Giants closer Brian Wilson has what I call a 4-34-1 approach to pitching. The numbers I mentioned have to do with the 9th inning breakdown of pitches. There are three distinct divisions in his closing inning. Each number is how many pitches he throws in the respective division. The first division is the first four pitches he throws. In sequence they are: out, out, strike, strike. This leaves him with two out and two strikes, just one pitch from a save.
The next 34 pitches are an assortment of walks, hits and runs that cut the Giants' lead to just one run, loads the bases, and takes the count full, with the winning run on second.
The last pitch is strike three to secure a Giants victory.
That was Todd Jones two years ago and Rodney's style last year for the Tigers. I'm glad someone explain what they were doing.
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