| Dr. Mike Marshall's Pitching Coach Services | ||
August 27, 2010: hardballtimes.comby Bruce Markusen August 27, 2010 I’m generally not a believer in the theory of players or coaches being blackballed by Organized Baseball, mostly because I think most teams want to win regardless of personality. Yet, Mike Marshall might be one of the exceptions to that rule. Marshall has not worked for a major league or minor league team since he pitched for the Mets in 1981. That’s rather astounding given his extraordinary levels of intelligence and education, not to mention the success he attained as a premier relief pitcher during the 1970s. In his Los Angeles days, Mike Marshall never allowed orthodoxy, convention or politics to interfere with his pitching philosophies. At times, he treated writers and broadcasters belligerently. He offered his opinions to teammates bluntly and without compromise. Not surprisingly, he has made a number of enemies along the way. Are those enemies keeping him out of the baseball establishment, even when others achieve only mediocre results with conventional methods? It would seem to be the case; baseball, despite the Sabermetric revolution, remains essentially a conservative sport. Ever since making the major leagues, and even prior, Marshall has done things his way. He attended college during the off-season, studied the science of kinesiology, exhibited an endurance level matched by few other relief pitchers in the game’s history, and, even after his playing days, continued to espouse unconventional pitching mechanics that contradict existing baseball wisdom. As an 11-year-old boy, Marshall encountered a tragedy that changed his life. He was riding in a car driven by his uncle when the vehicle was struck by a train. The collision killed his uncle and left Marshall with a severe back injury. Hospitalized for a lengthy stay, Marshall developed an interest in the human body and the mechanics of how it worked. Marshall carried that interest into college. Attending classes at Michigan State University, he majored in physical education. Marshall became engrossed in kinesiology, the study of mechanics in the human anatomy, earning his bachelor of science degree in 1965. Marshall applied his college course load to pitching and began to develop his own theories of pitching and pitching mechanics. He even devised an unusual pickoff move, in which he twisted his body in the direction of first base while making a throw to second base. The move looked painful, to say the least, but Marshall executed the maneuver without hurting his arm. Another theory involved a pitcher’s workload. Marshall believed that he could pitch more effectively by pitching almost every day. After bouncing around with the Tigers, the expansion Seattle Pilots and the Astros, Marshall began to back up his theories with durable and effective on-field performance. After breaking through as a capable fireman with the Expos, he emerged as a star with the Dodgers in 1974. Marshall set major league records by appearing in 106 games and compiling 208 innings, all in relief. Displaying a revolutionary level of endurance, “Iron Mike” pitched more innings as a reliever than a slew of starting pitchers around the major leagues. Even more remarkably, he did so by featuring the screwball, the pitch considered one of the most damaging to a pitcher’s elbow. The Dodgers bought into Marshall’s philosophies, but most of the baseball establishment did not. Marshall’s abrasive personality didn’t help. Known for being surly and a touch arrogant, Marshall believed in doing things his way and showed little regard or patience for those who didn’t accept his beliefs. Marshall also became one of the most vocal leaders of the Players’ Association during the 1970s; that role may have influenced Marshall’s frequent movement from team to team during a tumultuous decade. As Marshall’s ERA rose over the next year and a half, the Dodgers became less tolerant of their abrasive right hander. In the middle of the 1976 season, they traded him to the Braves for the relatively meager package of utility man Lee Lacy and middle-line reliever Elias Sosa. Marshall finished the bicentennial season strongly for the Braves, but a poor four-game start to the 1977 season brought a hasty finish to his Atlanta career. The Braves sold him to the Rangers, receiving only cash in return. After a mediocre and injury-shortened season in Texas, Marshall found new life when he signed a free agent contract with Minnesota. Pitching for the also-ran Twins, Marshall forged two extraordinary seasons, especially considering that his birth certificate put his age at 35 and 36 in 1978 and ‘79.' Combining his numbers for the two seasons, Marshall saved 53 games, won 20, and logged more than 240 innings as an imposing late-inning workhorse. Considering the volume and quality of his workload those two seasons, it’s remarkable that the Twins unloaded him after he pitched poorly in his first 18 appearances of the 1980 season. Rather than bring in some young talent via a trade, the Twins simply released Marshall, receiving nothing for the American League’s best fireman this side of Goose Gossage and Jim Kern. No other major league team placed a waiver claim on Marshall. Even when he cleared waivers, the rotary phones in his house remained silent. None of the other 25 big league teams gave him so much as a tryout. Do we mention blackball? Major league executives publicly denied such a conspiracy, but members of the media wondered aloud whether Marshall’s outspoken tendencies as a member of the players’ union had resulted in the freeze out. Blackball or not, Marshall’s tenure on the unemployment line finally ended more than a year later. In August of 1981, the Mets signed Marshall, gave him the ball 20 times, and watched him post an ERA of 2.61. Lacking a power pitch to finish hitters, Marshall struck out a mere eight batters in 31 innings, but allowed only 26 hits and eight walks. They were respectable numbers for a Mets team lacking in quality relievers, but not good enough to avoid his unconditional release a few days after the season. Unlike most players, Marshall has relied on his academic achievements since his retirement. He had continued his education, earning his Ph.D. in 1978, which he added to his master's degree. In his post-playing days, Marshall has worked as an independent pitching coach and consultant for numerous athletes, preaching the theories of kinesiology. A major part of Marshall’s teaching involves the highly unusual pitching motion that he advocates. With this delivery, the pitcher has no real leg kick. He does not rotate his hips toward second base. After the pitcher lifts the ball over his ear, he follows through with an extreme pronation—turning the wrist outward with his thumb pointing toward the ground. By following these precepts, Marshall believes, pitchers can become injury free. I’ve seen Marshall demonstrate this pitching motion on HBO and the MLB Network. It looks painful and awkward. Then again, maybe I’m just imagining that it’s pain-inducing because I’m so used to watching the classic pitching delivery. After all, Marshall knows a lot more about the human body, and the ways that its limits can be stretched, than I do. Really, what would be the harm in some major league organization taking a few of its struggling young minor leaguers, pitchers who are not considered prospects, and having them adopt the Marshall philosophy? If they have no chance of reaching the major leagues using their current mechanics, what would they stand to lose by giving another approach a try? Yet, Marshall remains apart from major league baseball. No team has ever hired him, in part because of his jarring personality and partly because his pitching philosophies are too radical for the conservative baseball establishment. That’s regrettable, considering the number of pitchers who continue to come up lame, despite the overwhelming prevalence of pitch counts and innings limitations. I’d like to see one team, any team, really, give him a chance to show that his methods might work at the professional level. That’s all Mike Marshall needs—one chance to prove his critics wrong. For more on Mike Marshall and his methods, visit his web site at http://www.drmikemarshall.com Bruce Markusen is the author of seven books on baseball, including the award-winning A Baseball Dynasty: Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s, the recipient of the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research. He has also written The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, Tales From The Mets Dugout, and The Orlando Cepeda Story. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the best of my recollection, I have never met or talked with Mr. Markusen. Therefore, that he wrote this article surprised me. That the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) recognized Mr. Markusen's writings impresses me. Therefore, I appreciate that Mr. Markusen did the research and took the time to write this article. Mr. Markusen wrote, "Marshall has not worked for a major league or minor league team since he pitched for the Mets in 1981. That’s rather astounding given his extraordinary levels of intelligence and education, not to mention the success he attained as a premier relief pitcher during the 1970s." After my brief stint with the Mets in 1981, my pitching career ended. However, as Mr. Markusen said, I expected calls from several professional baseball organizations. Nobody called. Mr. Markusen wrote, "At times, he treated writers and broadcasters belligerently." The overwhelming majority of major league baseball writers work hard and honestly. They were also aware of more than major league baseball. Therefore, I enjoyed both professional and personal conversations with them. As a result, I believe that most major league baseball writers would say that they enjoyed talking with me and interviewing me. However, as Mr. Markusen wrote, at times, I expressed my disapproval of the words that some tried to put into my mouth. Nevertheless, I always found writers far more conversationally interesting than teammates. Mr. Markusen wrote, "He (Mike Marshall) offered his opinions to teammates bluntly and without compromise." I never offered my opinions to teammates. Instead, on a daily basis, teammates and players from other teams sought my advice. Therefore, I had to tread the fine line between helping them and incurring the wrath of managers and front office personnel. Over the years, teammates and others have expressed their appreciation of my help. Tommy John publically thanked me for rehabilitation advice. When I joined the Dodgers, Andy Messersmith asked me to help him. Later, he credited me with his 1974 success, where he finished second in the Cy Young Award. With every major league team I pitched, I quietly answered fellow baseball pitchers' sore arm concerns and guided them through their hard times. Mr. Markusen wrote, "He (Mike Marshall) even devised an unusual pickoff move, in which he twisted his body in the direction of first base while making a throw to second base. The move looked painful, to say the least, but Marshall executed the maneuver without hurting his arm." My fascination with the Latissimus Dorsi muscle lead me to develop my inside turn second base pick-off move. The Latissimus Dorsi muscle is a huge muscle that covers the entire posterior surface of the torso. It arises from the iliac crest of the hip and the lower have of the spinal column and inserts into the lateral side of the bicipital groove in the head of the Humerus bone of the pitching upper arm. The Latissimus Dorsi muscle is very powerful. Other than helping our chimpanzee cousins swing through the tops trees, I thought that baseball pitchers should use their Latissimus Dorsi muscle. I concluded that, for baseball pitchers to use their Latissimus Dorsi muscle, instead of their pitching forearm circling laterally away from their head, their pitching upper arm had to circle laterally over their head. To test this theory, instead of the typical one hundred and eighty degree outside body rotation of the body pick-off move to second base, I use a zero degree inside body rotation. The powerful inward rotation of the Humerus bone proved that my inside turn second base pick-off move engaged my Latissimus Dorsi muscle. This means that, where Mr. Markusen saw a painful throwing motion, my research showed that my inside turn second base pick-off move removed all side-to-side movement in the pitching arm. Side-to-side movcement is a major cause of pitching injuries. Mr. Markusen wrote, “Marshall believed that he could pitch more effectively by pitching almost every day. Removing all side-to-side movement and my interval-training program enabled me to pitch competetively all day every day without discomfort. Mr. Markusen wrote, “After breaking through as a capable fireman with the Expos, he emerged as a star with the Dodgers in 1974. In 1972 with the Montreal Expos, I finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award. In the history of baseball, no non-starter had finished as high as fourth in the Cy Young Award. In 1973 with the Montreal Expos, I finished second in the Cy Young Award. In the history of baseball, no non-starter had finished as high as second in the Cy Young Award. Therefore, I take exception with Mr. Markusen’s characterization that, when I pitched for the Montreal Expos, I was a capable fireman. I also take exception with Mr. Markusen’s characterization that, when I pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers, I emerged as a star. If, before I pitched for the Dodgers in 1974, I had already finished higher in the Cy Young Award than any other firemen in the history of baseball, then, when I won the Cy Young Award, I went into another category of major league stardom. That in 1978 and 1979, I finished seventh and fifth in the American League Cy Young Award, solidified my beyond-the-norm major league star status. Mr. Markusen wrote, “Displaying a revolutionary level of endurance, “Iron Mike” pitched more innings as a reliever than a slew of starting pitchers around the major leagues.” By pitching 208 closing innings, I set myself apart from every other closer in the history of baseball. No matter how successful, unless other closers pitched in two of every three games as I did, it is impossible to compare other closers with me. Mr. Markusen wrote, “Even more remarkably, he (Mike Marshall) did so by featuring the screwball, the pitch considered one of the most damaging to a pitcher’s elbow.” It should not require Sherlock Holmes’ deductive reasoning to understand that, if I could pitch 208 innings in 106 games while throwing forty percent screwballs, then throwing screwballs does not the damage the pitching elbow. To the contrary, my career proves that throwing screwballs benefites the pitching elbow. Mr. Markusen wrote, “Known for being surly and a touch arrogant, Marshall believed in doing things his way and showed little regard or patience for those who didn’t accept his beliefs. If I did what general managers, field managers and baseball pitching coaches told me to do, then I would never have had a major league career, much less a fourteen year career with more records than any other closer in the history of the game. I did it my way and I am proud of what I accomplished despite the constant nay-saying from the baseball ‘traditionalists.’ Mr. Markusen wrote, “Marshall also became one of the most vocal leaders of the Players’ Association during the 1970s; that role may have influenced Marshall’s frequent movement from team to team during a tumultuous decade. Someone had to stand up for major league baseball players. With a doctoral degree and a highly successful ground-breaking career, I thought that I was retaliation proof. I was wrong. Nevertheless, it had to be done and I am proud that I did it. Mr. Markusen wrote, “After a mediocre and injury-shortened season in Texas, Marshall found new life when he signed a free agent contract with Minnesota. I injured my pitching knee fielding a topped baseball in the soggy infield in Oakland. Arthroscopic surgery removed the torn posterior horn of my lateral meniscuse. In Minnesota, I reunited with Gene Mauch. Gene allowed me to be me. That I did not do well for the other teams shows that they, not I, limited my ability to succeed. Mr. Markusen wrote, “Pitching for the also-ran Twins, Marshall forged two extraordinary seasons, especially considering that his birth certificate put his age at 35 and 36 in 1978 and ‘79.' Combining his numbers for the two seasons, Marshall saved 53 games, won 20, and logged more than 240 innings as an imposing late-inning workhorse. I could have done the same for the Dodgers, Braves and Rangers. Unfortunately for them, they thought that they knew more than I did about closing baseball games. Mr. Markusen wrote, “Considering the volume and quality of his workload those two seasons, it’s remarkable that the Twins unloaded him after he pitched poorly in his first 18 appearances of the 1980 season. This action was retaliation for my work on behalf of the Major League Baseball Players Association. In 1979, I finished fifth in the Cy Young Award. That the Twins released me in June 1980 after I did not give up a run in my last nine innings shows that major league baseball did not want me around for the 1981 contract negotiations. That major league baseball, not the Twins, paid me to not pitch the rest of 1980, proves my point. That, after not pitching baseball from June 1980 through July 1981, I had a 2.61 earned run average for the New York Mets shows that, without interference, I would have pitched well for the 1980 Twins. That the Major League Baseball Players Association did not try to make major league baseball pay my 1981 salary shows that the Major League Baseball Players Association also did not appreciate my work on their behalf. Mr. Markusen wrote, “Lacking a power pitch to finish hitters, Marshall struck out a mere eight batters in 31 innings, but allowed only 26 hits and eight walks.” Mr. Markusen is correct. After not pitching for fourteen months, two weeks of training was not sufficient for me to regain my usual quality of pitches. Nevertheless, with a 2.61 earned run average, I think that I helped the Mets. Mr. Markusen wrote, “I’ve seen Marshall demonstrate this pitching motion on HBO and the MLB Network. It looks painful and awkward.” Then, Mr. Markusen wrote, “Then again, maybe I’m just imagining that it’s pain-inducing because I’m so used to watching the classic pitching delivery.’ Then, Mr. Markusen wrote, “After all, Marshall knows a lot more about the human body, and the ways that its limits can be stretched, than I do.” This is what makes Mr. Markusen different from baseball people. Mr. Markusen respects education. Mr. Markusen understands that I have a doctoral degree and I used that knowledge to finish first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh in the Cy Young Award. Mr. Markusen wrote, “Really, what would be the harm in some major league organization taking a few of its struggling young minor leaguers, pitchers who are not considered prospects, and having them adopt the Marshall philosophy?” If owners learned how incompetent their general managers, player development personnel, managers and baseball pitching coaches are, then they would fire them. Instead, these baseball people are taking my principles one by one and claiming them as their own. While this method steals my ideas, one by one, my ideas are changing baseball. I am gradually: 01. Eliminating ‘Reverse Pitching Forearm Bounce.’ 02. Straightening the driveline. 03. Pronating releases, including breaking pitches. Mr. Markusen wrote, “No team has ever hired him. The Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals have contacted me. Mr. Markusen wrote, “... in part because of his jarring personality and partly because his pitching philosophies are too radical for the conservative baseball establishment.” At my age, nothing I do is jarring. However, as the late, great Dodger general manager said, baseball people do not have the prerequisites to that they need to understand what I am teaching them. Mr. Markusen wrote, “I’d like to see one team, any team, really, give him a chance to show that his methods might work at the professional level.” Mr. Markusen wrote, “That’s all Mike Marshall needs—one chance to prove his critics wrong.” When I played, I enjoyed proving my critics wrong. In 1970, Harry ‘the Hat’ Walker traded me to the Montreal Expos. In 1972, I finished fourth in the Cy Young Award. After a three game series in Houston, in which I pitched very well, the Astros fired Mr. Walker. In 1978, as a free agent that nobody wanted, I finished seventh in the Cy Young Award. In 1979, as a free agent again, several teams offered me contracts. However, as I enter my late sixties, I have nothing to prove. I did it all. I did it my way. Nevertheless, as a doctoral degree holder, I have the responsibility to share what I know. I have no desire to spend whatever years I have left teaching and training baseball pitchers. However, I do want baseball people to understand what I know. Therefore, I will gladly present my materials to whomever wants. |
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