Since 1967, I had used Michigan State University's central computer to statistically analyze my master's thesis data. Therefore, after I completed my analysis of my 1974stically analyze my master's thesis data. Therefore, after I completed my analysis of my 1974 baseball data by hand, I decided that I needed to use MSU's central computer to statistically analyze my pitching data. Therefore, I recorded sixty variables for every at bat during my 1973 and 1974 major league baseball seasons on computer cards. I labeled my file, BASEBALLDATA.

Table 28.1: BASEBALLDATA

Var #	Var Col	Description
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15	01 02 03-05 06 07 08-09 10-12 13-15 16 17-18 19 20 21 22 23	Year Day/Night Batter Number Left/Right Spray/Pull Home Runs Runs Batted In Batting Average Set/Windup Position Inning Number Away/Home No outs/one out/two outs Baserunner on first/No baserunner on first Baserunner on second/No baserunner on second Baserunner on third/No baserunner on third
16 17 18 19 20	24-25 26 27 28 29	Heirarchy of ball/strike count 1st pitch fastball/slider/screwball 1st pitch vertical location: High/middle/low 1st pitch horizontal location: In/middle/out 1st pitch ball/strike
21 22 23 24 25	30-31 32 33 34 35	Heirarchy of ball/strike count 2nd pitch fastball/slider/screwball 2nd pitch vertical location: High/middle/low 2nd pitch horizontal location: In/middle/out 2nd pitch ball/strike
26 27 28 29 30	36-37 38 39 40 41	Heirarchy of ball/strike count 3rd pitch fastball/slider/screwball 3rd pitch vertical location: High/middle/low 3rd pitch horizontal location: In/middle/out 3rd pitch ball/strike
31 32 33 34 35	42-43 44 45 46 47	Heirarchy of ball/strike count 4th pitch fastball/slider/screwball 4th pitch vertical location: High/middle/low 4th pitch horizontal location: In/middle/out 4th pitch ball/strike
36 37 38 39 40	48-49 50 51 52 53	Heirarchy of ball/strike count 5th pitch fastball/slider/screwball 5th pitch vertical location: High/middle/low 5th pitch horizontal location: In/middle/out 5th pitch ball/strike
41 42 43 44 45	54-55 56 57 58 59	Heirarchy of ball/strike count 6th pitch fastball/slider/screwball 6th pitch vertical location: High/middle/low 6th pitch horizontal location: In/middle/out 6th pitch ball/strike
46 47 48 49 50	60-61 62 63 64 65	Heirarchy of ball/strike count 7th pitch fastball/slider/screwball 7th pitch vertical location: High/middle/low 7th pitch horizontal location: In/middle/out 7th pitch ball/strike
51 52 53	66-67 68 69-70	At bat result Type of batted ball Batted ball field location
54 55 56 57 58	71-72 73 74 75 76	Heirarchy of ball/strike count Action pitch fastball/slider/screwball Action pitch vertical location: High/middle/low Action pitch horizontal location: In/middle/out Action pitch ball/strike
59 60	77 78-79	Pitches per at bat Situation ranking

a. Pitch and Hitter Data Descriptions

To determine how frequently and successfully I threw my fastball, slider and screwball pitches, I cross-tabulated the seven pitch at bat selections (Variables 17, 22, 27, 32, 37, 42 and 47) with the seven at bat ball/strike results (Variables 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50).

Table 28.2: Pitch Selections and Strike Percentages Through Seven Pitches

	Pitches	Pitch Selection Percentages	Strike Percentages
1st	Fastball Slider Screwball	28.9% (469/1623) 23.8% (386/1623) 47.3% (768/1623)	65.2% (305/469) 60.9% (235/386) 53.4% (410/768)
2nd	Fastball Slider Screwball	42.8% (580/1365) 23.0% (311/1365) 34.2% (464/1365)	69.3% (402/580) 67.8% (211/311) 61.0% (283/464)
3rd	Fastball Slider Screwball	43.1% (452/1048) 22.5% (236/1048) 34.4% (360/1048)	47.8% (216/452) 42.8% (101/236) 76.4% (275/360)
4th	Fastball Slider Screwball	43.2% (331/766) 18.5% (142/766) 38.3% (293/766)	66.5% (220/331) 67.6% (096/142) 64.2% (188/293)
5th	Fastball Slider Screwball	43.6% (205/468) 22.3% (105/468) 33.6% (158/468)	73.2% (150/205) 70.5% (074/105) 65.2% (103/158)
6th	Fastball Slider Screwball	45.7% (106/232) 23.7% (055/232) 30.6% (071/232)	71.7% (076/106) 78.2% (043/055) 53.5% (038/071)
7th	Fastball Slider Screwball	54.8% (46/84) 19.0% (16/84) 26.2% (22/84)	80.4% (37/46) 87.5% (14/16) 72.7% (16/22)
Totals	Fastball Slider Screwball	38.6% (2188/5675) 22.0% (1251/5675) 39.4% (2236/5675)	64.3% (1406/2188) 61.9% (0774/1251) 58.7% (1313/2236)

On my first pitch, I selected screwballs (47.3%) more frequently than fastballs (28.9%) or sliders (23.8%). However, I only threw 53.4% first pitch screwball strikes. On my second through seventh pitches, I selected fastballs more frequently than sliders or screwballs. On my third pitch, I threw only 47.8% fastball strikes and 42.8% slider strikes, but, suddenly, I threw 76.4% screwball strikes. On my seventh pitch, I threw 80.4% fastball strikes, 87.5% slider strikes and 72.7% screwball strikes. If I threw these percent strikes all the time, then I would never have seven pitch at bats. Rely on the variety of pitch selection, not location. Challenge the strike zone with all types of pitches all the time.

For general pitch at bats and hitter information, I cross-tabulated at bat results (Variable 51) with pitches per at bat (Variable 59).

Table 28.3: The Seven Pitch At Bat Results

1,556 Hitter Results	Pitch At Bats
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Totals
At Bat %	16.6%	19.0%	18.0%	18.4%	14.8%	9.4%	3.7%	99.9%
Cumulative %	16.6%	35.6%	53.6%	72.0%	86.8%	96.2%	99.9%	16.6%
Hitters	259	296	280	287	230	146	58	1,556
Home Runs Triples Doubles Singles	5 1 10 62	2 0 12 70	3 2 7 55	7 1 5 40	2 1 2 30	1 1 2 17	0 0 3 7	20 6 41 281
BB IBB HBP Sac Bunt Sac Fly	0 0 0 15 2	0 0 1 8 3	0 0 2 1 3	20 9 1 2 2	35 0 0 1 0	38 0 0 0 0	13 0 0 0 0	106 9 4 27 10
Outs	164	200	207	200	159	87	35	1,052
K called K swinging	0 0	0 0	12 43	24 57	25 40	15 23	4 8	80 171
Batting Aver	.322	.296	.245	.209	.180	.194	.222	.249
On Base %	.322	.298	.250	.270	.306	.404	.397	.303

In one through seven pitch at bats, all batters achieved on-base percentages of .322, .298, .250, .270, .306, .404 and .397, respectively. They completed 53.6% of their at bats within three pitches and 86.8% of their at bats within five pitches.

While this information about all hitters combined is very interesting and I could complete several considerable in depth analyses, I needed to narrow my investigation to each of the four types of hitters. I needed to learn how to have more success against left-handed spray hitters, left-handed pull hitters, right-handed spray hitters and right-handed pull hitters.

b. Four Hitter Type Data Descriptions

Spray hitters hit to all fields. Pull hitters hit only to pull fields. For general information about the four types of hitters, I cross-tabulated at bat results with the seven pitch at bats for the four hitter types.

Table 28.4: Seven Pitch At Bat Results For 514 Left-Handed Spray Hitters

514 Left: Spray Hitter Results	Pitch At Bats
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Totals
At Bat %	18.2%	18.7%	17.9%	17.7%	16.5%	8.2%	2.7%	99.9%
Cumulative %	18.2%	36.9%	54.8%	72.5%	89.0%	97.2%	99.9%	99.9%
Hitters	94	96	92	91	85	42	14	514
Home Runs Triples Doubles Singles	2 0 3 21	1 0 3 20	1 1 3 17	2 0 2 13	1 0 1 9	1 0 1 10	0 0 1 2	8 1 14 92
BB IBB HBP Sac Bunt Sac Fly	0 0 0 5 0	0 0 0 4 1	0 0 0 0 2	6 5 0 2 1	12 0 0 1 0	12 0 0 0 0	2 0 0 0 0	32 5 0 12 4
Outs	63	67	68	60	61	18	9	346
K called K swinging	0 0	0 0	5 11	9 14	8 12	2 3	0 3	24 45
Batting Aver	.292	.264	.244	.221	.153	.400	.250	.249
On Base %	.292	.264	.244	.277	.273	.571	.357	.298

In one through seven pitch at bats, left-handed spray hitters achieved on-base percentages of .292, .264, .244, .277, .273, .571 and .357, respectively. They completed 54.8% of their at bats within three pitches and 89.0% of their at bats within five pitches.

Table 28.5: Seven Pitch At Bat Results For 187 Left-Handed Pull Hitters

187 Left: Pull Hitter Results	Pitch At Bats
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Totals
At Bat %	10.7%	14.4%	20.9%	20.9%	15.5%	13.4%	4.2%	100%
Cumulative %	10.7%	25.1%	46.0%	66.9%	82.4%	95.8%	100%	100%
Hitters	20	27	39	39	29	25	8	187
Home Runs Triples Doubles Singles	0 0 1 5	0 0 1 6	0 0 3 7	0 0 1 7	1 0 0 2	0 0 0 1	0 0 0 0	1 0 6 28
BB IBB HBP Sac Bunt Sac Fly	0 0 0 0 0	0 0 0 0 0	0 0 0 0 1	3 0 0 0 0	7 0 0 0 0	8 0 0 0 0	1 0 0 0 0	20 0 0 0 1
Outs	14	20	28	28	19	16	7	133
K called K swinging	0 0	0 0	4 7	4 8	6 4	3 6	1 2	18 27
Batting Aver	.300	.259	.263	.222	.136	.059	.000	.208
On Base %	.300	.259	.263	.282	.345	.360	.143	.252

In one through seven pitch at bats, left-handed pull hitters achieved on-base percentages of .300, .259, .263, .282, .345, .360 and .143, respectively. They completed 46.0% of their at bats within three pitches and 82.4% of their at bats within five pitches.

Table 28.6: Seven Pitch At Bat Results For 585 Right-Handed Spray Hitters

585 Right: Spray Hitter Results	Pitch At Bats
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Totals
At Bat %	17.6%	21.7%	16.6%	18.3%	13.0%	9.6%	3.2%	100%
Cumulative %	17.6%	39.3%	55.9%	74.2%	87.2%	96.8%	100%	100%
Hitters	103	127	97	107	76	56	19	585
Home Runs Triples Doubles Singles	2 1 6 22	0 0 6 35	1 0 1 24	3 0 2 16	0 1 1 16	0 1 1 4	0 0 2 4	6 3 19 121
BB IBB HBP Sac Bunt Sac Fly	0 0 0 10 1	0 0 1 2 1	0 0 2 0 0	10 3 1 0 1	10 0 0 0 0	12 0 0 0 0	3 0 0 0 0	35 3 4 12 3
Outs	61	82	69	71	48	38	10	382
K called K swinging	0 0	0 0	2 15	9 18	7 15	5 8	0 1	23 57
Batting Aver	.337	.333	.274	.228	.273	.136	.375	.281
On Base %	.337	.338	.289	.311	.368	.273	.474	.330

In one through seven pitch at bats, right-handed spray hitters achieved on-base percentages of .337, .338, .289, .311, .368, .273 and .474, respectively. They completed 55.9% of their at bats within three pitches and 87.2% of their at bats within five pitches.

Table 28.7: Seven Pitch At Bat Results For 270 Right-Handed Pull Hitters

270 Right: Pull Hitter Results	Pitch At Bats
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Totals
At Bat %	15.6%	17.0%	19.3%	18.5%	14.8%	8.5%	6.3%	100%
Cumulative %	15.6%	32.6%	51.9%	70.4%	85.2%	93.7%	100%	100%
Hitters	42	46	52	50	40	23	17	270
Home Runs Triples Doubles Singles	1 0 0 14	1 0 2 9	1 1 0 7	2 1 0 4	0 0 0 3	0 0 0 2	0 0 0 1	5 2 2 40
BB IBB HBP Sac Bunt Sac Fly	0 0 0 0 1	0 0 0 2 1	0 0 0 1 0	1 1 0 0 0	6 0 0 0 0	6 0 0 0 0	7 0 0 0 0	21 1 0 3 2
Outs	26	31	42	41	31	15	9	194
K called K swinging	0 0	0 0	3 10	2 17	4 9	5 6	3 2	17 44
Batting Aver	.366	.279	.176	.146	.088	.118	.100	.202
On Base %	.366	.279	.176	.163	.225	.348	.471	.268

In one through seven pitch at bats, right-handed pull hitters achieved on-base percentages of .366, .279, .176, .163, .225, .348 and .471, respectively. They completed 51.9% of their at bats within three pitches and 85.2% of their at bats within five pitches.

c. Comparing the Four Types of Hitters

Table 28.8: Seven Pitch At Bat On-Base % For the Four Hitter Types

Hitters	1 Pitch	2 Pitch	3 Pitch	4 Pitch	5 Pitch	6 Pitch	7 Pitch
LHSH	.292	.264	.244	.277	.273	.571	.357
LHPH	.300	.259	.263	.282	.345	.360	.143
RHSH	.337	.338	.289	.311	.368	.273	.474
RHPH	.366	.279	.176	.163	.225	.348	.471

Right-handed pull hitters batted .366 against me in one pitch at bats. I need to throw either better quality or new types of pitches on my first pitches to them. Right-handed spray hitters reached base over .300 percent of the time in one, two, four, five and seven pitch at bats against me. Clearly, I need new types of pitches with which to get right-handed spray hitters out. Except for seven pitch at bats against left-handed pull hitters, all hitters reached base against me well over .350 percent of the time in six and seven pitch at bats. I need to end all at bats within five pitches.

Left-handed spray hitters completed 54.8% of their at bats within three pitches and 89.0% of their at bats within five pitches. They completed 46.0% of their at bats within three pitches and 82.4% of their at bats within five pitches. Right-handed spray hitters completed 55.9% of their at bats within three pitches and 87.2% of their at bats within five pitches. Right-handed pull hitters completed 51.9% of their at bats within three pitches and 85.2% of their at bats within five pitches. Left-handed pull hitters force me into more pitches per at bat.

I require more specific information. Therefore, I asked the computer to examine what pitches I throw on one pitch at bats and their results, what pitches I throw on two pitch at bats and their results and so on.

Coaching Adult Pitchers