Gordie on Coaching
There is a fine line between winning and losing, and the difference in all sports, not only baseball, is the coach. I repeat, the difference is YOU, the coach! You determine the way your team plays the game and if your team is successful or not. And how you conduct your practice sessions determines how your athletes play in the game.
Gordie on Pitching and Defense
I established my baseball philosophy a long time ago, and it really hasn't changed much through the years. Teams win by playing good defense. I also believe that pitching is 75% of good defense, and probably, 75% of the game.
Do you realize that in 65% of baseball games the winning team scores more runs in one inning than the opposition scores in the whole game?
To prevent the big inning you need a sound pitching philosophy. Warren Spahn, one of the best pitchers in the history of baseball, helped me more than anyone else develop my pitching and defensive philosophy. Spahn's pitching philosophy surely made an impact on me, and in turn, I've tried to impact that philosophy to anyone who has ever pitched for me.
Gordie on Offense
Offensive philosophy must include "catch-up" baseball. I believe we have to "take" pitches in certain situations: we've got to load the bases, we've got to get the tying run to the plate, we have to set up our RBI men.
Your offensive philosophy must answer loads of questions. Can you bunt the ball? Can you steal the important base? Can you do the little things that make winners out of losers? Absolutely! But you need to practice each skill so they become automatic in the game.
Why put all this philosophy in a drill book?
Because the attitude of the person who enforces the strong work ethic behind these drills will prove itself in the playing arena. Drills are the essence of sport. My philosophy of teaching is: teach the whole, break the whole into the essential parts, and then come back to the whole. In baseball, teach the whole concept to the kids, then have great breakdown drills, teach particular parts of game situations, and then come back to the whole, the game itself.
What can you give your players?
Remember the important values you are teaching: Proper working ethic, love and concern for teammates, respect for the opposition, playing honestly and with the highest degree of integrity, win and lose with dignity.
When the put away the bats and balls for the last time, you will have left them with a foundation of values to build upon for the rest of their lives.
Coaches' Comments
Ron Polk, Mississippi State University
Anything that Gordie Gillespie has done in his storied baseball coaching career has been first class. This drills book is another example of why Gordie has been so successful as a baseball coach. This is a 'must read' book for all baseball coaches and players at any level.
Gary Ward, Oklahoma State University
Gordie has been diligent in collecting a lifetime of information from his experiences as a coach, teacher, and master clinician of baseball fundamentals. As I read Gordie Gillespie's Baseball Drill Book I marvel at his precise organizational skills. The great teachers are the most receptive students. Every coach and player interested in baseball or softball should own a copy of this book. It is the 'Baseball - Softball Bible' for practice and drills.
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Gordie Gillespie is college baseball's all time winningest coach and was the first to achieve the 1,500-win milestone in a career. Through 2003, he has compiled a 1,630-830 record in his storied career and is currently the head coach at Ripon College in Wisconsin. In his eighth season, he has made the Division III school a nationally recognized program with three straight NCAA tournament appearances. While at Lewis College and the College of St. Francis in Illinois, Gillespie won four NAIA National Championships and he took his teams to 15 World Series. He became college baseball's all-time win leader in 1993 with his 1,333rd victory and finished the year by earning St. Francis' only national sports title. Gillespie is coaching his 50th season in baseball. During that time he has signed 57 players to professional contracts. One of the most renowned and well-respected coaches of all-time, Gillespie has received numerous honors during his coaching career, including induction into 13 different Hall-of-Fames.