LR:
Jake Peavy has a 1.68 ERA in 12 starts and is second in the major leagues in strikeouts with 92. Teams are hitting .202 against him with a low slugging percentage of .247. What is the key to Peavy’s success this season?
G:
He’s got control and it looks like he has studied the opposing hitters and knows what they can and cannot hit and what the best possibility is for getting them out. His breaking balls and off-speed pitches are in good locations and that is so important. I saw Riviera pitch the other night against Boston and the catcher was demanding him to throw the ball at certain spots and he hit like nine out of 10 of them and he got a save, so it looks like he was getting back on track. Peavy is doing the same thing; he is hitting the right targets at the right time.
LR:
Do you believe Peavy’s control is unusual for his age?
G:
Control is what they try to teach you – even in the minor leagues. And he’s just caught onto that much faster than most people. It looks like to me he has worked at it a great deal. I know when I was pitching I used to work on control in the bull pen before I got to the mound and I am sure he is constantly working at improving himself.
LR:
Bud Black [San Diego Padres Manager] compares Peavy to Don Drysdale with his three quarter motion and the horizon from which he is able to throw the ball. Do you see that similarity?
G:
I think Drysdale was a little meaner and little more aggressive but you could be more aggressive back when Drysdale pitched. I know I came up once against Drysdale and I was a big fan of his and I learned a great deal by watching him and Gibson pitch. I am sure Peavy’s got a lot of capabilities that Drysdale has and that is why he is doing so well.
LR:
You mentioned something interesting about Drysdale’s pitching and how pitchers were able to be more aggressive during Drysdale’s time. How has the game changed in that sense?
G:
Teams have so much more money invested in a player that you cannot afford to have some mean guy from the other team hitting him in the wrist and breaking it or hitting him in the head. Tony Conigliaro from Boston was hit in the eye and his career ended. The rule committee has been forced to provide more protection to hitters. I remember when we didn’t have helmets. When we got an ear flaps everyone really thought that was a sissy thing to do. Of course, as time when by we all realized these were good steps. A player can get hurt in so many different ways. The other night the Yankee first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz got run over and the initial report was that he’ll probably be out the rest of the year.
Safety measures are there to protect a teams investment and I can understand why but they also have to realize that a pitcher’s ERA is not going to be 2 or less like Gibson --- mine was under 2 one year – but it’s going to be 4 or above. An ERA of 3.50 is going to be a real good one now.
LR:
As more and more safety measures are put into place, what adjustments does this force a pitcher to make?
G:
Well, he can’t afford to make mistakes throwing the ball down the middle. A pitcher who throws the ball down the middle 95 miles an hour and if it’s straight, the hitter is going to hit it. But if you got one going 88 to 92 and it’s moving and on the corner, you got a pretty good chance of having a great game. This is what most of the pitchers are learning now that they need control, they need a catcher who will work with them and provide a target, and don’t let them make a mistake. I’ve seen a lot of mistakes this year – with no balls and two strikes. You know Boston got beat the other day when Rodriguez hit an 0 and 2 pitch out of the ball park. A coach talks to these young pitchers and tells them not to make these mistakes because they’ve seen the situation before and know what the consequences are. Coaches try to teach pitchers early and, in Peavy’s case, someone got to him and has done a great job teaching him control.
LR: Chicago Cubs manager Lou Pinella was ejected and received a four game suspension. Bobby Cox is getting a lot of attention this year for tying the record for being tossed out during a game. Is the media exposure that these types of incidents generate good or bad for baseball or does it really matter?
G: Yeah, Lou went a little nuts! [chuckles]
That’s OK. Lou got a little excited and his club is not doing well. I‘ve watched Lou manage championship clubs when he was in Seattle and he threw a lot of fits while managing down there in Tampa Bay because they weren’t playing good. He expects the Cubs to do a lot better this year, all the fans and the front office expect better as well and they are not getting it done; and Lou is coming in on the hot seat so he’s trying to do some things to shake his players up to get them to do better because they’re just not catching the ball, they’re not running the bases like they should. They’re not doing the regular baseball things that Lou Pinella knew when he was a kid. They’re just not doing it yet. But it’s not over for Lou yet. He’ll get that club to perform on the field.
LR:
What about the call that Pinella was tossed over?
G: Well, you know when I was playing in the 60s and 70s, and even up to ‘83 when I retired, you could argue with the umpire and if you didn’t talk about his mother or his family you didn’t get thrown out. A manager could argue his point. But now they don’t give you a chance. Umpires are quick to eject in today’s game and sometimes a manager needs to get out of there to persuade the umpire – say ‘hey we were looking and we think you are missing these plays’ – and sometimes if you have a player who thinks the umpire is sticking it to him, you got to take up for him and if you don’t you will lose the player’s confidence. So a manager is in a tough situation. Bobby Cox - I’ve never seen him throw fits like Lou Pinella. I played for Bobby one year and he’s a great manager; if you can’t play for Bobby Cox you can’t play for anybody. He’s a great guy so he takes up for his players and sometimes he gets thrown out when his team is not doing well. He tries to provide a spark for his team.
