Pitchers play pepper to work on hitting technique  Pitchers play
pepper to work on hitting technique  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- It
wasn't a time warp. It was Saturday. There, on an auxiliary
field at the Giants' Scottsdale Stadium complex, were pitchers
playing pepper.  This wasn't a recreational activity. It was
meant for pitchers, particularly the starters who must bat in
National League games, to improve their hitting skills.  "I
think it's a good little drill to teach bat control," hitting
instructor Joe Lefebvre said. "It helps you with situational
hitting, moving the ball around. There are a lot of little
things you can gain with it."  For the uninitiated, pepper
involves a player hitting lobbed throws back to one or more
teammates standing about 20 to 30 feet away. Accomplished pepper
hitters can essentially aim where they hit the ball, and slick
fielders can grab hard smashes.  Pepper gradually became less
prominent in the 1980s. So were there some pitchers,
particularly Minor Leaguers, who had never playe