[Spitball]

Originally Posted by SteelSD

Bingo, and it appears that's what's being misunderstood.

Be aggressive. Force contact on your terms with high-quality strikes and pitch away from contact after getting ahead in the count. That doesn't mean throwing obvious Balls, of course. Throw pitches that look like Strikes, but are actually borderline pitches the hitter has to protect against. That's a good theory. The bad theory ("invite contact" a.k.a "pitch to contact) is this:

...Geesh, now you've come around to a definition that is purely and simply "inviting contact."

These are my last words on this subject. I see absolutely no honorable reason to twist the intent or definition in order to make a point. Like a masterful politician, you took Dick Pole's valid comment and defined it for him with the intent to place him in a negative light.

"Why don't you stop trying to strike guys out? Just try to get them out, and you'll probably strike out just as many guys, if not more."

Translation: "Pitch to contact."

That is your translation and your twist. I don't know how often you talk to pitching coaches, but this comment by Pole is standard advice embraced by virtually everyone.

Originally Posted by Dick Pole

...and you'll probably strike out just as many guys, if not more."

This is the key right here. This is how inviting contact works.

Originally Posted by SteelSD

Be aggressive. Force contact on your terms with high-quality strikes and pitch away from contact after getting ahead in the count. That doesn't mean throwing obvious Balls, of course. Throw pitches that look like Strikes, but are actually borderline pitches the hitter has to protect against. That's a good theory.

This is what inviting contact is all about no matter what political slant you want to put on it in order to validate your stance.

Inviting contact is a philosophy that dictates an aggressive pitching strategy. The pitcher goes right after the batter and throws strikes in order to get ahead in the count. These strikes are not thrown up through the middle of the plate, but in locations that minimize solid contact. (Even the real hard throwers get a large majority of their outs on balls in play) And, just as you said, the pitcher then gets the batter out with balls too close to let go or in other words, with his pitch. This is exactly what Dick Pole meant when he said, "...and you'll probably strike out just as many guys, if not more."

Pitching ahead in the count becomes a cliche unless it is put in other terms. Inviting contact is telling the pitcher not to be afraid to go after the hitter. Be in the strike zone, but change locations, eye levels, and make the batter adjust to different speeds. The pitcher must get ahead in order to throw those split finger fastballs dropping out of the zone, or those sliders and curves breaking into the dirt. To real baseball people, avoiding contact is called "not trusting your stuff". To real baseball people, "inviting contact" is saying that you go out there, be aggressive and go after the hitter. Don't be afraid to invite contact because if you fall behind in the count, you will have to come to the batter with a "crippled pitch."

Now, you can put whatever political slant you want on this because I don't have to have your validation to know what I'm talking about. Inviting contact is all about pitching ahead in the count.