Power pitcher

In baseball, a power pitcher is a pitcher who relies on the velocity of his pitches, sometimes at the expense of accuracy. Power pitchers usually record a high number of strikeouts and statistics such as strikeouts per 9 innings pitched are common measures of power.cite web|url=http://www.sportsmogul.com/baseballcd/help/Scouting.htm|accessdate = 2007-08-11|date=2006|title=SCOUTING REPORT|publisher=Sports Mogul Inc.|work=Sportsmogul.com] An average pitcher strikes out about 5 batters per nine innings while a prototypical power pitcher will strike out one or more every inning. The prototypical power pitcher is National Baseball Hall of Fame member, Nolan Ryan, [King, Jason. (July 25 1999) Kansas City Star "Never-changing Nolan Ryan, one of game's greatest power pitchers, true to Texas roots." Section: Sports; Page K11.] who struck out a Major League Baseball record 5,714 batters in 5,386 innings. Ryan recorded seven no-hitters, appeared in eight Major League Baseball All-Star Games but also holds the record for most walks issued (2795). [cite web|url=http://www.nationwidespeakers.com/speaker/390/nolan-ryan/power-pitcher|accessdate = 2007-08-11|title=NOLAN RYAN|date=2004|publisher=Nationwide Speakers Bureau, Inc.] Other prominent power pitchers include Hall of Famer Bob Feller who led his league in strikeouts and walks several times. [cite web|url=http://www.historicbaseball.com/players/f/feller_bob.html|accessdate = 2007-08-14|publisher=historicbaseball.com|title=Bob Feller|date=|author=Olds, Rob]

The traditional school of thought on power pitching was "throw till you blow"Shaw, Bud. (March 21 1999) Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Developing a power pitcher can be a delicate proces. Pitch counts are one way to reduce stress on young arms." Section:Sports; Page 3C.] but multimillion-dollar contracts have changed mentalities. The number of pitches thrown is now counted by a team's staff, with particular attention paid to young power arms. The care which some of the old time power pitchers took with their arms allowed for long careers and further opportunity after they stopped playing. [Brown, Tim. (March 7 2005) Los Angeles Times "Life needn't end at 40 for power pitchers , and Clemens, Johnson and others are proving it." Section: Sports; Fitness and Starts; Page 1.]

In 2003, the Houston Chronicle listed in-order 1. Nolan Ryan (5,714 strikeouts), 2. Roger Clemens (3,909 strikeouts), 3. Bob Gibson (3,117 strikeouts), 4. Randy Johnson (3,746 strikeouts), and 5. Walter Johnson (3,508 strikeouts) as their pick of the all-time power pitchers. [Houston Chronicle. (March 30 2003) "Baseball 2003 / All-time power pitchers." Section: Special; page 11.] The paper later that year noted that power pitchers again were on the rise in majors. [Hohlfeld, Neil. (July 22 2003) Houston Chronicle "A call to strong arms / Power pitchers again on the rise in majors." Section: Sports; Page 1.]

Notes