“Winning Follow Up”
“The teams that I have been a part of over the course of my playing and coaching career have all tried to simplify the game into individual conflicts. The concept of a team winning a game is a series of individual battles being won each pitch, each out, and each inning (1-1-1). The individual battles are performed by the players during the course of a game. This is not unlike trying to piece together a puzzle. You start with the large picture to get an idea in your head (WINNING THE GAME), then start assembling the outside border (WINNING ON OFFENSE), and finally put together the inside (WINNING WITH PITCHING AND DEFENSE). The difficulty in finishing a puzzle is being patient, working hard, and making the correct choices. These concepts are all in the process. What we have tried to get our teams to believe in is the process of completing the puzzle. From the previous blog about winning, the metrics used to explain the processes are as follows:
1.Win 3 innings
2.Hold (walks + errors) to 5 or les
3.Have 15 or more Quality At Bats
Complete 1 of the above win 80%
Complete 2 of the above win 90%
Complete 3 of the above win 98%
Winning three innings is simple math; score more than your opponent. The equation of how to win each inning is combining 2 and 3 from above. If your defense and pitching hold (zero walks or errors) an inning, and if your team has 3 or more quality at bats during an inning, you most likely will win the inning. Winning 3 innings leads to an eighty-percent success rate. The continuation of the math puts together our puzzle for each game; this is the process of winning.
The best teams that I have coached have internalized these concepts, and they have taken pride in trying to achieve these goals. They have approached each game 1-1-1, ONE PITCH-ONE PLAY-ONE INNING at time. We loved the idea being Number 1, so that became our mantra, ONE. It also served as a reminder of where our focus needed to be, on that one pitch in front of us.”