April 14, 2011

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou baseball team was recently highlighted by Fox Sports' Andrew Astleford as he took a look at Mizzou's storied pitching lineage. He talked with former Tiger pitchers Max Scherzer, Aaron Crow and Kyle Gibson along with current head coach Tim Jamieson and Friday starter Rob Zastryzny. The story, which ran on April 13, it below.

Three Former Mizzou Pitchers Excel as Pros
By Andrew Astleford - Fox Sports

There is a hill behind Taylor Stadium in Columbia, Mo. The beast is located in line with home plate, parallel to Providence Road. It is so steep that, on game days, Missouri athletic department officials use golf carts to shuttle fans to the gates from parking lots below. It is a place Missouri baseball players want to avoid.

The Summit makes them pay. Future major league pitchers who struggled with their command were sent there. Players with sagging body language, too.

They had to sprint the brutal incline in 27 seconds -- "It's a hard 27 seconds," said Tony Vitello, former Missouri pitching coach -- as they toiled over their mistakes with calves burning like a brush fire. A typical date with the monster lasted six to eight repetitions. Some went 20.

One was enough.

"It sucked," said former Missouri pitcher Aaron Crow, now in his first year with the Kansas City Royals. "It was not fun."

Click here to continue reading the story of FoxSportsMidwest.com.