A rare birth defect also gave him a gift: a nearly impossible-to-hit curveball

The Washington Post ^ | May 25 at 10:09 AM | Jacob Bogage

[adorno]

It’s a lot easier to hit a fastball out of the park than a slowball.

I have to kind of agree with that.

My son played pony baseball and then high-school baseball.

He had a strong arm, where he could throw very hard, and at times, when playing right field, could throw a baseball from close to the wall to almost all the way to the plate. However, that strong arm didn't translate to a strong arm when pitching. His pitches almost always ended up being quite slow, but he did have a very accurate pitching arm, where he could pitch a strike almost every time.

The problem for him was that, he traded strength for accuracy, and wasn't known for being a fastball pitcher at all.

But, with his accuracy and his slow ball pitching, he ended up with some games where the opposing teams could not hit baseballs out of the infield, and in a couple of games, he went 8 innings with no one in the outfield being involved with getting any outs, since they didn't get any chances for catches or line drives or ground balls sneaking out to the outfield. His slow pitching baffled the hitters, and he actually would have a lot of strikeouts from people chasing the low slow balls.

Then, he decided to chase his bigger "dream" more than baseball, and chess took him away from continuing his HS baseball career. But, his slow ball pitching along with his ability to throw strikes, still baffles me a bit.

[BruceS]

>>>A 3.70 ERA<<<

It’s better than Justin Verlander’s right now.

Is Justin Verlander pitching in high school?

[dfwgator]

It’s better than Justin Verlander’s right now.

Further proof that 'women weaken legs.'

[Governor Dinwiddie]

#9: "Total gibberish!"

Yeah, it sounds like something George "the Shill" Will would write …

[shanover]

Velocity is overrated to big time hitters. It just goes out faster and longer. Any pitcher grooving a 90 mph plus will get fenced. The key is movement and deception. Maybe he could develop a knuckle ball also with those fingers so long.

[Theoria]

R A Dickey reinvented his career with the knuckleball, and won a Cy Young in 2012. He will have a long career if he can develop a nice pitch.

[boop]

Tom Seaver said to be a successful pitcher you need:

Control

Movement on the pitch

Velocity.

In that order.

Note that velocity comes last.

[TBP]

Velocity is overrated. You need control (location) or you’re not going anywhere. If you can’t throw strikes, you can’t pitch.

A good fastball helps, but if you can get people out with the other pitches (”junk”0, you can do well. Orlando Hernandez wasn’t especially fast, but he had a funky motion and effective control.

[boop]

shanover: you are correct.

Even a guy who can throw a ball down the pipe at 120 mph will eventually get creamed.

MLB batters aren't stupid

They will always adjust to a juicy fastball, no matter how hard it is thrown.

Put it down the middle of the plate and kapow!

The pitchers with the fastest velocity can ONLY be effective if they have a change-up, or something else in their repertoire.

[TBP]

Even a guy who can throw a ball down the pipe at 120 mph will eventually get creamed.

Maybe not 120. There is a certain speed at which it's physically impossible to catch up with the ball. According to Tony Gwynn Jr., son of one of the greatest hitters ever, that is about 105 or so.

[TBP]

The only pitcher I’ve ever heard of who was successful on basically one pitch was Mariano Rivera. Mo threw the cutter almost exclusively.

[Ransomed]

Have you ever heard of the knuckleball?

Wilbur Wood, Phil Niekro, Hoyt Wilhelm, Charlie Hough, Tim Wakefield, RA Dickey, Steven Wright?

There are actually a bunch of them in the HoF. They don’t get as much of a chance because of the way scouts are impressed only withy raw velocity nowadays, which is a shame.

Freegards

[Sgt_Schultze]

Jose Berrios has a seriously awesome curve.

[Ransomed]

http://imgur.com/gallery/MbYee

RA Dickey throwing something out of a bugs bunny cartoon. A true corkscrew knuckleball.

Freegards

[TBP]

Yes, the kncukler can be effective if thrown well, but it’s dangerous if thrown badly.

Bob Uecker was once asked, “What’s teh best way to catch a knuckleball?”

He said, “Wait till it stops rolling and pick it up.”

(BTW, Charlie Hough was another. I think Tom Candiotti adopted one late in his career.)

[Ransomed]

Change ups and breaking balls are feel pitches compared to a fastball. A pitcher needs to get the feel of them, it might take a while. Usually fastball command comes much quicker. The problem with the knuckleball is it is the ultimate feel pitch, you don’t have it you are in trouble quick. You have to do it without spinning the baseball, and somehow throw strikes when you manage to not spin it, because it is moving all over.

Hitting major league pitching is very very hard. Try throwing a baseball without spinning it to major league hitting and be successful. There’s a reason they have always been kind of rare.

Freegards

[Sgt_Schultze]

My dad used to throw knucklers when we’d play catch. Even with a softball, he could get that thing to dance. I got beaned a couple of times as the ball flight is so unpredictable.

[Ransomed]

That gif of Dickey was an 80+ mph knuckleball. It was the year he won the cy young, he threw back to back one hitters if I recall.

Many folks mess around with it playing catch, but not from 60 feet six inches for strikes that would get major league hitters out.

Freegards

[boop]

That GIF of Dickey's knuckleball is amazing.

Even the catcher can barely follow it.

[Ransomed]

He threw that thing 80+ mph. There’s only two knucklers in the bigs currently, RA Dickey for the Braves and Steven Wright for the Red Sox. At least to my understanding. I will always try to watch a knuckleball game. You never know what you will see.

Freegards