Pitching 101

by Tommy John

I was traded from Cleveland to the White Sox during the winter of 1964-65.  My Dad told me this between classes at Indiana State Univ. 

I NEVER had a pitching coach in the years I was in the minors with Cleveland.  It just wasn't done back then.  I got to the big leagues and had Early Wynn as my pitching coach, Hall of Fame pitcher for Cleveland and the White Sox.  He was a great man but didn't teach anything about pitching or how to get batters out.  As a result, I floundered pitching in 1963 and 1964.  When I had good stuff I might win, but when I didn't there was ZERO chance to win.

 

I arrived in Sarasota, Fla ready to go.  I met Al Lopez the Mgr, and all of the coaches, but the one I really wanted to talk to was Ray Berres, the pitching coach.  Ray was a catcher as was Lopez in the MLB.  Ray didn't put a lot of things on me at first, but one thing he kept saying throwing "stay back, get your elbow up and throw through the ball."  We didn't have a throwing program like they do today.  You got another pitcher and played catch.  I'd hear Ray's whistle.  TJ, get your elbow up, don't rush!  I had no idea what don't rush meant.

Ray Berres

I pitched all the games I was supposed to pitch with the White Sox, but I still kept hearing Ray yell, "don't rush!  Don't rush!"  He could have been speaking Chinese to me for all the good it was doing.  One day upon leaving the clubhouse I saw Ray hitting wedges down the left field line.  He was topping them and hitting them fat.  All the things you shouldn't do in hitting a wedge.  I went over and watched and then I gave Ray my advice.  "Ray, your back swing is so fast I can 't see it.  Take the club back and set it above your shoulders."  So I showed him.  Slow back....Fast through.  I hit 2-3 shots for him.  Ray laughed and said the words that made me instantly a better pitcher.  "That's the way I want you to throw a baseball!"  The big light came on.  He spoke to me in a language I understood, golf!!  From then on I was slow back and fast through.  Kind of simple, but it also taught me that to teach or coach you have to be able to relate in verbiage that the student understands.

TJ as a Chicago White Sox player

Many fans thought that I didn't throw hard, but I threw much harder than they "saw".  I had a long, slow motion that looked like I was just tossing the ball to the plate.  In fact, the pitch was an optical illusion.  Hitters thought the same thing, but my fastball got on them before they thought it was going.  I learned from Gary Peters, another lefty that the object of pitching is to "throw the pitch harder than the hitters thinks or slower than he thinks."  Now days the pitchers just throw as hard as possible.  The real pitching is the Greg Maddox or Jamie Moyer. 

 

Stay in back of the ball and throw through the ball while being in balance.  That was the White Sox philosophy.  Arm up, throw from high to low.

Sounds simple and it is.  I learned this in 1965 and it is true today but just not taught.  Today they pitch to the radar gun and not to get hitters out!!!