Texas

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If Felix retired tomorrow, would you take his career over those of Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter and Dizzy Dean?

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Twenty years ago, we used to chat with STATS' Mike Mittleman about the difference between control and command.  "Control is the ability to throw strikes," Mike would argue.  "Command is the ability to locate the ball in the strike zone."

Fair enough ... but there was something else there, something elusive.  Greg Maddux did more than just locate the ball in the strike zone, right?  "Command" may address the idea of pitchability, or the idea of knowing when to challenge and when not to, or ...

At BJOL they've been discussing it a lot.  Bill emphasizes the idea of making an offspeed pitch break when you want it to.  If a curve ball starts its break at 30' and breaks down from shoulders to waist over that 30', it's going to be crushed.  But if it starts its break at 20' (from the hitter) and goes from letters to knees, that's going to be unhittable.

Then a reader quoted a GM saying, "Control is the ability to throw strikes; command is the ability to make the ball do what you want it to do."

Hmmmm ... :: taps chin ::