庆祝出水桶第一po 这是Zito投球动作分析的第一篇 另外第四篇(最後一篇)我也已经翻译了，有兴趣的自己去爬文 http://tinyurl.com/6ahsha by Paul Nyman April 11, 2008 "A Bridge Too Far" is a 1977 movie about Operation Market Garden, a failed attempt by the Allies in the latter stages of World War II to end the fighting quickly by securing three bridges in Holland, allowing them access over the Rhine into Germany. A combination of poor Allied intelligence and two crack German Panzer divisions meant that the final part of this operation (the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine) was doomed to failure. Barry Zito’s lost fastball became my bridge too far. That's how I felt in attempting to write this, my first article for The Hardball Times. Every time I tried to attack it, I was repulsed by credibility issues. I could not, in a single article, deploy the necessary reserves of information and knowledge that I believed necessary to successfully achieve my objective. My 15 years of experience dealing with how the body throws the baseball kept telling me I was reaching beyond what is accepted as "good pitching mechanics knowledge." Every attempt to achieve my objective was blocked by entrenched pitching mechanics ignorance and culture. The amount of reader preparation necessary to establish overwhelming credibility would push the supply lines of throwing mechanics information far beyond the breaking point and doom the article to failure. To back up: On the first day of the new season, Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti said he was tired of addressing the diminishing difference in velocity between Zito's fastball and curve. "It's been going on a year and a half now. They're always asking me the same questions," Righetti said. "I don't mean to blow you off, but I can't help you. " The person closest to Zito’s problem and believed by the Giants to be the person most capable of fixing Zito’s problem cannot. Who am I (or anyone else for that matter) to believe I can see what they cannot and explain why Zito's fastball has disappeared? And, possibly even more unbelievable, who am I to explain how Zito can get his fastball back again even better than it was before he lost it? My interest in the way Zito throws began in 1998, when Zito was touted as a prodigy of the then-popular pitching mechanics guru Dick Mills. The following is from Mills' Website: Here's what the dad of Oakland Athletics first round pick Barry Zito had to say about the program back in June of 1997 when Barry was still in junior college. Barry signed for a $1.56 million bonus in June of 1999 and is a rookie sensation in the big leagues right now. Many of the major league scouts who scout him on a daily basis often comment and compliment him on his highly productive and professional pitching mechanics. He does not hesitate to tell them that he learned all of his upper level pitching skills from your videos, teaching materials and monthly newsletter, and additionally, from the many extremely informative one-on-one telephone calls that he has had with you whenever things seem to get out-of-whack. We can honestly say that the several hundred dollars we spent on your entire program has brought more financial rewards to our son and this family than we could ever have imagined. To this day, that expenditure stands out as the best and most productive thing we have ever done with our money. —Joe Zito, Encino, CA From 1998-2004 I wrote numerous pieces at the SETPRO training forum to debunk much of what Mills and others were touting as “good” pitching mechanics. Fortunately for today's young players, Mills is a footnote in pitching mechanics history. I have always struggled with this question: How can you say a pitcher has good mechanics when that pitcher, 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, is unable to break 90 mph ? That was the question I was (still am) asking about pitchers such as Barry Zito. It's important to understand that I differentiate pitching from throwing. You can throw a baseball without pitching it, but you can't pitch a baseball without throwing it. Therefore, I view throwing efficiency as being an integral part of attaining high level pitching prowess. I also will be the first to say that many pitchers, especially left handers, can have less than optimal throwing efficiencies and still be successful. Pitching is doing all the things that are necessary to defeat the batter. That includes not only throwing the baseball, but also attacking and deceiving the batter. “Simply because it allows the pitcher to make more mistakes and still get the batter out.” This was John Schuerholtz, former general manager of the Braves, responding when asked why throwing velocity is important. But when a pitcher wins a Cy Young and puts up great numbers for three years, as Zito did in his first three years of professional baseball, the question of why he can't throw harder is not an issue until he can't get batters out. It's similar to the pitching mechanics hoopla that accompanied Mark Prior. Prior went from the campus of USC to front-line starter for the Chicago Cubs in 2002. He had a spectacular year in 2003 and many baseball professionals touted him as having absolutely perfect mechanics, the kind all pitchers should be judged by. And then, in 2004, began a rapid decline marked by injury and poor performance. Today, Prior, after not pitching at all in 2007, is attempting a comeback. He is on the 60-day disabled list of the San Diego Padres. Zito's $126 million contract with the Giants has fans and much of professional baseball questioning the team's decision-making. Is Zito a sabermetrics boom or bust? He's a possible boom for the sabermetrics advocates if the Giants did not do the sabermetrics homework they should have. And he's a bust if they did (statistics are not the same as flesh and blood). Zito becomes even more interesting because another left hander, Johan Santana, eclipsed Zito's record-breaking contract. Zito 2008 throwing his 84 mph fastball and Santana throwing his 92 mph fastball . My original thought was to do a piece on Zito using an analysis I had previously done on another pitcher, Steve Avery, for support. "A Bridge Too Far" 是1977年一部关於二战时的"市场花园行动"的电影。这个行动最後因 为盟军错误的战术和德军的两个奘甲师的阻挠而以失败告终。 Barry Zito失去的速球成了我的"A Bridge Too Far"。这是我在开始写这篇分析文时的感 觉。每当我要开始分析时，我总是感到很难下笔，因为我没办法在短短一篇文章中就把相 关的知识交代清楚。 我研究投球15年来的经验让我远离了传统的"好的投球机制"。任何传递客观事实的尝试总 是受到旧的观念和文化的阻挠。要想让读者具备足够的背景知识是相当不容易的。 回到正题： 新球季的第一天，巨人队投教Dave Righetti说他已经没办法改变Zito速球和曲球间逐渐缩 小的速差。 "已经过了一年半了，他们总是问我同样的问题"Righetti说"我真的已经尽力了" 就连巨人队投教都放弃了，会有人相信我能看出他们所看不见的问题吗？ 还有，有人会相信我能解决这个问题吗？ 我对Zito投球动作的兴趣是起於1998年，当知名的"投球教练"Dick Mills用Zito来当他的 投球教学的宣传： 奥克兰运动家队首轮选秀Barry Zito的老爸有话要说。Barry现在已经是大联盟中最夯 　的新秀之一。 　　 　许多球探认为Barry的投球动作相当的好。他也不吝於分享他的秘诀：Dick Mills的各 　式教学影片和一对一的电话指导。 　我们花在您的教学上的数百美元现在有了更多的回报。现在看来，那数百美元是我们目 　前为止最好的投资。 　—Joe Zito, Encino, CA 在1998-2004之间我在SETPRO写了一系列的文章去揭穿Mills和其他人所谓的"好的投球机制 "。幸运的，现在的年轻人不用再受到Mills的荼毒。 我心中一直以来有个疑问：当一个投手拥有6-4,200磅的身材却没办法投到90 mph，像Zito 那样，你怎麽会认为他的投球机制很好？ 这里很重要的一点是我把"投球"和"丢球"分开。你可以只是"丢一颗球"而不是"投球"，但 你在"投球"的时候免不了"丢球"这个动作。因此，我把丢球效率视为是投球艺术中不可或 缺的一部分。 首先，我要说的是，很多投手-特别是左投-能在丢球效率不彰的情况下仍旧在大联盟中有 一席之地。"投球"是要解决打者，这不只是"丢球"，还包含了攻击和欺骗打者。 "很简单，因为这(球速)给了投手犯错的空间" 这是John Schuerholtz，前勇士队的GM，对球速的重要性的看法。 但当一位投手赢得赛扬奖并连三年投出好成绩时，这个问题就不再重要，直到他不再能解 决打者时... 类似的情形也发生在Mark Prior身上，Prior在2003年投出'相当好的成绩并且拥有所有投 教认为是"完美"的投球动作。然後，在2004年便因为受伤而急速衰退。 现在Prior正在寻求生涯的第二春。他现在在教士队的60天DL上。 Zito和巨人队达成的天价合约引起了球迷们的质疑。Zito是数据上的真货还是假货？是， 但也不是。（看是从哪个角度） Zito的案例变的更有趣，因为另一位左投Johan Santana的合约又打破了Zito的纪录。 这是Zito的84 mph速球和Santana的92 mph速球的影片。 我第一个想法是援引我之前对Steve Avery作的分析资料作为辅助。 (待续...) --

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