"I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it"

Sandy Koufax, a legendary left-handed pitcher, understood through experience that mastery in baseball, particularly pitching, extends beyond overpowering opponents with raw ability. Early in a pitcher’s career, the focus may often be on achieving dominance: striking batters out, making them whiff helplessly at blazing fastballs or biting curveballs. The pursuit can be intoxicating but often consumes energy and blinds a player to the subtler art of pitching. Koufax’s realization marks a nuanced, strategic transformation: rather than exerting himself to make every batter miss, he chose to induce contact on his own terms.

Making batters hit the ball, rather than miss it, suggests wisdom and self-assurance. Most great pitchers come to recognize that batters will eventually make contact, no matter how overpowering the stuff. Shifting the goal isn’t a retreat from competition but a step towards efficiency and command. Controlled pitches, well placed, well chosen, invite batters into hitting balls they can’t drive solidly. A pitcher in this mind-space chooses pitches that are hard to square up, fostering groundouts, pop flies, and weak contact rather than relying exclusively on strikeouts.

This approach signals both mental and physical maturity. Instead of fighting his own limitations, fatigue, inconsistency, the unpredictability of human performance, Koufax leaned into his strengths and the reality of the game. Inducing hitter’s contact conserves energy, extends longevity in games, and keeps fielders engaged, melding the individual with the team’s collective defense.

Moreover, there’s humility and respect for opponents here. Great hitters, like great pitchers, are professionals adapting and adjusting. By pitching to contact, Koufax trusted not only his own ability to locate pitches but also his understanding of batters’ weaknesses and the skills of his teammates. It’s about control, strategy, and embracing the fundamentals of baseball: orchestrating outcomes rather than forcing them, and in doing so, reaching a higher level of mastery.