Rich Hill and The Art of Pitching/Pirates vs Tigers Daytime Baseball
The oldest man in baseball (43 and counting,) Michigan Man Rich Hill is mowing down Tigers hitters this afternoon, as the Pirates lead Detroit 3-0 after 4 innings
With the way bullpens are often overused these days, you may want to tune in relatively soon if you want to see a crafty lefty practicing what Jimbo Price so often preaches: the "Art of Pitching". Hill has a 1-hitter going right now with 7 Ks, relying on a mix of predominantly slow curves and breaking balls, with an occasional 89 mph fastball thrown in to keep the Tigers off balance. Just 64 pitches thrown by Hill thru 4.
Even though I'm a Tigers fan, this kind of pitching is so beautiful to behold!
Pittsburgh scored again while I was posting, now a 4-0 Pirates lead. And AJ Hinch got ejected in the 4th for arguing balls and strikes on a strikeout of Eric Haase.
BTW, the strikeout pitch that got Haase and Hinch pissed off was clearly a strike.
my guess is that haase was complaining about strike one on the inside corner. i guarantee he was bitching to the ump about giving hill both the inside and outside corner on that called third strike. announcers are too dumb to see that. aj was just defending him and was likely ready for a beer.
it was great seeing the race between hill and miggy today to first base on the grounder to the 1B. hill won by an eyelash.
Quick…get the oxygen!
No hamstrings were harmed in the filming of this putout.
I have family at the game so I happen to be listening on 97.1. Sounds like it's more selective umpire strike zone than Art of Pitching! AJ barely getting a word in before a super quick ejection would seem to agree with that.
Reminds me of the reinvented Frank Tanana in the 80's after his youthful power pitching days. I loved watching Tanana take the mound using guile and cunning to frustrate opponents.
Yep, Hill is pitching in true TananaBall fashion today. I don't think Hill ever had a fastball anything like that of the young Tanana, but he's been every bit as effective today as Frank Tanana ever was.
That’s the first thing I thought of when reading “89 mph fastball”. Fast as a Div III stud pitcher!
very similar. and like tanana, hill gets torched a lot too when that big breaker is missing.
1-0
IYKYK
Let's not forget Doyle Alexander.
9-0
1.53
Get the ball, pitch the ball.
Hill doesn't waste any time between pitches. It sometimes seems like it takes longer for one of his 62mph yellowhammers to get to the plate than the amount of time it takes for him to go into his windup once the catcher delivers it back.
After 6 innings/84 pitches, it's still a one-hit gem, 4-0 Pirates 🏴☠️ 🦜☠️
Have you heard of the pitch clock?
Yes I have, but Hill was consistently throwing today some 8-10 seconds ahead of the pitch clock.
My point is that he's a quick worker. I think that's long been his style.
Rich Hill ---- to sum him up in 2 words, "a professional pitcher."
Previous versions include Mark Buehrle, Derek Lowe, Mike Mussina, Rick Reed, the aforementioned Frank Tanana and Bronson Arroyo.
Ok if I add Greg Maddux to your list?
Meanwhile, the Tigers are now imploding in the top of the 7th, thanks to some shoddy glovework by Jonathan Schoop and crappy relief work on the part of Tyler Alexander.
Tigers seriously need to DFA Schoop. It's a move that's way past overdue.
End of 7, now 8-0 Bucs.
Maddux was a step above those other guys in my opinion.
I don't think I've seen anyone in my lifetime more masterful of the strike zone than Greg Maddux.
Maddux was a step above those other guys in my opinion.
And the step up is called The Hall of Fame.
Of course! Though I do agree with Darker Blue: Maddux felt a step above, if not 5 steps above, even the likes of Buehrle and Mussina.
He was SOOOOOOO good.
We'll say he's the exclusive member of the "professorial pitcher" club. :-)
You can't forget Jamie Moyer who was throwing 79mph fire at age 49. He also has given up the most homers of any pitcher in MLB history.
Yep! Moyer was a pretty big miss on my part.
I didn't know it at the time, but I attended would be Jamie Moyer's last MLB game. Memorial Day Sunday, 2012, Rockies @ Reds. He was 49 years, 6 months and 9 days old at the time.
In this particular case, I'd be fine with rounding his 49 1/2 age up. A 50 year-old MLB pitcher!
Trade E-Rod before he reverts to his 4.00 ERA form. Pls dont copy the Mikey Fulmer mistake of Big Al.
Let's package E-Rod, Cabrera and Schoop for Ohtani.
rumors are the cardinals are interested. i think o'neil and one of their other young bats could get it done. hopefully, the tigers will pick the right one. i have little faith in them though.
Or Matthew Boyd.
This guy was in the frontier leagues after injury back in his late 20's, I believe.
He was doing this Frank Tanana resurgence thing to everybody and word got to the Athletics (who signed him) where he rather quickly started after a short stint back in the minors. Boston then signed him as a FA and he has been in the league since. Amazing what pitch control can do.
Sorry if my memory is off on some details but I just found this guy a joy to watch except against my Tigers.
Edit-just looked down the thread and saw I am not alone in the Tanana comparison. Apt.
I played against Rich Hill in college and he was several years older than me. My teammates and roommates have all retired, completely on their own terms, from the MLB/NFL after long championship careers. I cannot believe that guy is still pitching.