A former major league pitcher who gained a boost of fame by catching Hank Aaron’s 715th home run ball, Tom House is now a performance analyst and co-owner of the National Pitching Association in San Diego. Under House’s stewardship, NPA has produced graduates such as Barry Zito, Mark Prior and Cole Hamels. Its advisory board includes such luminaries as Randy Johnson and Nolan Ryan, as well as medical experts such as Dr. Lewis Yocum and Dr. James Andrews. NPA counts about 125 graduates currently pitching in professional baseball, about three times that number in major U.S. colleges. House recently chatted with Baseball Prospectus about the huge advances in sports medicine and technology in the last two decades, the best pitching coaches in the game today, and more.
For the first time since 2001, the A’s have more than two hitters providing high-caliber production.
You either love the wild card or you hate it. But has anyone ever really looked at it?