 David Kohn was an eager nine-year-old when he first climbed to top a pitcher's mound and threw a baseball Even though we needed four fingers to grip the baseball and couldn't immediately throw strikes that experience changed his life He became a different person because he became a pitcher a forever pitcher Kohn has never stopped thinking like a pitcher and never stopped obsessing over pitching Which is why I wanted to collaborate on a book with him a Manic pitcher with bulging eyes and a vein-filled neck Kohn always looked like he was plotting much more zealously than the player standing in the batter's box I wanted to crawl inside his frenetic mind and find out what he was thinking and Describe how pitchers can sometimes feel dominant and in a span of a few pitches suddenly feel desperate That's what we did in full count the education of a pitcher our book that was released this week 42 different times. I pressed record and interviewed Kohn 42 times he delivered with a trove of riveting stories He described his relationship with catchers and how it must be like a dance Naming his favorite and not so favorite dance partners He explained how a forgettable game with the Mets during the 1988 NLCS Turned him into a tough pitcher He dissected every out of his perfect game and at times it felt like he dissected every pitch of his career Besides offering pitching lessons Kohn also revealed some memorable baseball stories He partied with Keith Hernandez and Daryl Strawberry and the Mets. He screamed at Jorge Pasada He was scolded by George Steinbrenner and later built up enough equity to tease the boss He once punched David Wells in the face in the clubhouse during a game Yes, during a game This is a pitching journey, but it's also a personal journey Kohn discusses his frailties and his foibles as much as he discusses his fastballs as Talented as David was while winning 194 games five World Series rings and a Cy Young Award He had fears as a pitcher Kohn wanted to have endless weapons Which is why he used so many pitches and so many different arm angles He fought with his dad his first and his best pitching coach and he squabbled with minor league coaches Because he had to do things his way All David ever wanted was to be a major league pitcher and he accomplished that and became one of the best pitchers of his generation But he did more than that He became a pitching genius Something that was reinforced to me across hours of interviews How much is Kohn immersed in the art of pitching he recently told me and I quote I love pitching when I die I'll be thinking about pitching That was as blunt and honest as a quotation as I have ever heard and that bluntness and that Honesty permeates full count the story of a nine-year-old who found pitching and never stopped loving it