotta use this while I've got it,'" Mussina says. "It brings physics into play." A ball directs its flight to a place of less resistance. If he holds the ball with the scuff on the left side, that side will have more resistance. Thus, the ball will fight its way down and to the right, making it seem to the hitter as if Mussina's sinker is especially lively. "I may get the next ball and it's completely smooth and there's no way I can make it do that again," Mussina says. "But the hitter doesn't know that."

I had never heard that before.

Baseball is such a great game.

Lets go Mets!