I love to research pitching deliveries.  I had a conversation with Cage Gascone in the Mechanics Analysis forum in which I compared the points (measured in number of frames in the video) in their respective deliveries when he and Trevor Bauer lined up their Force Vectors with their front hip and when their lead foot broke the plane of the same hip.  I pointed out (as Brent did in the analysis) how much sooner Trevor moved forward and how much longer he led with his hip.  So, I got out my video library and did a little research.  It didn't take me long to realize what an unusual pitcher Trevor Bauer is, and why he may be the gold standard of 3X pitching.  (Brent already knew that.  But, hey – the rest of us have to have something to talk about here…)

I was very surprised to learn that Trevor was the only active pitcher I could find who lined up his Force Vector with his lead hip before his lead foot broke past his lead hip – an indicator of how long a pitcher leads with his hip.  There may be a few others, but I looked at over 30 MLB pitchers and every single one of them extended their lead foot beyond their front hip before they lined their Force Vector up with that hip – including Lincecum, Chapman, and Brandon Morrow, other 3X favorites. 

But, then…  I ran across a category of pitchers who did line up their Force Vector with their front hip before their foot broke their hip.  In other words, they moved out much sooner and led with their hip much longer than even the best of today's MLB pitchers – very similar to the way Trevor Bauer pitches.  The names of some of these pitchers were Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Whitey Ford, and even Dizzy Dean and Satchel Paige. 

I posted once before here that I once timed pitchers from early 1970's All Star games and compared them to pitchers from the 2009 MLB season.  The '70's pitchers moved almost 30% faster from max leg lift to release than the 2009 guys.  If you watch pitchers from pre-1990, they were much more aggressive moving toward the target and leading with their hip than today's pitchers are.  Trevor Bauer is a rare example of a modern pitcher who moves old school.

I'm fascinated with Brent's concepts of Triple Extention, Force Vector and the "sweet spot" he's written about – the timing of when a pitcher lines up his Force Vector and launches toward the target.  I want to learn all I can about when is the best time to launch and what is the best way to teach it.  I'm working on that. 

I've always said that if I have a grandson someday, I'm going to teach him to pitch like Bob Gibson.  In the meantime, in case you've missed Brent's point:  pitch more like Trevor Bauer.