Another baseball pitching tip...

In a pinch, make it your best versus the hitter's best.

With the game on the line, too many pitchers get beat with their second, third, or (heaven forbid) fourth best pitches.

Sometimes this is the result of timidity: it takes courage to throw a straight fastball when a curve or other off-speed pitch might "trick" the hitter (and reduce the odds of contact -- at least in the pitcher's mind).

Sometimes it is because of over-analysis: A hitter has seen a particular pitch several times, so a sub-standard pitch is substituted just for the change in "look".

The fact is, in a crucial situation, a pitcher must beat the hitter with his best pitch. No matter if that best pitch is a fastball -- and the hitter is a fastball hitter -- or the hitter has seen the pitch before.

Remember that even the best hitters fail 70% of the time. Pitchers must give hitters the chance to get themselves out -- a much greater probability on the best pitch in a bag of tricks than on a less effective one.

Work Smart!