This title might not be correct because I don't remember what the first one was. That's not stopping me from writing a follow-up to the first one, from which I got a few e-mails looking for more solid pitching tips.

The first one is inspirational. It's been said that the fastest way to the next level is as a catcher. That's wrong. Watch MLB and you'll realize it's pitching. When has a team ever been overloaded with top pitchers? And how hard is it to throw one, two, or three solid innings? Apparently too hard for many relievers.

Many kids pitch but few understand a few basic concepts to it. I'll review a couple and clarify others here.

First, have control. Learn to hit spots, except with a knuckleball, which you throw to zones. You should come close, or hit, a soda can from normal pitching distance nine times out of ten. You may think that heat is everything but good batters will catch up to straight heat, eventually. It's the location that crosses up batters. The graphic of Barry Bonds' strike zone in SI some months back didn't even mention the type of pitch or speed... just the location. I saw a Little League catcher call time and tell his pitcher to throw everything down the middle because the batter couldn't hit anything there. It worked. Throwing something in a location the batter has to adjust to is one element of crossing them up.

It doesn't matter what you throw if you can't throw strikes. Develop good mechanics. Throw well, not necessarily hard, because good mechanics will allow you to throw harder with less fatigue or risk of injury.

Any pitcher gets more effective when he can really mix speeds as well. The real reason why scouts like a pitcher throwing heat for strikes is that they assume (usually incorrectly) that said pitcher can learn to throw off-speed stuff that's really off-speed and mess up batters big-time. But consider how many times you've seen pitchers intentionally walk a batter and they have a hard time throwing an easy lob anywhere near the catcher. Throwing with a lot taken off your fastest stuff should be practiced more often.

Too many pitcher push off the mound. If you aren't actually pulling your posting leg and hip forward at the right time (and hard) you'll lose a lot of velocity at that point in your delivery. When you're releasing, everything on that side of your body should be heading straight for the plate.

Don't make assumptions. Some batters can nail anything low and some will whiff on high stuff all day. It's a huge help to find out the location that works (and as soon as possible). You should be getting in the habit as young as possible of positioning your fielders, and be always working to get that right. I had a batter on a Babe Ruth team, a lefty, who could hit anything high, but always late. I shut up and watched in silent glee whenever he came to bat and the fielders shifted to the right. This kid always hit anything upstairs, but way late, so he almost always ripped multi-baggers down the third base line. Nobody ever caught on.

The toughest stuff to catch is bouncers in the dirt. Throw as few of those as possible. If you do it too much, you may be releasing too late.

First-pitch strikes... always. They're gimmes. Just don't make that pitch too good.

One of a pitcher's best stats isn't wins and losses. Look at your fielders and tell me I'm wrong. A very good one is WHIP: walks + hits per innings pitched. ERA is a bit of a fake; if a pitcher commits an error that turns into a run that run is unearned? Pitchers' errors should count against their ERA, not reduce it.

From Jim Abbott to Barry Zito, the pitchers who make it do so not because of hard work, but hard fun. Others may look at these workhorses and shake their heads, amazed that these guys work so hard. But the truth of the matter is, they wouldn't do that if they didn't enjoy that work. You'd think the Rocket was wacked if he told you he enjoys working out, but don't you think he enjoys staying strong and in-shape and ready to go blow away a few batters who think he's some washed-up old man? When he was in Boston and did his running through traffic (!) he enjoyed the challenge and antics of drivers and pedestrians.

Always pitch smart. Know what it does to you when you get tired. Stay focused on every pitch. Enjoy the daylights out of your results.

These tips, and many more, come to you through the courtesy of pitchers on a variety of levels who have checked in and told what worked for them, on my message board: www.oddball-mall.com/knucklertalk You assume correctly: they all throw the knuckleball. But the reasons for their success are the same for everyone, because they're still very much pitchers. If you didn't know they threw knuckleballs and saw their recent successes you'd say they were headed for the next level. And judging by the fact that they do everything that makes one a successful pitcher, I'd say you're right.

The following article discusses eTopps, a new innovation in sports card collecting. To learn more about eTopps visit http://www.etopps.com

Like the beginning of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), I almost feel like I have been part of the beginning of online cards, of a tremendously new experiment that will eventually explode. What happens when it does finally catch on throughout America? Does it replace cardboard as we know it now? I doubt that but I can guarantee it will be able to duplicate the excitement of pulls with other exciting events (short prints, special IPO offerings etc.). Then it will be become a part of our culture for collectors, just as buying packs in stores has become today. Soon the online IPO's will be the norm and every kid will be logging in with his dad on Monday mornings before work and school to check what new IPO's are out and put their orders in.

Growing up who cannot say they were some sort of baseball fan? It starts when you're knee-high, swinging some wiffle ball bat around the house. Then it progresses to the first real sport you can play with minimal contact that allows your parents to say, "There's my Johnny (or Susie)." Most all of us have been there in some form or fashion growing up. Then we each took one of several routes. But somewhere there was that baseball spirit within us that we kept burning with collecting of cards. Back then it was the cardboard and the sweet gum! However, who was more disappointed as a kid buying cards, the old man who paid you the allowance or you, the kid, buying the pack to reveal double prints of players who should not even have a big league card? The old man hates to see you blow your money that you worked so hard to earn the past week. You hate it because you did not pull a Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Rod Carew, George Brett or Gary Carter card (my favorites in the late 70's). My old man would pull me aside and try to explain how every pack is random and there is no telling what you will get. So I would save up more to buy a box next time. I would take it all down and buy the box and then run home and hide in my room as I went through the whole thing. I would pull out my "gems" and put the other cards to the side and start making team sets or something. In the long run the cost was not worth the gain. I did not know it then but I certainly realize it now. eTopps has revolutionized the way cards are being sold, distributed, and released to buyers and collectors. For better or worse is yet to be determined but so far it is a sunny spot on a bleak hobby.

Apple pie was synonymous with baseball and the way of life for so long. I, however, did not buy into the utopia. I had my share of apple pie and yes, it was American, but I still felt that there was something bigger there that made up the American image as I saw it. Maybe it was buying packs of baseball cards at the Post Exchange on an American Military base in Germany in the 4th grade (1979, in case you're wondering). That was about as American as you could get. My boys and I ran to the PX to pick up some wax packs, get the gum and check out our favorite players. However, with the years came the building of card piles and heaps of year-old stuff. I have grown past the fun in collecting I once had and left them to a pile of wooden boxes, cardboard boxes and plastic containers sitting in my closet. To even try and categorize those things would kill me and take a year of my life that I would never get back. I do not have that now with eTopps and CardTarget. I have tools and the ability to see what is in my portfolio and how it is performing. My baseball card is a stock for all purposes. Whether you like it or not you are now the new collector/investor... which we probably need to come up with a sexy name for, like Collvestor or something wild like that. I like the whole idea of being considered an investor and collector in the same breath. It makes me feel like I have some control on what is going around. We actually do have a lot more power than we think but our problem is we are too divided. Maybe one day a group will form up like the phoenix and be able to represent us. Until then I am fine with voicing my opinions here or on the boards.

eTopps makes it so easy for us to collect who we want and when we want. I hate to say it but I don't like a lot of the players out there and would rather not get their cards. We are given the choice here to either get those cards or not. eTopps leaves it up to us and gives us the power to select our "team" as they call it.

Now we are certainly in the infant stages of eTopps. We have not become part of the "American Dream" yet. However, the NYSE was not established overnight. We went through the terrible depression after the "Roaring Twenties." It will take a period for everything to work itself out for eTopps. This year was a big step with the ECON and management coming to address the fans. You think 100 people in attendance is a small number? I would offer this to you - wait until next year. It will continue to grow. It will grow and spread like wildfire and one day you'll be sitting there looking at your port saying "Should I sell it and buy a house?" That is my American Dream. I want to be able to say I had fun, collected with a passion, and never regretted anything. So take care, have fun, and remember to invest wisely. Do your homework and research. One day you will reap the benefits and enjoy the American Dream, as our twisted eTopps brains will let us view it.

Well it's that time of year again... we are two weeks away from the All-Star game in Chicago. That means it may or may not be the best time to send autograph requests to your favorite player at his respective club. Whether you're writing to a player who is now a coach or to your favorite superstar, it's like taking a trip to Vegas.

Some of the best examples are current Detroit Tiger Manager Alan Trammell. In Trammell's playing days with the Tigers he was considered an infrequent signer. However, since he became manager of the Tigers he has more time on his hands. The Tigers' record (18-58 with a .287 winning percentage at the time of this writing) speaks for itself. He was a good player in his day but considering the talent the Tigers front office gave him I don't blame him for signing cards to take his mind off the mess that is the Tigers. Trammell's turnaround time is about a month and a half.

Depending on the sources you use to obtain addresses to get autographs (anything from your weekly fish wrap of Sports Collectors Digest to your friendly information superhighway) you can reap rewards if you are patient. For example, in a three day period I received Brett Butler, Ken Phelps, Bobby Witt and Matt Stark. I had only sent to Butler, Phelps, and Witt at their home addresses. On the other hand, I wrote Matt Stark at his home address but through the magic of the US mail forwarding it landed back in the same town that I live in. Stark, who was a player with the Chicago White Sox in the early 1990's, is now a coach with the Albuquerque Isotopes, the new Triple A team of the Florida Marlins. Stark enclosed a nice note basically saying "Good luck with your collection". One surprise this week was former Chicago Cubs and current New York Mets pitcher Steve Trachsel. He returned his in only a week and a half.

Marc Schoder is a computer consultant and freelance writer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can contact him at Redsoxfan21@netzero.com.

The contents of the respective articles represent the opinions of the individual writers and not necessarily those of the editor/owner of The Oddball Mall Sports Cards.

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