Structure Translates to Success for Anthony Ranaudo
Big. Hard-throwing. Intimidating.
Junior right-hander Anthony Ranaudo has been called many different things since he arrived at LSU in 2008, but aside from his physical attributes and mid-90s fastball, the 6-7 ace of the Tiger staff really just wants to be known as one thing.
“I’m a pitcher, not a thrower,” Ranaudo said. “I do have a plus-fastball at times where I can run it up to 95 mph, but I don’t rely on that. I’m a pitcher. I know how to set certain hitters up and I know situations. I know when certain things will work and when they won’t.”
According to Ranaudo, being a pitcher is much more than throwing. It’s a combination of hard-work, intense preparation and attention to minute detail. If you take a look into the 2009 All-American’s weekly routine, you’ll see why Friday night isn’t the only time Ranaudo is “pitching.”
It starts with a white, three-ring binder stuffed to capacity. The book contains notes from each of Ranaudo’s starts, which he hand writes himself after each game.
“After each start, I take notes on the good and the bad that I did, and I note stuff I can build off of and stuff I need to work on,” Ranaudo said. “I write it on Friday night or Saturday morning, and then on Thursday of that week I can go look at the stuff I need to work on and do some things to improve.
“When Friday’s start comes around I read my notes that morning and keep in mind the positive things I did the week before, whether it was keeping the ball down, working both sides or if my breaking ball had a good break, even as far as where I held the ball on the seams.”
The pre-game mental preparation seems to have paid dividends for Ranaudo, who finished last season with a 12-3 record, 3.04 ERA and 159 strikeouts en route to being an All-SEC selection and third-team All-American. His starts, however, are not the only thing Ranaudo chronicles in his white, three-ring binder.
“Once I started noticing success from my notes I just built on it,” Ranaudo said. “I got to the point where I was writing down even my workouts and throwing sessions. I have a whole calendar of everything I’ve done for the past two years. I know when my arm felt good and I can go back and see what I did in preparation before that to throw well.”
Ranaudo’s attention to detail and his structured routine are not limited to baseball. In fact, Ranaudo admits his precise planning is something he does in every aspect of his life, all of which contributes to the success he has on the field.
“I’m a very organized person, even in everyday life,” Ranaudo said. “With my eating habits for example, the night before I’ll set my alarm for when I’m going to eat breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch and dinner. It goes hand-in-hand with baseball. I’m really organized and really structured, and I like having a routine.”
His film sessions, relaxation exercises, note-taking and strict workout and eating regimen are not done out of vain and lifeless monotony, at least not in Ranaudo’s opinion. If you’ve ever seen him pitch on Friday, or even in non-start games, you can tell it’s just not his style to just “go through the motions.”
Emerging as a team leader in the offseason, Ranaudo not only delivers pep talks in the huddle before and after games, he is also one of the more outspoken players in terms of in-game motivation and emotional outpouring. Yelling and fist-pumping after a big strikeout is only part of Ranaudo’s ferocious enthusiasm.
“A lot of who I am is based on emotion,” Ranaudo said. “The way I pitch and carry myself is based on emotion. When my adrenaline is pumping and things are going well, I like to show my emotion; that’s just who I am.
“I hope it fires the team up. When I come off the field I want them to give me chest bumps and push me around. I don’t care what they do; I love it. If I have a good first inning I like to get emotional because it gets the crowd into the game early and it also gets the hitters fired up and they go out and play with emotion. That’s how I like to pitch, and with me being the Friday night guy, I have to set the tone for the weekend.”
As one of the top Major League prospects coming into this season, there is a very good chance that Ranaudo will be a high-round draft pick this June. With the prospect of this season being his last in an LSU uniform, Ranaudo wants to ensure that every pitch he throws is a product of the pride he has in the team he loves.
“I take pride in the fact that I played for the name on the front of my jersey rather than the one on the back,” Ranaudo said. “I also take pride in how hard I work. It’s a little bit of everything-eating right, working out well and doing all the little things to make sure my mechanics are good.
“I’m a hard-worker for the team, and I wanted to win more than anyone else there. I want people to remember me as a winner and a competitor-someone who would do anything to win and who would do anything for his team.”