Schilling Takes Note

Arizona’s Curt Schilling has won 45 games in the last two years. He and teammate Randy Johnson are the only pitchers since Jim Palmer, in 1975-76, to win that many games over a two-year span. Curt was also named The Sporting News NL Pitcher of the Year the last two seasons.
 
I agree with Curt when he explains his reason for success. He states, “Every good pitcher I ever talked to, or have been associated with, has an attention to detail that is way above normal. Anybody that is any good in any profession — I’m not talking about good, I’m talking about the best in the world — they pay attention to detail at some level or some facet of the job that no one else does.”
 
For pitchers, it’s not just about their stuff. New York’s Roger Clemens is known for his tremendous work ethic. Atlanta’s Greg Maddux is known for his mastery of both sides of the strike zone. Seattle’s Jamie Moyer is known for his uncanny ability to read hitters and keep them off balance. These pitchers’ fastballs range from 86-94 mph. There are now many pitchers with better stuff than these pitchers but they are struggling just to stay in the big leagues, let alone be good.
 
For Schilling, the one thing beyond his “stuff” is preparation. He says, “[The Diamondbacks] are paying me 10 million dollars a year. I find it hard to believe that there is anything that I shouldn’t or wouldn’t or couldn’t do to make sure that I put up a win.”
 
I noticed a while ago that Schilling is one of the few pitchers I have seen writing in a notebook between innings. I asked him how long he has been doing that and what things of importance he writes down. He wasn’t about to give away any secrets, but he gave me a glimpse into the complexity of his preparation.
 
He started keeping general notes around nine years ago. He said when he started watching video, he kind of got paralysis by analysis as a young pitcher. He wasn’t sure what he was watching or what to watch for when looking at hitters hitting off of him. He was more looking for what he was doing right or wrong as far as mechanics and location.
 
Now he knows what to look for. He says, “Now I am in the next step in the evolution of preparation.” Some of the statistics he now looks for are first-pitch swings, swings within the first two pitches of an at-bat, and walks to strikeouts per at-bats.
 
He also keeps his own spray charts that tell him where each batter hits the ball off of him in what situation, what pitch, and what the count was. He says, “Companies like Inside Edge provide spray charts, but you are looking at a sheet with 500 pitches on it outlining where balls were hit off of fastballs anywhere from 86 mph to 97 mph. I need to know what they do off of me. I’ve gotten to the point now, where defensively, I move my fielders all game long because I know, command wise, I can throw the ball where I want to nine out of 10 times. I know if I throw this fastball in this location, this guy is going to hit the ball in this spot because he has done it 15 times in the past.”
 
I asked him if he used the advance reports that every ball club has on the team they are going to play. He pointedly said, “Lazy pitchers rely on advance reports. Guys that rely solely on advance reports are young kids who don’t know any better and haven’t learned yet, or veteran pitchers who are average pitchers at best who are lazy or they don’t know better.
 
“Every scouting report in baseball is the same way. Start the guy out hard away and finish him off in, or soft away or whatever. But it’s not true for every guy. If I go out there and start off with a fastball away to a guy who, early in the count off of me, likes to drive the ball the other way, then that’s my fault.”
 
Schilling then gave me his key to greatness when he said, “It comes down to taking responsibility.” He explained, “One of the things with preparation is, when guys prepare and people understand that they are putting time and effort into it, it sets them up for failure, and there are no excuses. If you put time and effort into a game and you go out and lose, now you can’t blame anybody else. A lot of people like to have that cushion; well, I didn’t know, or I didn’t know he could do this, blah, blah, blah.”
 
I’ve seen a lot of people like that in pro ball, college ball, and in life in general. They just won’t get to the point of taking total responsibility for their actions, or development or preparation. Because of that, they can always rationalize and make excuses for continuing to be mediocre. It’s not easy because our natural tendency is to only do what we are told to do and to make excuses and blame others or something else if we fail. If it were easy, a lot of people would be great.
 
Anyone who dares to be great has to have the courage to walk out on that limb past his comfort zone and take responsibility for failure as well as success. Schilling has the courage to tell you he prepares thoroughly enough for each game that he has no excuses for losing. That is the manifestation of his proactive drive and courage to not just be good, but to be great.
 
I’m not saying every pitcher should prepare like Schilling does, but even Moyer, who relies heavily on reacting to the hitter and the situation to tell him which pitch to throw, keeps a notebook of hitters tendencies against him.
 
Moyer said there were very few young pitchers who keep a notebook. I asked Schilling if many of the young pitchers were coming to him to find out how he prepared, and he told me there were hardly any. He said, “Young guys are a lot less aggressive in that sense. It’s amazing to me that young players are coming up with more attitude than at any other time I’ve been around the game, and yet their attitude is geared in the wrong direction. They think they need to act a certain way, look a certain way.”
 
Schilling admitted that, “When I came up [to the Majors], I was obnoxious and arrogant but I was not dumb enough to think I knew it all.” His five-day routine is a result of talking to and reading about, “Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson, Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Johnny Padres, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, James Rodney Richards, and others. They have all been a part of making me a pitcher. I’ve learned something from all of them that I take out to the field with me.”
 
I, personally, am not convinced that all pitchers who don’t prepare and keep their own stats and notebook do so because they are young with a misdirected attitude, or because they are lazy. I suggest that maybe they are not being taught, and being held accountable. Any misplaced attitude should be redirected before they ever see the Major Leagues. There is no excuse for a pitcher coming up and not knowing how to analyze videotape, or keep a notebook, let alone hold runners on. Those things should be taught to him the day he signs. He should also be coached to have a plan as to how he can use his particular strengths to develop his own style of pitching, as well as developing that one facet of his job at which he can be the best in the world.
 
Another problem I see is that now, from Little League through college to pro ball, the coaches or managers are calling the pitches. This lends itself to having brain-dead pitchers and catchers who never have to prepare or take responsibility for getting hitters out.
 
Can you imagine a quarterback, even on a college team, not being able to analyze videotape to know defensive tendencies? How do you think they know how to call audibles? We live in the information age. I taught my college team things I didn’t learn about the game until I was in the Majors. Recently, just thinking about it, I came up with over 40 tendencies a pitcher should look for in a hitter or an opposing manager. If any pitcher would record a few of those tendencies that fit his particular style of throwing, it would help him prepare to win.
 
Baseball is a game of tradition, and part of that tradition is to let the minor leaguers play their way to the big leagues. There is a “let the cream rise to the top” attitude. I’m not saying for a moment that there is no teaching going on in the minor leagues because there are fine baseball men there. The fact is young players are reaching the Majors in a shorter period of time than ever before. It is obvious that they are getting there without the maturity of knowing how to prepare to win. They need to be force-fed the mental part of preparation, accountability, and responsibility, as well as the physical skills.
 
Curt Schilling has the reputation of being a stat nut. I’d rather say he is a pitcher who has the courage to prepare to be great. If more pitchers followed his example, and learned from him like he learned from his list of greats, batting averages would go down, and they would win more often.
 
Note: Curt is currently pitching for the Boston Red Sox and continues to be the mainstay of their staff. Despite his age the outspoken righty continues to be effective and takes full responsibility for his actions on and off the field.
 
August 2003, updated June 2007
By Geoff Zahn Former Head Baseball Coach University of Michigan and 12 Year Major League Veteran Pitcher