brush it off, literally

[andrew.ra.]

After something bad happens...if i find i'm still thinking about it as i approach the rubber, i take my pitching hand and brush down on my opposite sleeve... it's a physical and symbolic reminder to let it go and focus on what's ahead. it works ... how you like that!?! ...anyone else do anything similar?

[kevinbert28]

I act pretty weird on the mound(talk to myself, do drawings in the dirt) but I am under control a lot. When something bad happens, I toss the ball up and down in the air.
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Don't ever walk a batter. Hit him instead, takes less pitches.

[Zita Carno]

Pitchers will do all sorts of things to refocus after a slipup of one kind or another. I remember how Allie Reynolds, when he was pitching for the Yankees way back when, would call time, go to the rosin bag and futz with it for a minute or so. Or he would pull an orange out of his back pocket, peel it and eat it. (Doctor's orders; he was a diabetic and needed to get his blood glucose levels back to normal.) I have seen Mariano Rivera make faces after a bad pitch (not the cutter). You just do whatever helps you get back on track.
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"Goddess of the Slider"

[mlbbabble]

[kevinbert28]

Before games, I write an NA for Nick Adenhart like Jered Weaver does. I groom the mound, make the dirt smooth. Might make a shark once in a while.

I talk to myself throughout the game, just to calm me down. I used to sing when playing hockey, and I got a lot of weird glances.
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Don't ever walk a batter. Hit him instead, takes less pitches.