What Kind of PM Pitcher Are You?

Lonnie Pacelli is an Accenture/Microsoft veteran with four decades of learnings under his belt. He frequently writes and speaks on leadership, project management, work/life balance, and disability inclusion. Reach him at [email protected] and see more at ProjectManagementAdvisor.com.

  Career Development   Leadership  

I’m a huge baseball fan. I love the strategy behind the game and how teams adapt their play to fit the need of a game. I especially enjoy how the role of a pitcher is used. Simply put, there are three basic categories of pitchers:

• Starting pitcher: The pitcher who starts the game and can last anywhere from less than an inning to a complete game.
• Relief pitcher: A pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed for whatever reason, such as injury or fatigue. A relief pitcher can fulfill one or more roles, such as long relief, middle relief, setup, or left/right specialist.
• Closing pitcher: A specialized relief pitcher who typically pitches the last inning of a game to secure (or save) a win.

Throughout history, there have been many outstanding starting pitchers, such as Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver, who are measured by stats such as earned run average, wins/losses, innings pitched, and strikeouts.

Since about the 1970s, the closing pitcher role has gained in prominence with notable players like Mariano Rivera, Rich “Goose” Gossage, and Trevor Hoffman. A key stat for closers is the number of games saved.

Relief pitchers, while not as notable as starters or closers, are typically comprised of career relievers or may also consist of former starters and closers. There are also some players, most notably John Smoltz…

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