Who I Am And How I Got Here

6/20/2008

In the interest of full disclosure, so there is no confusion, and so that nobody can accuse me of misrepresenting either myself or my credentials, let me take a moment (or more) to explain who I am and how I got here.

Executive Summary

I am the ultimate baseball nobody.
     Due to shoulder problems, experienced due to poor throwing mechanics, I never played baseball beyond grade school.
     Despite that fact, my work on pitching mechanics is followed by multiple major league scouts and player development people. I am also currently working with a number of minor league baseball players on their hitting mechanics, helping them to try to make it to the big leagues.
     I have been profiled by Salon.com and helped the Cincinnati Enquirer put together an analysis of the swing and hitting mechanics of Ken Griffey Jr. as he approached his 600th home run.

Major League Baseball Experience

Despite never playing baseball beyond grade school -- due to a shoulder injury that resulted from poor throwing mechanics -- I am currently in my second year of consulting with a major league baseball team.
     Sorry, but I can't say who it is, but I can say that I am helping them evaluate pitchers that they are interested in drafting or signing. The goal is to help them identify pitchers with problematic mechanics who should either be avoided or regarded with caution.
     It's pretty interesting work.

Update 2/2008: As of February 2008 I have started talking to a couple of people from a second major league organization who are interested in my ideas.

BDD Introduction

I recently started writing for Baseball Digest Daily, and you might be interested in a piece I wrote for them entitled Please Allow Myself To Introduce...Myself. It is a semi-chronological explanation of who I am and how I got here.

Testimonials

Because my baseball credentials (or lack thereof) is such a big issue for some people, I have started collecting some of the testimonials I have received from players and their parents. I hope these testimonials, which come from parents and players ranging in age from grade school through Division-1 college baseball players, demonstrate that I do in fact know what I am talking about.
     Here's an example of the kind of testimonial I have received, in this case for my hitting analyses and rotational hitting instruction materials.

My son is a freshman player at a Division 1 school and has benefited greatly from Chris' analysis of the major league swing. My son's power increased dramatically after utilizing concepts learned from Chris' player reviews and breakdowns.
     As a former college player myself, I appreciate Chris' unbiased take on what does, and does not, work in a batting stroke. Too many instructors advocate methods that seek to justify how they swung the bat as players.
     Chris is simply concerned with what is effective.

My Background

I am not a doctor or healthcare professional and have no formal medical training. However, I have spent the past four years immersing myself in the physiology and kinesiology of pitching. In that time I have read literally every medical journal article that I can get my hands on (amounting to hundreds of articles). I have also done extensive research into the physiology of other overhead throwing sports like cricket, water polo, javelin, and handball.
     One thing I believe prepared me to do this type of work was a job (that I held over 3 Summers) working as a paralegal analyzing the medical histories of people who said they had asbestosis (99% didn't). To be able to do this job I first had to understand the physiology of the lungs and the pathology of asbestosis (e.g. Pleural Plaques and Mesothelioma). I analyzed somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 medical histories and in that time our client only lost one verdict (due to a clear-cut case of Mesothelioma). As a result of that experience, I grew comfortable with medical terminology and wading through complex medical issues.
     I have also spent most of my career working as an analyst and troubleshooter of very large and complex computer systems, working side by side with programmers and helping them analyze and debug the systems they have built. One product with my name on it is a middle-market CRM product called SalesLogix (I helped design and build the database synchronization system). I also helped build www.agedwards.com.
     So how is this relevant?
     Well, I have found that, compared to debugging a multi-tier, web-based application with 20,000 moving parts, debugging a pitcher is relatively easy.
     It's all about looking for patterns.
     One way to think of me is as a Moneyball-inspired analyst of the physiology of the the pitching motion.

My Experience Judging Talent

I am not a complete novice when it comes to judging talent. I have spent the past 5 years working with venture capitalists and angel investors. I frequently advise them on how to evaluate startup companies. I have also worked as a judge in Washington University's Olin Cup business plan competition. I have found that there are many similarities when it comes to judging whether a company, or a pitcher, will be a long-term success.

My Experience Playing and
Coaching Baseball

I never pitched at the professional, college, or even high school levels. I did try out for my college team, but ended up having to pull out due to the damage that I did to my shoulder when I was younger (which is a big part of the reason why I care so much about this).
     The extent of my early experience pitching was numerous Indian Ball and pickup games during high school and later on in college. However, I am the batting practice coach for my sons' teams, which has forced me to learn to throw strikes and hit certain spots in the zone. I also work with the catchers and throw them balls all over in (and more importantly out of) the strike zone.
     I have spent the past 7 years serving as my son's (13U) pitching coaching and the pitching coach of the teams he has played on. My son has never had any arm problems (or even soreness). During my time coaching my son's teams, I have had to deal with pitchers who developed pain as a result of a mechanical flaw (e.g. supinating rather than pronating the wrist as they released the ball).
     As a result of those experiences, I have started to pick up a small stable of clients, including a 3rd round draft choice (who decided to go to college), several minor leaguers, and a number of youth pitchers who show some promise.

My Teachers

I have read every book and article that I could find on the topics of pitching (and hitting). If you asked me who I learned from and who influenced me the most, and who my philosophy most resembles, I'd have to say it goes something like this...

- Mike Marshall (30%)
- Bob Shaw (20%)
- Paul Nyman (15%)
- Tom House (10%)
- Steven Ellis (5%)
- Dick Mills (5%)
- Bill Thurston (5%)

Dr. Mike Marshall

Because it is such an important (and controversial) topic, let me quickly discuss my view of the work of Dr. Mike Marshall.
    I will be the first to admit that I have been influenced by the work of Dr. Marshall and am interested in his approach and his ideas. However, because of some concerns I have about possible shoulder injuries experienced by his pitchers, I do not currently advocate Dr. Marshall's arm action. Having said that, I am a big believer in his ideas about pronating every pitch, limiting reverse-rotation, not leaving the Pitching Arm Side (PAS) foot behind on the rubber, and being a fanatic about conditioning.
     My beliefs about Dr. Marshall's ideas are consistent with the views of a couple of people who work at the Major League level and who are also familiar with Dr. Marshall's ideas.

You Make The Call

If you think the above qualifies me to evaluate and coach pitchers, then read on and/or feel free to contact me. If not, then have a nice day.

My Approach

Let me now say a few things about my approach to coaching and evaluating pitchers.
   When evaluating pitchers, I try to do so relative to two groups of people...

• Major leaguers who had long, generally injury-free careers (e.g. Greg Maddux and Nolan Ryan).
• Major leaguers who had short, injury-plagued careers (e.g. Mark Prior and Bobby Madritsch).

I look at a player's pitching mechanics and then see what major league player's motion(s) they resemble. If they look like Greg Maddux or Roger Clemens, than that's a good thing. If they look like Mark Prior, then that's a problem.
   I have built up a library of documents that break down the motions of major league pitchers as a result of my work on my Pitcher Injury Analysis Project.
   This is a deliberately very conservative approach that has led Dr. Marshall to chastise me for taking it. However, I think it's the right approach to take if a player and/or parent isn't interested in trying out Dr. Marshall's ideas.
   This approach is also very different than the one that others use, some of whom evidently involve comparing everyone to the person they believe has the ideal mechanics: Mark Prior. I view this as at least curious and potentially dangerous given Prior's history of injuries.
   I believe that it is better (and safer) to compare pitchers to people like Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, and others who had long, successful, and generally injury-free careers.