Leo Mazzone

[Edwards Kings]

Mazzone, who still lives a few hours from Atlanta on Lake Hartwell on the SC side, had a nice article about him in the AJC this morning. Still "retired" but doing radio before each Braves series plus a program on Saturday as well doing pitching seminars around the country (including one recently in front of 3,500 high school coaches in Texas).

For those of us more "rub some dirt in it" old-school types, there were some quotes in the article I think will resonate:

Arm injuries - "Back then we allowed them to throw as much as they wanted. Imagine that, but it was in a controlled effort and always 60 feet, six inches throwing downhill. I think it is a joke how major league pitchers are handled today. It is an insult to my intelligence. The problem today is one word: velocity. Everyone is enamored with the radar gun. You can sign a scholarship or get into professional baseball if you can put a number on the gun. So they are going to overexert themselves. I just wanted my guys to be able to get some touch on the ball. I was concerned about the pitch they selected and where they located it."

How the game has changed - "The manager is no longer the face of the franchise. It is run by stats and computers. They are going to protect pitches with limiting the number of innings pitched. And guess what? There are more Tommy Johns surgeries than in the history of baseball. This also has led to abusing the bullpens. I think it is totally ridiculous."

Smoltz in the HOF - "The reason he is going into the Hall is in 1991 when he was 2-11 at the All-Star Break, Bobby didn't take him out of the rotation. There were factions in the organization that wanted to do so but Bobby said 'We are not taking him out.'"

What bugs him - "I wish there were closers out there that would have to bat so a pitcher could put one in their ear. All those closers that finish games and then shooting arrows in the sky drives me crazy. The lack of sportsmanship is incredible. We just wanted to go in there quietly, get the job done."

His favorite pitcher today - EDITED by the top secret Edwards Kings Research Department - Bletchley Park Division. I can tell you that it was anyone but Madison Bumgarner who he thinks is tremendous who changes speeds well and is cool about it.

[DOUGHBOYS]

Leo Mazzone always 'got it'.
He didn't give in to the notions of medical 'experts' or computer whizzes. He knew what worked for long term arm usage and stuck with it.
The limiting of pitches makes me sick too. And now, it's happening at every level, as if it is a solution.
The wussification of America just galls me.

Adding in a little rant here....
BM ( That means BEFORE MONEY), Baseball players on all levels did essentially the same thing. They played baseball from when it was warm enough in Spring until it was too cold in Fall. The weather told us not to throw baseballs any more.
And we listened.
Little leaguers, not pushed by Moms and Dads to practice one sport year round, would play football, then basketball.
High Schoolers and College players would do the same.
Professionals would go back home to their jobs or if making enough money, to rest and relax.
Most baseball players were resting their arms for six months and throwing as much as they wanted for six months.
The way it is supposed to be.
And hardly anybody complained of sore elbows.
But, that was BM.


I'd like to hear him expound on Steve Avery. Avery had the kinda stuff that Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux had, but almost seemed curse in once getting on a roll, being derailed by injury or something else.
Mazzone maybe could have told us more on why it wasn't meant to be for Avery.

[Sack]

Plus, on his only trip into Camden Yards, two time NFBC world champion Lindy Hinkelman from Greencreek Idaho received an autographed baseball from Leo Mazzone. Kinda made the Pig Farmers trip if memory serves correctly.

So Lindy, what ever happened to that baseball? Does it sleep with the piggies?

[Bob Enzyte]

First off, it wasn't autographed. Leo tossed me the ball after Daniel Cabrera finished his bullpen session before his start. I was standing behind the catcher watching him warmup and couldn't believe how hard he threw. I thought there was no way anybody could ever hit him. That was until the leadoff batter took him deep. The ball ended up somewhere in a New York garbage can as I misplaced it. That was a great trip for me outside of losing the ball. Camden, Shea, Citizens, Belmont and the Hall of Fame.

[Navel Lint]

Mazzone, who still lives a few hours from Atlanta on Lake Hartwell on the SC side, had a nice article about him in the AJC this morning. Still "retired" but doing radio before each Braves series plus a program on Saturday as well doing pitching seminars around the country (including one recently in front of 3,500 high school coaches in Texas).

For those of us more "rub some dirt in it" old-school types, there were some quotes in the article I think will resonate:

Arm injuries - "Back then we allowed them to throw as much as they wanted. Imagine that, but it was in a controlled effort and always 60 feet, six inches throwing downhill. I think it is a joke how major league pitchers are handled today. It is an insult to my intelligence. The problem today is one word: velocity. Everyone is enamored with the radar gun. You can sign a scholarship or get into professional baseball if you can put a number on the gun. So they are going to overexert themselves. I just wanted my guys to be able to get some touch on the ball. I was concerned about the pitch they selected and where they located it."

He's right on the money about the radar gun and velocity. There is no doubt that the avg pitcher is throwing harder. There are probably a couple reasons for that, but it is happening.

As for always throwing downhill?????......... We know that throwing off a mound creates much greater stress on the shoulder than throwing on flat ground does. It's one reason why rehabbing pitchers don't throw from the mound. But he almost seems to make it sound like that's always the way it was "back then" and probably before then. I'm sure the generation or two before Mazzone might have a comment about that. Prior to the sixties, most stadiums didn't even have bullpen mounds. Almost all pitchers warmed up on flat ground and never threw downhill until pitching in the game.

How the game has changed - "The manager is no longer the face of the franchise. It is run by stats and computers. They are going to protect pitches with limiting the number of innings pitched. And guess what? There are more Tommy Johns surgeries than in the history of baseball. This also has led to abusing the bullpens. I think it is totally ridiculous."

There's no doubt that there are more Tommy John surgeries than ever. The major reason? Because it works!
The recovery time is shorter than it was 20 years ago and it's rarer and rarer that a pitcher that gets TJS has to have another. Back in the day, pitchers used to just have "sore arms", and they sucked!! Now we have MRI capability to diagnose the problem and a surgery that can fix the problem. Maybe if we had the knowledge of TJS 15 years earlier than we did, Sandy Koufax would not have had to retire with an "arthritic" elbow.

As for abusing bullpens, I don't think so, at least not in terms of innings per game. In 1955 the average innings per start was 6.36, in 2014 it was 5.96; and it's almost always in that range for every year in between. I'm not sure that an extra 1/3 of an inning per game is abusing the bullpen, especially since most teams carry more relievers than in the past

Smoltz in the HOF - "The reason he is going into the Hall is in 1991 when he was 2-11 at the All-Star Break, Bobby didn't take him out of the rotation. There were factions in the organization that wanted to do so but Bobby said 'We are not taking him out.'"

What bugs him - "I wish there were closers out there that would have to bat so a pitcher could put one in their ear. All those closers that finish games and then shooting arrows in the sky drives me crazy. The lack of sportsmanship is incredible. We just wanted to go in there quietly, get the job done."

I couldn't agree more. I love when players have genuine reactions to great plays or big wins, but the pre-planned/choreographed moves have got to go.
If a hitter whacks a HR and then takes too long for the pitchers liking to get around the bases, you can expect someone to get a fastball in the back, but then these same guys "shoot" arrows or throw up a Big 'X" like it's not a problem at all. Ridiculous

His favorite pitcher today - EDITED by the top secret Edwards Kings Research Department - Bletchley Park Division. I can tell you that it was anyone but Madison Bumgarner who he thinks is tremendous who changes speeds well and is cool about it.