Pitchers: The Great Thinkers of the Game of Baseball
             Baseball is a game that involves constant thinking. There is never a moment when a player is not thinking. Besides the coach, the player that does the most thinking is the pitcher. When on the mound the pitcher is faced with a wide variety of challenges that he must think out before he throws the next pitch. Figuring out what to throw next is the biggest dilemma any pitcher faces because he has to put scenarios into his mind and play them out. Before he can do this the pitcher has to know the order of the batter, the batter's abilities, the count, the number of outs, where the base runners are, what kind of pitch he's going to throw, what location on the plate and most importantly what can he throw to make a strike or to get the batter out. All this goes through a pitcher's mind before he throws the next pitch. Thinking is a huge part of a pitcher's credentials. Because of this, pitching is an art, an art of out thinking your opponent and winning the battle of getting the out.
             The pitcher's role on the baseball diamond is to pitch the ball to the batter to get the batter out. This sounds easier than it really is. When the pitcher is on the mound he is thinking about what he should throw next to out smart the hitter. This is followed by where he should throw the next pitch. The selection of the pitch is influenced by many factors. The first factor that comes into play is the hitter's abilities. An important part of pitching outside of the baseball diamond is studying opponents; strengths and weaknesses. If a pitcher knows that the batter is an inside low-ball hitter, the pitcher will tend to throw outside keeping the ball away from the hitter's power areas. Another key factor that a pitcher studies is what kind of pitches a batter can hit. Many batters have very quick hands, which makes them good fastball hitters. Other hitter...