 
... related to The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers.
All the Pitchers Who Wouldn't Fit: A-D
I generally tell people that we put everything we could find in the
book, but the truth is that we put everything in the book that we could
fit, and what wouldn't fit were a few more pitchers.
Actually, most of the material below was discovered after the book went
to press, which is why there's information here about pitchers who are in the book. (What, you think we'd leave Dizzy Dean out?)
111 pitchers listed below; updated 07/11/2008.
Ted Abernathy
Gordy Coleman: "Nobody in the league throws like he does. His fast ball
comes up and then falls down. His breaking ball climbs up and in to
left-handers and he's got a knuckle ball, too. It reacts just like any
other pitcher's knuckler, but it's coming at a lower angle."
Source: Baseball Digest (Jim Ferguson, Jan. 1966)
(Above information supplements Abernathy's entry in book.)
Jeremy Accardo (2006 2007)
Report: "RHP Jeremy Accardo has been sharp with his mid-90s fastball
and split-finger pitch, but in tight situations he relies strictly on
his fastball and focuses on location. Accardo is a fast worker, and the
Giants like his aggressive style and quick motion."
Source: The Sporting News (6/16/2006, Rich Draper)
Report: "RHP Jeremy Accardo struggled leading up to the All-Star break.
He has a good fastball, but his split-finger is temperamental and his
slider is a work in progress."
Source: The Sporting News (7/21/2006, Rich Draper)
Ben Adams (Negro Leagues)
Key Pitch: Fastball
Source: Black Baseball in Kansas City (Larry Lester and Sammy J. Miller, 2000)
Hank Aguirre
Pitches: 1. Screwball 2. Fastball 3. Curve 4. Change (occasional)
Source: Bill Freehan (sort of) quoted in The Tall Mexican: The Life of Hank Aguirre (Robert E. Copley, 1998)
(Above information supplements Aguirre's entry in the book.)
Neil Allen
Davey Johnson: "To me, Neil Allen is not a pitcher. To me, a pitcher is
someone who can spot a fastball for a strike and throw a curveball over
when he's behind. Neil Allen can't do either of those things. He's a
thrower who relies on outstanding speed to get by. I still can't figure
out why Whitey Herzog would have traded us Keith Hernandez for Allen."
Source: Bats (Johnson & Peter Golenbock, 1986)
(Above information supplements Allen's entry in the book.)
John Anderson (1958 1962)
Key Pitch: Sidearm Knuckleball
Source: The Sporting News (9/3/1958)
Ivy Andrews
Note from 1937: Andrews "suddenly seems to have revived himself
as a potential top-flight pitcher with the perfection of what he calls
a right-handed screwball."
Source: John Drebinger in The New York Times (5/9/1937)
(Above information supplements Andrews's information in book.)
Johnny Antonelli
Report: "Antonelli had everything, curve, speed, slider and a
near-perfect change-up. The last-named delivery, which reacts like a
screwball for Antonelli, set up Gil Hodges for three strikeouts."
Source: New York Times (Louis Effrat, 8/16/1956)
(Above information supplements Antonelli's entry in book.)
Jim Archer
Pitches: 1. Curve 2. Screwball 3. Fastball
Archer: "I don't know whether it" -- a new pitch Archer was working on
in the spring of 1962 -- "will work. If it doesn't I'll discard it. I
still can rely on the curve, the screw ball and the fast one. . . Most
of the strikeouts I got were with the fast ball. I threw it when they
weren't looking for it..."
Source: The Kansas City Star (3/4/1962, Ernie Mehl column); in another Mehl column a few weeks later, Archer said "the curve is my best pitch."
(Above information supplements Archer's entry in book.)
Orie Arntzen (1943)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Curve 3. Change of Pace
Source: The Sporting News (4/15/1943, Stan Baumgartner)
Bronson Arroyo (2000 2007)
Arroyo: "I'm throwing a fastball, and then I'm throwing a two-seam
fastball that's a sinker. I'm throwing a changeup. I'm throwing a
curveball at the high slot, and then I'm dropping down a little and
making it really sweepy, which looks more like a slider, and then I'm
throwing a cutter, a cut fastball in on lefties. Like Mariano Rivera,
what he throws."
Source: The Starting Pitcher (Rob Trucks, 2005)
Bob Babcock (1979 1981)
Note: "The righthander with the submarine delivery worked 17 spring innings
without allowing a run, so he won out over Dennis Lewallyn."
Source: The Sporting News (Randy Galloway, 4/25/1981)
Jack Baldschun
Comment: "Baldschun, the Phils' ace reliever, throws his [screwball]
nearly sidearm, and turns his hand and wrist over while the arm is
extended toward third base. Jack throws the pitch about eight out of
ten deliveries, and has mastered it."
Source: The Making of a Big League Pitcher (Ed Richter, 1963)
(Above information supplements Baldschun's entry in the book.)
Brian Bannister (2006 2007)
Report: "Bannister says he has ditched the pitch that got him to the
majors -- his cut fastball -- and become so confident with a changeup
he developed in April that the change has become his second-best pitch
after his four-seamer. Bannister says there wasn't enough of a
difference in the velocity of his cutter and four-seamer for the cutter
to be effective against big league hitters."
Source: The Spoting News (7/2/2007)
Len Barker
Whitey Herzog: "Well, they won't be able to pitch him if they have to
catch a commercial airline. He's the slowest I've ever seen. He must
take 20 seconds between each pitch."
Source: The Sporting News (9/12/1983)
(Above supplements Barker's entry in book.)
Rex Barney
Ralph Kiner:
"The greatest fastball I ever faced was thrown by Hall of Famer Robin
Roberts. It wasn't the fastest. Rex Barney of the Dodgers owned that.
He threw in the vicinity of 100 miles per hour, but it was straight.
However, Roberts, like Sandy Koufax, had great movement on the ball. It
would literally hop over your bat.
Source: Kiner's Korner (Ralph Kiner with Joe Gergen, 1987)
(Above supplements Barney's entry in book.)
Dave Barnhill (Negro Leagues)
Key Pitch: Fastball
"Slow" Robinson: "What they didn't know was that despite his size, Barnhill could throw as hard as Satchel."
Source: Catching Dreams: My Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues (Frazier "Slow" Robinson with Paul Bauer, 1999)
Red Barrett
Johnny Mize: "Those so-called control pitchers can drive a hitter nuts.
A guy like Red Barrett, for example. He gives you that dipsy-do stuff
and you break your back swinging at it, yet he's tough. He throws off
your timing and, with his slow stuff, makes you supply the power."
Source: Baseball Magazine (Ed Rumill, July 1948)
(Above supplements Barrett's entry in book.)
Les Bartholomew (1928 1932)
Report: "He showed a varied assortment of curves and besides a good
fast ball, mixed up a slow heave that caught the Bruin clubbers off
balance."
Source: Unidentified clipping from Hall of Fame files, dated March 30, 1928.
Dick Bass (1939)
Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Curveball 3. Knuckleball
Source: Walter Johnson during radio broadcast of Indians-Senators game, 9/21/1939
Frank Baumann
Comment: "A sore arm that had plagued Frank
through much of his Red Sox career had robbed him of his once-blazing
fast ball, but now he learned to compensate for it by throwing his fast
ball with a sinker motion. It dipped low across the plate and was a
tough pitch to hit. The sinker became his big pitch and Frank also made
effective use of a sharp curve ball."
Source: Baseball 1961 (1961, no author credited)
Charlie Beamon (1956 1958)
Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Sinker 3. Change 4. Curve
Source: Beamon quoted in From 33rd Street to Camden Yards (John Eisenberg, 2001)
Description: “If there was ever a prospect, this kid is one. . .
Beamon has a really good sinker that really takes off, and a live fast
ball, the kind they’re looking for in the majors. He has all the
poise in the world out there on the rubber and has learned to get the
ball over the plate.”
Source: Oakland Oaks manager Lefty O’Doul in The Sporting News
(7/20/1955, Jack McDonald); Beamon had just won his 19th straight
decision in the minors, including two wins at the end of the ’54
season.
Note: Beamon made his first major-league start near the end of the 1956 season, and shut out Whitey Ford and the Yankees, 1-0.
Colter Bean (2005 2007)
Key Pitch: Sidearm Slider
Report: "His is not your ordinary sidearm slider. There's a big speed
change, but there's also quite a bit of break, which you don't see a
lot from a guy who throws sidearm. He's able to cover a lot of
territory with it, from side to side, and he's able to locate it really
well."
Source: teammate Andy Phillips in The New York Times (Tyler Kepner, 2/25/2007)
Erik Bedard (2002 2007)
Report: "LHP Erik Bedard is throwing a circle change taught to him by
pitching coach Leo Mazzone. The pitch complements his low-90s fastball
and late-breaking curve, and Bedard is not afraid to throw it in the
strike zone."
Source: The Spoting News (8/11/2006, Spencer Fordin)
Report: "Over the past season and a half, in particular, Bedard has
demonstrated that he's in command of one of the most versatile arsenals
of any pitcher in baseball. Crowd the plate and he'll bust you inside;
step in the bucket and he'll nibble outside. He throws three types of
fastballs -- a four-seamer that touhches 95 mph, a two-seam sinker and
a cutter -- as well as a sharp curve and a changeup that Mazzone says
is only 60% developed. The pitch that raised Bedard to elite status,
though, might be the one that Mazzone refers to as "the comebacker," a
sinker that appears to a righthanded hitter to be headed inside before
it drifts back over the plate."
Source: Sports Illustrated (Ben Reiter, 2/11/2008)
Clarence Beers (1948)
Key Pitch: Knuckleball
Source: The Sporting News (5/14/1952, Page 28)
Alan Benes (1995 2003)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (mid-90s) 2. Curveball 3. Cutter
Source: The Scouting Notebook 1998
Note: This refers to the early part of Benes's career, before he suffered a series of debilitating arm injuries.
Kris Benson (1999 2006)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (mid-90s) 2. Curve 3. Slider 4. Change
Source: The Scouting Notebook 2004
Report: "He hits 90-92 mph with his fastball. Also throws a slider and
changeup. Benson has good sinking action on his fastball, but he isn't
throwing as hard as he used to. Has a loose arm and a good delivery.
Has a quick-breaking slider and can turn his changeup over and sink it.
Throws strikes."
Source: The Baseball Register & Fantasy Handbook (2006)
Bruce Berenyi
Gary Carter: "Bruce Berenyi . . . was difficult to catch. You never
quite knew where his pitches were going. I didn't know, and neither did
Bruce. His pitches -- curve, slider, even his fastball -- never behaved
the same. I couldn't relax back there, couldn't slide to the ball. I
was always lunging."
Source: A Dream Season (Gary Carter & John Hough, Jr., 1987)
(Above information supplements Berenyi's entry in the book.)
Heinie Berger (1907 1910)
Key Pitch: Spitball
Source: Umpire Billy Evans in Baseball Digest (Ed Bang, February 1950)
Dwight Bernard (1978 1982)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Slider 3. Spitball
Actually, Bernard's foreign substance of choice was mineral oil.
Source: Interview with Bernard (8/12/2006, Rob Neyer)
Adam Bernero (2006)
Report: "RHP Adam Bernero uses a full complement of pitches. He once
relied heavily on his changeup but has broadened his repertoire to
include a fastball, cutter, slider and split-finger pitch."
Source: The Sporting News (9/1/2006, Dick Kaegel)
Jittery Joe Berry
Berry: "When I was younger out on the coast, seemed like my arm was
more limber, sort of. I had a swell knuckler then. I ain't throwed it
much up here. Every time I got in a game we'd be either tied up or
maybe a run ahead, and I don't like to try the knuckler for fear it
might not be buckin' for me that day."
Source: Baseball Digest (Red Smith, March 1945)
Emil Bildilli (1937 1941)
Report: "Emil's qualifications as a pitcher are fair speed, control, a
sharp-breaking curve and courage. He fields his position like a
shortstop and can hit."
Source: Unidentified clipping, dated 10/19/1939, from Hall of Fame's files
Don Black (1943 1948)
Note: In a game against the Yankees on May 23, 1948, Black faced Joe
DiMaggio twice—after DiMaggio had already homered three times
against other pitchers—and retired DiMaggio first on a slider,
and later on a slow curve.
Source: The Sporting News (6/2/1948, Herman Goldstein)
Vida Blue
Scout Hugh Alexander, 1978: "Vida Blue was born to pitch in the
National League. I saw him throw 90 percent fastballs, whereas he used
to throw more curves. The only problem Vida has is that if you can stay
close to him, he'll give up the home run."
Source: Sport (October 1978, Mark Ribowsky)
Blue: "I've a fastball pitcher and I know that eighty-five percent of
the time they're going to be calling the fastball, and I've already got
my grip on the ball anticipating the fastball."
Source: SF Giants: An Oral History (Mike Mandel, 1979)
Pete Rose: "He throws as hard as anybody I've seen."
Ted Simmons: "Vida is still the same pitcher he was when I faced him in
the minors amost nine years ago. He just comes at you; and when he gets
in trouble he comes at you the same way -- with heat."
Dave Winfield: "Sure he needs a good off-speed breaking pitch, but
right now Vida's a pitcher who's not on that mound to be cute."
Source: SPORT Magazine (May 1979, Stephen Hanks)
(Above supplements Blue's entry in book.)
Wade Boggs (1997 1999)
Key Pitch: Knuckleball
Note: According to one source, while pitching a shutout inning for the
Yankees in 1997, Boggs threw sixteen knuckleballs and one fastball.
Eddie Bonine (2008)
Pitches: 1. Sinker 2. Slider 3. Change 4. Hard Knuckleball
Report: "He used the knuckler for a strikeout for his first out in the
big leagues, against leadoff man Juan Pierre in the first. He said he
threw about 10 or 12 knucklers in the course of his 77 pitches."
Source: Detroit Free Press (John Lowe, 6/15/2008)
Ila Borders (Northern League)
Report: "She says her best pitch is the screwball, which she uses
against righthanded batters, along with the curve ball and the fastball
(both cut and sinking). Lefthanded hitters can expect to see her
slider, changeup, and the fastball (both cut and straight)."
Source: The National Pastime: Number 20 (SABR, 2000, article by Jean Hastings Ardell)
Dick Bosman
Description: "Dick's fastbal topped out at about 85 mph, so he worked
hard at fine-tuning his two best pitches, a sinker and a 'slurve.'
Whoever named that pitch got it just right -- it was a combination of a
slider that broke too much and a curve that didn't break enough. Bosman
was managing to win despite everything, and it wasn't long before
Washington called."
Source: Minor-league manager Wayne Terwilliger in Terwilliger Bunts One (Terwilliger w/Nancy Peterson and Peter Boehm, 2006)
(Above supplements Bosman's entry in book.)
Ray Boyd (1910 1911)
Key Pitch: Spitball
Source: Chicago Tribune (7/16/1910)
Herb "Doc" Bracken (Negro Leagues)
Pitch Selection: 1. "Stealth Fastball" (?) 2. Roundhouse Curve
Source: Black Baseball in Chicago (Larry Lester, et al, 2000)
Darrell "Bucky" Brandon (1966 1973)
Pitches: 1. Sinker/Sinking Fastball 2. Curve 3. Slider 4. Slip Pitch
Source: Baseball Digest (Dec.-Jan. 1967)
Harry Brecheen
Umpire Babe Pinelli: "Brecheen is a spot pitcher, which is to say in a
way, a low ball pitcher. He has a terrific screwball which may be his
best pitch. But he also has a sneaking fast ball and a good curve. And
he can slow up his curve. He has real good control."
Source: San Francisco Call-Bulletin (10/19/1946, Jack McDonald column)
(Above information supplements Brecheen's entry in the book.)
Craig Breslow (2005 2006)
Pitches: 1. Curveball 2. Fastball (85-88) 3. Change
Sources: Baseball HQ; Portland Beavers broadcaster Rich Burk
Jim Brosnan
Note: In a 1961 magazine article, Brosnan attributed his 2.36 ERA in
1960 to a greatly improved curveball, taught to him by Reds pitching
coach Cot Deal.
Source: Baseball 1961 (Jim Brosnan, 1961)
(Above supplements Brosnan's entry in book.)
Barney Brown (Negro Leagues)
Key Pitch: Screwball
Source: The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (James A. Riley, 1994)
Dave Brown (Negro Leagues)
Report: "Mixing outstanding speed, a good curve, a hard drop, and
excellent control in a relatively short but sterling career, the smart
left-hander was the ace of Rube Foster's dominating Chicago American
Giants clubs of the early '20s."
Source: The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (James A. Riley, 1994)
Negro Leagues pitcher Willie Powell: "But the best black pitcher was
Dave Brown. He had one of the best curveballs you want to look at and a
good drop ball. After Brown left, Bullet Joe Rogan of Kansas City was
the king of the colored pitchers. I played on the same club with
Satchel in 1928; we barnstormed in Memphis, Birmingham, Kansas City,
St. Louis. I'd still take Rogan over Satchel."
Source: Black Diamonds (John Holway, 1989)
Jackie Brown (1970 1977)
Brown, 1974: "I used to throw 80 percent fast balls. Now it's 50-50 or
perhaps 60 percent curves. That's the way Billy wants it and that's
what I've concentrated on throwing all year. I always figured my fast
ball was my best pitch, but he didn't think it was fast enough. I can
control the curve, throw it for strikes, and he's proved another point."
Source: The Sporting News (Merle Heryford, 6/8/1974)
James Brown (Negro Leagues)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Curve
Source: Black Baseball in Chicago (Larry Lester, et al, 2000)
Fred Bruckbauer (1961)
Pitch Selection: 1. Curve 2. Fastball
Source: Bruckbauer in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002)
Bob Buhl
Bud Selig: "He was a
wonderful pitcher ... You could ... know that
the game started at eight o’clock and you were gone by a quarter to 10.
Hour and 45 minutes. Bang, bang, bang."
Source: Interview with Charlie Steiner, 5/23/2008 (XM Radio)
Cy Buker (1945)
Pitch Selection: 1. Overhand Curve 2. Fastball 3. Dry Spitter (occasional)
Buker: "Dixie Walker told me he'd never seen a better curveball -- the
'downer,' straight from the top. Started at about the waist and ended
at about the shoe tops. He said it looked just like Tommy Bridges'. I
had a fastball that moved all the time. . . It wasn't any 95 m.p.h.
job, but that's why you don't see too many home runs hit against me.
When the weather was hot, I'd hold the ball off the seams. I'd throw
what they call a 'dry spitter.' It'd come up like a knuckleball, only
I'd throw it just as hard as a fastball. I had tons of guys who would
reach around and want to take a look at the ball. They swore I was
doping it up!"
Source: Hardball on the Home Front (Craig Allen Cleve, 2004)
Wally Bunker
Report: "Wally Bunker's good fast ball would be a lot less effective if
he did not have that amazing sinker to go along with it."
Source: Hank Bauer in Championship Baseball (1968)
(Above supplements Bunker's entry in book.)
Jim Bunning
Story: "Dressen got rid of Jim Bunning because he didn't like the fact
that Jim threw sidearm. He criticized Bunning because Bunning didn't
have a curveball. Bunning defended himself by saying he didn't need a
curveball: 'I throw fastball sliders, and I've won a hundred games with
it.' Dressen was immovable. 'You don't throw a curveball, you're out of
here.'"
Source: Mickey Lolich quoted in The Tall Mexican: The Life of Hank Aguirre (Robert E. Copley, 1998)
Report: "There are a few good fast ball pitchers who land flat-footed
and stiff-kneed. Jim Bunning does. But he also topples off the mound
frequently on his follow-throuh and winds up on all fours. Hitters just
don't hit him often enough for it to matter."
Source: Hank Bauer in Championship Baseball (1968)
(Above information supplements Bunning's entry in the book.)
Bill Burbach (1969 1971)
Key Pitch: Fastball
Source: Dog Days (Philip Bashe, 1994)
Trivia: Burbach was the Yankees' first-ever amateur draft pick.
Lew Burdette
Burdette in 1963: "I've thrown a knuckler off and on the last couple of years."
Source: The Sporting News (Bob Wolf, 4/6/1963)
(Above information supplements Burdette's entry in book.)
Ambiorix Burgos (2005 2007)
Pitches: 1. Splitter 2. Fastball (98-103) 3. Slider (occasional)
Report: "According to Minaya, team scouts have clocked Burgos’s
fastball at 103 miles an hour, and last season he threw five pitches at
100 or faster, which was fifth among American League pitchers. And yet,
the fastball may not even be his best pitch. It certainly is not his
favorite one. That distinction belongs to a diving splitter that, when
right, could be as good as John Smoltz’s. The difference is,
Smoltz can pretty much throw it wherever he wants at any point in the
count. Burgos? Not yet. He loves it so much, though, that he tends to
favor throwing it more than his fastball, and that led to trouble last
season."
Source: The New York Times (Ben Shpigel, 2/19/2007)
A.J. Burnett (1999 2007)
Report: Marlins pitching coach "Mark Wiley rates all his pitches
(fastball, curve, changeup) as elite-level. Burnett's explosive heater
is augmented by a 'spiked curve' his grandfather taught him as a teen."
Source: ESPN The Magazine (9/26/2005, Jerry Crasnick)
Sheldon Burnside (1978 1980)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball (90) 2. Curve
Note: Burnside generally threw three-quarters, but would drop down and throw a sidearm curve to a left-handed batter.
Source: Burnside in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002)
Steve Busby
Report: "Busby is a power pitcher with one of the game's better
fastballs. It isn't of the pure, blinding variety such as Nolan Ryan's,
but it's right up there with anybody else's. Furthermore, according to
opposing batters, it moves better than most others."
Source: Baseball Digest (Larry Eldridge, Nov. 1974)
Guy Bush
Comment: "Several years ago he began losing games along in the seventh
and eighth. He figured it out that the teams began getting used to his
overhand delivery along about that time, so he worked up his sidearm
and underhand deliveries to mix it up, break up the rhythm of his
delivery. Then, only the last couple of years he developed his great
screw ball.
"He knows every hitter perfectly and can throw a ball a few inches of
where he wants to. By keeping the ball down and using a lot of sinkers,
he has forced the hitters to hit into the ground mostly and has avoided
the long home run from the new lively ball."
Source: Baseball Magazine (Ralph Cannon, Sept. 1934)
(Above supplements, in a particularly useful way, Bush's entry in book.)
Cecil Butler (1962 1964)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Slider 3. Curve (ineffective) 4. Change (ineffective)
5. Forkball (occasional) 6. Knuckleball (occasional)
Note: Butler threw straight overhand.
Source: Butler in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002)
Bill Byrd
Byrd: "I threw most everything--knuckler, slow knuckler, fast knuckler,
curve, slider. I had good control. [My best pitch was] a good fastball
overhand. I'd get a guy set up and then throw it."
Source: The Baseball Research Journal, Volume 19 (SABR, 1990)
(Above information supplements Byrd's entry in the book.)
Paul Byrd
Report: In mid-May 2005, Byrd began featuring a "one-fingered change-up"
and used that pitch frequently over the rest of the season. According
to Tim McCarver, this was the first time he'd seen, or heard of, such a
pitch.
Source: Fox broadcast of ALCS Game 1, 10/11/2005.
Byrd: "I picked up the split-finger playing catch with John Smoltz last
off-season, and it's been a big pitch for me this year with the
Indians. Obviously, it's not 90 mph like Smoltzy's, but it's my version
and it's worked."
Source: ESPN The Magazine (7/16/2007, as told to Jeff Bradley)
Fernando Cabrera
Pitches: 1. Fastball (97) 2. Slider 3. Splitter
Source: The Sporting News (9/15/2006, Anthony Castrovince)
Kiko Calero (2003 2007)
Report: "RHP Kiko Calero relies heavily on a slider he throws at two
different speeds, which gives it two kinds of breaks -- one hard and
one sharp and the other more looping. Calero, a reliever, throws one of
his sliders on more than half of his pitches overall and on about
three-fourths of them when he has two strikes on a hitter. If he gets
ahead in the count, the at-bat is all but over."
Source: The Sporting News (8/11/2006, Mychael Urban)
Fred Caligiuri (1941 1942)
Best Pitch: Fastball
Source: Caligiuri in The National Pastime (Number 11, 1992; article by Harrington "Kit" Crissey)
Paul Calvert (1942 1951)
Key Pitch: Sinker
Calvert: "My best pitch is a sinker ball. It's a pitch you have to grip
very tightly to make it work. The best sinker ball pitchers are ones
with long fingers. Mine aren't. I have to grip the ball differently and
if I have to work a long time, I get blisters on my fingers."
Source: The View from the Dugout (ed. William M. Anderson, 2006).
John Carden (1946)
Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Curve
Source: The National Pastime: Number 23 (2003, article by Bill Hickman)
Note: Carden pitched only two innings in the majors, and was accidentally electrocuted shortly before he turned twenty-eight.
Fausto Carmona (2006 2007)
Key Pitch: Sinker
Report: "He's got electric stuff, but Cleveland put him in a tough
position. He shouldn't be a closer -- he relies on his plus sinker and
doesn't strike out too many."
Source: Anonymous "AL scout" in Sports Illustrated (8/14/2006, Albert Chen)
Pitch Selection, 2007: 1. Sinker 2. Changeup 3. Slider
Report: "He embraced winter ball and enhanced his repertoire, adding a
superb changeup and a fine slider to go with his calling card, a
two-seam sinker."
Source: Sports Illustrated (8/20/2007)
Lew Carpenter (1943)
Key Pitch: Knuckleball
Source: The Sporting News (3/27/1941, Page 9; and 8/3/1944, Page 25)
Santiago Casilla (2004 2007)
Key Pitch: Slider
Source: The Sporting News (Mychael Urban, 6/18/2007)
Hardin Cathey (1942)
Key Pitch: Fastball
Note: Cathey threw with a “herky-jerky delivery.”
Source: The Sporting News (4/2/1942, Shirley Povich)
Bill Chamberlain (1932)
Chamberlain: "As I look back at it, there was no reason that I couldn't
of made it. I had good control. Some guys were faster, but I had good
control. Ted Lyons gave me the best advice, 'Don't let them hit the
ball they want to hit. Make them hit your pitch.' I should have
listened closer."
Source: The National Pastime, Number 15 (1995, article by Dick Thompson)
Joba Chamberlain (2007)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (94-100) 2. Slider (86-88) 3. Curve (78)
Sources: YES broadcast, 9/23/2007; The Sporting News (Stan McNeal, 9/3/2007)
Tiny Chaplin (1928 1936)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Curve
Source: Unidentified clipping from Hall of Fame files (dated 4/16/1936)
Tom Cheney
Note: on September 12, 1962, Cheney, in the course of pitching a
sixteen-inning complete game, set the MLB record with twenty-one
strikeouts (and threw 238 pitches). Cheney's best pitch was his
fastball, but after the game his catcher said, "That curve ball of his
looked like it was falling off the table. Tom was getting a lot of the
hitters out with screwballs, too, and he came in with his knuckler now
and then and was getting it over." This is the only reference we've
found to Cheney throwing a screwball, but it seems authoritative.
Source: The Sporting News (9/22/1962, Bob Addie)
(Above information supplements Cheney's entry in the book.)
Bob Chesnes
Report: "But that's his trouble. He has so much on the ball that the
hitters are afraid to swing. This doesn't sound bad, but what's the
result? He can't make a bad pitch. They're afraid to swing at anything
he throws for fear of being fooled. The result is that pitches wide of
the plate, or bad pitches at which they'd swing if thrown by another
pitcher with less on the ball, go by unchallenged."
(Above information supplements Chesnes' entry in the book.)
Rickey Clark (1967 1972)
Scouting Report: "He had a fine arm, threw a natural sinker, and his
curve was good enough. If he threw the ball in the dirt on one pitch,
it didn't shake him up. He'd just rear back and throw the next one for
a strike. With the Tigers he might have been trying to be too fine with
his control."
Source: Angels coach Mike Roarke, describing Clark in the minors, and quoted in Baseball Digest (August 1968, Ed Rumill)
Roger Clemens
Report: "Pitchers' repertoires change over time. Roger Clemens used a
slider at the start of his career and learned his splitter on a golf
outing with the former Cy Young award winner Mike Scott. Clemens taught
the pitch to Pettitte in the winter of before the 2002 season, when the
two were teammates with the Yankees. Pettitte threw it that spring with
great success. But three starts into the regular season, he injured his
elbow and missed two months. Although the injury occurred on a
fastball, Pettitte never threw a splitter again."
Source: The New York Times (Tyler Kepner, 3/4/2007)
Report, 2007: "Not once in the 216 pitches that Clemens threw in his
first two starts back with the Yankees did the Rocket's heat
exceed 92 mph. His four-seam fastball sits in the 89-to-91 range, hish
two-seamer a tick or two below that. Armed, however, with a vicious
split-fingered fastball that's as good as ever and athe aforementioned
hardheadedness -- Clemens is a staunch power pitcher the way Strom
Thurmond remained a staunch conservative to the grave -- Clemens
concedes nothing. Whatever velocity he may have lost since his prime
years is compensated for with conviction and command."
Source: Sports Illustrated (Tom Verducci, 6/25/2007)
(Above supplements Clemens' entry in book.)
Jim Cohen (Negro Leagues)
Pitch Selection: 1. Changeup 2. Screwball
Source: Bob Scott in The Negro Leagues Revisited (Brent Kelley, 2000)
Jim Colborn
Colborn: "I have an assortment of mediocre pitches. A mediocre
fastball, curve, slider and changeup -- but I combine them with
knowledge and control."
Source: Baseball Digest (Irwin Cohen, May 1974)
Gene Collins (Negro Leagues)
Key Pitch: Fastball
Source: Black Baseball in Kansas City (Larry Lester and Sammy J. Miller, 2000)
Jackie Collum (1951 1962)
Ed
Mickelson: "Little Jackie Collum proved that a small guy with guts and
a good specialty pitch (for him it was the screwball) could make it in
baseball. Jackie was sturdily built at 5'6" and was a real fighter. He
had good control and a sneaky fastball, but it was his 'scroogie' --
screwball -- and competitiveness that got this diminutive pitcher to
the big leagues."
Source: Out of the Park (Mickelson, 2007)
Jesus Colome (2001 2007)
Report: "The Nationals have found a reliever in Jesus Colome, who threw
100 mph with the Rays but couldn't get anyone out. He finally realized
he doesn't have to hurl it so hard, and has since developed a
nasty changeup."
Source: ESPN The Magazine (Tim Kurkjian, 7/2/2007)
Sandy Consuegra
Pitch Selection: 1. Slider 2. Fastball
Source: Red Rolfe in The View from the Dugout (ed. William M. Anderson, 2006)
(Above information supplements Consuegra's entry in book.)
Aaron Cook (2002 2007)
Report: "Out pitch is a sinker that tops out at 92 mph and has late
life. Also throws a four-seam fastball at 90 mph, a cut fastball at 91,
a changeup at 83 and a slider."
Source: Lewis Shaw in The Sporting News (5/12/2006)
Report: "Cook has a great sinker -- absolutely great. He is kind of at
the stage where Webb was a couple of years ago. He's just finding
enough consistency and command with it, but he can really just pound
you with that sinker."
Source: anonymous scout in The Sporting News (6/2/2006)
Chad Cordero (2003 2007)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (low-90s) 2. Slider
Source: ESPN The Magazine (7/4/2005, Tim Kurkjian)
Glenn Cox (1955 1958)
Key Pitch: Knuckleball
Source: The Sporting News (10/6/1954, Page 24)
Roy Crabb (1912)
Key Pitch: Spitball
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (8/28/1912)
Roger Craig
Commentary: Early in his career, Craig was a power pitcher. But on the
last day of the 1957 season, he "felt a snap" in his shoulder and never
really threw hard again. A few years later, when asked which pitches he
relied on, Craig responded, "Sliders and sinkers, thrown low. That's
why my infield's so busy." He also said that his slider broke "eight
inches or so," while Koufax's curve broke more than two feet.
Source: Craig entry in "The 1961 Dodger Family" series of booklets, published by Union Oil.
Comment: "Spahn had . . . one of the quickest, most deceiving moves
toward first base with a man on, of any pitcher of any time. Roger
Craig was also tops with this type of move."
Source: Kill the Ump! (Dusty Boggess as told to Ernie Helm, 1966)
(Above information supplements Craig's entry in the book.)
Sam Crawford (Negro Leagues)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Knuckleball
Source: Black Baseball in Chicago (Larry Lester, et al, 2000)
Ray Crone
Minor-league manager George Selkirk: "He is not a fellow a hitter would
hate to hit against. His fast ball isn't the fastest in the world and
he doesn't worry you with wild pitches or dusters. But when you get up
there against him you don't get anything good to hit at. He pitches to
spots and usually hits them."
Note: Crone learned his slider from minor-league coach Whit Wyatt.
Source: Baseball Digest (Bob Wolf, May 1956)
(Above supplements, and perhaps should replace, Crone's entry in book.)
Jack Cronin (1895 1904)
Report: "The biggest improvement is in Cronin, whose underhand delivery will make left handers his victims."
Source: Tigers captain Jimmy Casey in Sporting Life (4/19/1902)
Bruce Dal Canton (1967 1977)
Pitches: 1. Knuckleball 2. Fastball 3. Curve
Source: 1975 Pitcher Performance Handbook (ed. Ronald H. Lewis, 1975)
Peanuts Davis (Negro Leagues)
Key Pitch: Knuckleball
Description: “We had a pitcher named Peanuts Nyasses Davis, a
knuckleball pitcher, and you couldn’t even play catch with him
unless you had a mask on. The ball’d hit you in the mouth. He
could throw it with control and throw it hard!”
Source: Raydell Maddix in The Negro Leagues Revisited (Brent Kelley, 2000)
Dizzy Dean
Story: "There's not enough big fellows like I was that can stand out
there and blare a fast ball across with a hop on it. A good fast ball
is all a pitcher needs, if he can control it the way I could. I pitched
a whole game once without throwin' a single curve."
Source: Dean in The Sporting News (5/21/1947)
Phil Cavaretta: "Diz couldn't throw hard. We said, 'He'll just dazzle
you with his motion.' Once in a while he could zip one in there. But
his control was so good, the command of his pitches outstanding, even
though he couldn't throw hard. He actually came up with a little bit
better curve ball, because with his fastball he hadn't needed a curve
ball, but after his injury he would throw that curve at you, then sneak
in a fastball and throw one slow and another one slower. But the key
with Diz in the seven games he won for us in '38 was the command of his
pitches and what we call intestinal fortitude."
Source: Wrigleyville: A Magical History Tour of the Chicago Cubs (Peter Golenbock, 1996); here Cavaretta is describing Dean's style after he hurt his arm in 1937.
Story: "It is a fact that Dean often told the hitters what he was about
to deliver, whether fast ball or curve. A characteristic remark of his
was, 'Brother, I'm going to throw you a curve now and I'm going to have
something on it!' He would throw the curve, and few could hit it for
all they knew it was coming."
Source: Mr. Ump (Babe Pinelli, as told to Joe King, 1953)
(Above information supplements Dean entry in the book.)
Don DeMola (1974 1975)
Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Palm Ball 3. Sinker 4. Curve (occasional)
Source: The Sporting News (3/13/1976, Bob Dunn)
R.A. Dickey (2001 2005)
Pitch Selection, 2003: 1. “The Thing” 2. Fastball (low-90s)
Source: The Scouting Notebook 2004
Note: According to source, “The Thing” is “a hybrid
knuckle-curve/splitter that he can make move like a slider. According
to Brent Strom, Dickey's "Thing" is the same knuckle-curve that Burt
Hooton used to throw.
Pitch Selection: 2005: 1. Knuckleball 2. Fastball
Note: Dickey unveiled his knuckleball in the major leagues on September
13, after relying on the pitch in his previous ten minor-league starts.
Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (9/14/2005, T.R. Sullivan)
Murry Dickson
Joe Garagiola: "He has enough pitches to make a catcher want to take
off his shoes and use his toes to help flash the signs. He used to say
he had only six pitches, but I've caught a fast ball, a slider, a
sinker, a screwball, a knuckle ball, a curve ball, and a change of pace
-- plus the two extras he got by slowing up on his fastball and his
curve ball. His assortment was varied still more by the angle from
which he threw his pitches -- overhand, three quarters, side arm and
even submarine. This last one was a new one that he showed me when I
was with the Giants and he was with the Phillies. With two strikes, he
threw me a curve ball with an underhand motion that seemed to come up
and in to me. I swung and missed, striking out. When I came into the
bench, Leo Durocher asked me what it was. I told him 'A roundhouse
American Legion submarine curve ball.'"
Source: Baseball is a Funny Game (Joe Garagiola, 1960)
Bill Dillman (1967 1970)
Pitches: 1. Curveball 2. Sinking Fastball 3. Rising Fastball
Coach Billy Hunter: "Dillman reminds me a lot of Wally Bunker, but has
a better curve ball. Bill has an easy delivery and shouldn't ever have
arm trouble."
Source: Baseball Digest (Ed Rumill, August 1967)
Dizzy Dismukes (Negro Leagues)
Webster McDonald: "He was an underhand pitcher, and he's the man I
learned it from. Who's the boy with the Yankees hit that boy and killed
him? Carl Mays. Dismukes taught him how to pitch in world War I
overseas."
Source: Voices From the Great Black Baseball Leagues (John Holway, 1975)
Pete Donohue
Babe Pinelli: "Donohue was a great pitcher when we were teammates on
the Reds. . . and to this day I believe Pete had the most effective
natural change of pace ball I ever saw."
Source: Mr. Ump (Pinelli as told to Joe King, 1953)
(Above information supplements Donohue entry in the book.)
Bill Drake (Negro Leagues)
Key Pitch: Curveball
Source: Interview with Drake (12/8/1971, Western Historical Manuscript Collection)
Don Drysdale
Report: "Today, the true side-arm pitcher has almost disappeared.
Having started his career as an infielder, Drysdale uncoils his 6 feet
6 in a baseman's throw -- a wide, sweeping crossfire delivery in
which arms and legs convolute and he reminds you of a man falling out
of a tree. In ever poll, he is named the 'most feared' pitcher around.
His murderous fastball crackles and jumps in a good eight inches on
right-handed batters. His curve is freakish due to the slant of two
fingers on his right hand. Drysdale broke the hand in 1955, the bones
didn't set properly and the malformation allows him to throw an
exaggerated slider which has been known to break as much as two feet.."
Source: Baseball 1961 (Al Stump, 1961)
(Above supplements Drysdale's entry in book.)
Monk Dubiel (1944 1952)
Pitches: 1. Curve 2. Fastball 3. Change
Report: "There is nothing freakish about Dubiel. He features a curve, a
fast ball, a letup, control. No sinker, no slider, no knuckler, no
screwball. Just the old-fashioned, orthodox, regulation pitching
curriculum, administered with plenty of what the players call moxie,
and dished out with determination and spirit."
Source: The Sporting News (6/29/1944, Dan Daniel)
Ken Dudrey (Minors, 1947-1949)
Ed
Mickelson: "He didn't throw hard but had a fairly good sinker ball,
some would say from lack of speed. . . Ken could throw strikes, which
is what a relief pitcher has to do."
Source: Out of the Park (Mickelson, 2007)
Zach Duke (2005 2007)
Report: "He uses a sneaky 88-92 fastball, a curveball and a circle
changeup. Duke is extremely advanced for his age. Has a good delivery
and deceptive arm speed. Can pitch inside to righthanded hitters or
tail his fastball away from them. Has a tight, looping curveball and an
effective, fading changeup that he can throw to both sides of the
plate. Duke probably will never be a No. 1 starter because he doesn't
have a dominant pitch, but he should be an effective frontline starter."
Source: The Baseball Register & Fantasy Handbook (2006 Edition)
Note: One source has Duke throwing his curveball 75 m.p.h., and various
sources list his fastball as traveling anywhere from 87 to 94.
Tom Dukes (1967 1972)
Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Slider 3. Curveball (occasional)
Source: Baseball Digest (Joe Heiling, March 1968)
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