How to be 75 percent more effective on the pitcher's mound

Baseball pitching should be simple. Easier said than done, I know. But when working with young pitchers keeping it simple makes it fun.

When I work with Little League age kids, I teach two basic principles: a pitcher must be able to throw strikes and a pitcher must be healthy. If he can't throw strikes or if he's injured, he can't play because he's ineffective.

The best pitch in baseball is "Strike 1" because when the first pitch to a batter is a strike, the pitcher will get him out 82 percent of the time. In my experience, if one pitcher begins the game by throwing a strike and his counterpart's first pitch is a ball, the one who opens the game with a strike will win more than 75 percent of the time.

Strike 1 isn't about fooling the batter, either. It's about placing a quality pitch on the glove. Get that first pitch over for a strike.