131 pitchers listed below; updated 7/25/2008.

John Lackey (2002 2007)
Key Pitch: Fastball (low-90s)
Lackey: "Trusting my secondary pitches has been the biggest key for me. I've incorporated a cutter, and that's been a big pitch. I'm trusting my changeup in tough situations, and that gives me more options when my curveball is not working. Another key is being able to pitch inside, both for effect and for strikes."
Source: The Sporting News (Kieran O'Dwyer, 8/25/2006)

Al Lakeman (1948)
Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Curve
Source: The Sporting News (7/07/1948, Stan Baumgartner)

Note: Lakeman, a catcher, supposedly was going to make the big switch to pitching. But he got into only one game, pitching two-thirds of an inning.

Jim LaMarque (Negro Leagues)
Catcher Frazier "Slow" Robinson: "Lamarque had an excellent curveball, a good screwball, and could throw hard. He also had a very good pickoff move."
Source: Catching Dreams: My Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues (Frazier "Slow" Robinson with Paul Bauer, 1999)

Gary Lance (1977)
Pitches: 1. Sinker 2. Slider
Lance: "I got to the major leagues with only two pitches."
Source: Interview with Lance (Rob Neyer, 7/30/2005)

Henny Landers (Negro Leagues)
Pitch Selection:  1. Rising Fastball  2. Sinker
Source: Black Baseball in Kansas City (Larry Lester and Sammy J. Miller, 2000)

Bill Laxton (1970 1977)
Report: "Laxton could be another Sandy Koufax . . . or just another thrower, but he has a major league arm."
Source: San Diego General Manager Eddie Leishman in The Sporting News (12/12/1970, Stan Isle)

Wilfredo Ledezma (2003 2008)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball (mid-90s) 2. Hard Curve
Source: The Sporting News (9/15/2006, Jason Beck)

Cliff Lee (2006 2008)
Report: "LHP Cliff Lee is off the D.L. and has a new pitch -- a slider that complements his fastball, cutter and curve."
Source: The Sporting News (Anthony Castrovince, 5/14/2007)

Bill Lefebvre (1938 1944)
Lefebvre: "I had good control for a left-hander. I hit spots, you know? I was never overpowering. I probably threw in the 88 to 89 m.p.h. range. I had a slider, which was supposed to be a curveball, but I never had a big curveball. I threw a palmball, like Satchel Paige. You put the ball in your hand, and you let it drop between your little finger and the thumb. It's a floater, you know? Change of pace."
Source: Hardball on the Home Front (Craig Allen Cleve, 2004)

Ken Lehman (1952 1961)
Lehman: "Now, I hope, I've got all that I need -- a fast ball, a good curve, a change on both of them and the knuckler."
Source: Baseball Digest (Michael Gaven, May 1956)

Dennis Leonard
Al Oliver: "He's one of the most competitive pitchers I've faced since Bob Gibson. He has a super fastball and a change that will get better. His slider is also very good. All he has to do is keep the ball down consistently."
Source: SPORT Magazine (May 1979, Stephen Hanks)

(Above supplements Leonard's entry in book.)

Don Liddle (1953 1956)
Pitch Selection: 1. Curve 2. Fastball
Liddle: "The curveball was my best pitch. I could usually get it over, even on a 3 and 0 count or 3 and 1."
Source: Inside Pitch: Classic Baseball Moments (John C. Skipper, 1996)

Brad Lidge (2002 2007)
Report: "Reliever Brad Lidge has better stuff and command than the closer he's setting up, Octavio Dotel . . . Righthanders have almost no chance against Lidge's 91-mph slider and 97-mph fastball."
Source: Sports Illustrated (5/24/2004, Tom Verducci)

Report: "Now the Lidge slider is perhaps the most devastating pitch in the game, especially since he still throws 97 mph heat. The low-90s slider has wicked downward movement, much like Robb Nen's in his prime, only Lidge throws slightly harder than Nen did."
Source: ESPN The Magazine (10/24/2005, Tim Kurkjian)

Report: "RHP Brad Lidge credits much of his recent success to his two-seam fastball. He is using it to complement his four-seamer and slider, and the two-seamer's movement allows him to work inside to righthanders more effectively."
Source: The Sporting News (9/15/2006, Alyson Footer)

Dutch Lieber (1935 1936)
Pitch Selection:  1. Fastball  2. Knuckleball
Note: This entry should probably be considered at least somewhat suspect, as it comes from a letter sent to TSN by a fan.
Source: The Sporting News (1/24/1935)

Tim Lincecum (2007 2008)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (95) 2. Curve 3. Change (85)
Source: The Hardball Times (Josh Kalk, 12/4/2007)

Pitches: 1. Fastball (91-98) 2. Curveball 3. Changeup 4. Hard Slider
Source: Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2007

Report: "Lincecum seems to have this pitching thing all figured out, thanks to a homemade delivery crafted by his father. As he winds up, Lincecum turns his back slightly away from the hitter while peering over his left shoulder with his head slightly dipped, reminiscent of either Orel Hershiser or the Fosbury Flop high jump technique. As he falls toward the hitter, his left foot lands slightly out of line to his right foot (toward third base) before his arm comes whipping ferociously across his body as his hips rotate with tremendous speed reminiscent of Tim Hudson. The style, not to mention a snapdragon of a curveball, is particularly brutal on righthanded hitters, who whiffed 23 times in their first 72 cracks at him with a .264 slugging percentage."
Source: SI.com (Tom Verducci, 6/5/2007)

Report: "Lincecum, a 22-year-old rookie right-hander, contorts his 5-foot-11, 160-pound frame in an over-the-top motion that may make chiropractors cringe but creates little stress on his body — and, oh by the way, helps him to routinely throw in the upper 90s."
Source: The New York Times (Ben Shpigel, 5/28/2007)

Report: "Lincecum has a gymnast's flexibility and coordination, allowing his legs, hips and torso -- the keys to his delivery -- to work in such exquisite harmony. There are two essential reasons for his velocity: 1) His front side, especially his left shoulder, stays square to the target for as long as possible, producing outrageous torque, and 2) he has an abnormally long stride, which would place enormous pressure on his left leg if not for his right 'ankle kick' off the mound."
Source: Sports Illustrated (Tom Verducci, 7/7/2008)

Matt Lindstrom (2007)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (98-99) 2. Slider 3. Splitter
Source: Marlins TV broadcast, 4/16/2007

Roy Lint (1954)
Key Pitch: Knuckleball
Source: Ed Mickelson in Out of the Park (Mickelson, 2007)

Kyle Lohse (2001 2008)
Report: "RHP Kyle Lohse has found success with the Cardinals and pitching coach Dave Duncan this season because of his ability to locate his sinker and fastball at the knees on either edge of the strike zone. By focusing on keeping the ball down, Lohse -- who has allowed at least 22 homers in five seasons -- has been able to keep the ball in the park ... and stay away from big innings."
Source: The Sporting News (7/14/2008)

Braden Looper (1998 2008)
Report: "The 32-year-old Looper, a sinker-slider guy as a reliever, is now sprinkling in a four-seam fastball and a splitter, and he's tinkered with a cutter."
Source: ESPN The Magazine (Jerry Crasnick, 5/7/2007)

Looper, on starting: "I'm able to use all four pitches and not concentrate so much on my sinker and slider."
Source: The Sporting News (5/7/2007)

Eddie Lopat
Wayne Terwilliger: "Eddie had a strange motion; he'd throw his shoulder and his head at you, and then here comes the ball. The first time I ever faced him, I saw the ball well, I got three hits, and I hit the ball hard every time. After the game, the other guys told me they were surprised that I was able to hit so well against him and his off-speed pitches. I didn't say much, because I didn't want them to know that I thought they were just fastballs that didn't have much on them. I found out Lopat had a bunch of 'junk' pitches that came at you at different speeds and from different motions, and he mixed them up to keep hitters off-stride."
Source: Terwilliger Bunts One (Wayne Terwilliger w/Nancy Peterson & Peter Boehm, 2006)

Hal Newhouser: "Eddie Lopat . . . uses a change of pace on practically every pitch, and throws three or four different speeds. He's tough to hit when he is having a good day."
Source: Pitching to Win (Hal Newhouser, 1948)

(Information above supplements Lopat's entry in book.)

Marcelino Lopez (1963 1972)
Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Curve
Lopez: "I know I have lazy curve. I always get by on fast ball. It still my best pitch, but now I have one more pitch to make hitter think."
Source: The Sporting News (5/15/1965, Ross Newhan; obviously, this citation describes Lopez early in his career; he was twenty-one at the time.)

Mark Lowe (2006)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (mid-90s) 2. Hard Slider 3. Change
Source: The Sporting News (8/11/2006, Corey Brock)

Noah Lowry (2003 2008)
Pitches: 1. Changeup 2. Fastball (88) 3. Breaking Balls
Report: "His best pitch is a changeup with some dive. Lowry throws an 88-mph four-seam fastball with little tail for a lefthander. He shows the ability but not the confidence to change the shape and location of his breaking balls."
Source: Lewis Shaw in The Sporting News (5/20/2005)

Raydell Maddix (Negro Leagues)
Pitch Selection:  1. Fastball  2. Curve (ineffective)
Source: Maddix in The Negro Leagues Revisited (Brent Kelley, 2000)

Art Mahaffey
Note: According to Ed Richter in The Making of a Big League Pitcher (1963), Mahaffey first started throwing a slider in 1962.

(Information above supplements Mahaffey's entry in book.)

Duster Mails (1915 1926)
Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Curve
Source: The Pitch That Killed (Mike Sowell, 1989)

In same source, Mails speaks in 1920 about his brief trials in 1915 and '16 with the Dodgers: "I didn't deliberately try to dust them off. I simply couldn't make the ball go where I wanted it to go. Any batter who faced me then did so at his own risk. But I was wild, not from choice, but because I couldn't help myself."

Phil Marchildon
Hal Newhouser: " . . . and Phil Marchildon of the Philadelphia Athletics is always tough to hit when his fast ball is working because it goes up and in to a right-handed hitter."
Source: Pitching to Win (Hal Newhouser, 1948)

Shaun Marcum (2005 2008)
Story: "When he was young, his parents and coaches wouldn't let him throw a curveball, so he worked on his change. It's probably the biggest reason he's now a big league pitcher."
Source: The Sporting News (6/23/2008, The Sports Xchange)

Connie Marrero
Key Pitch: Slider
Source: In a letter of July 18, 2005, Cuban baseball expert Peter C. Bjarkman writes, "Talking with the 92-year-old Marrero several times recently in Havana, he still insists that his main pitch was the SLIDER and that he threw it almost exclusively at times." Also, in a Bjarkman article published in Elysian Fields Quarterly (Winter, 2000), Marrero claimed he was actually 5'5" rather than the 5'7" that's listed in the encyclopedias.

Description: "Chico Marrero, the little senor with the big curve ball."
Source: Morris Siegel in The Washington Post (7/2/1951)

(Above supplements Marrero's entry in book.)

Fred Martin (1946 1950)
Pitches:  1. Sinker  2. Fastball  3. Curve
Source: The Sporting News (5/22/1941, Page 6); Martin didn’t reach the majors until five years after this report.

Ed Mickelson: "He was in his late thirties at the time but was able to rise to any occasion. Freddie broke me up when he would walk into a game bouncing on his tiptoes as if walking on eggs. He would give that sly grin of his, throw his sidearm sinker for a double play with the bases loaded, and tiptoe to the dugout, getting us out of one jam after another. . . Fred Martin was one of the toughest and coolest competitors I have ever seen operate in stress situations."
Source: Out of the Park (Mickelson, 2007; this describes Perkovich in 1947)

Jack Matchett (Negro Leagues)
Pitch Selection:  1. Fastball  2. Curve  3. Slider
Source: Black Baseball in Kansas City (Larry Lester and Sammy J. Miller, 2000)

Verdell Mathis (Negro Leagues)
Key Pitch: Screwball
Mathis: Right-handers couldn't hit me, because of my screw ball. I was happy when they put eight right-handers in the lineup. I knew I had a good chance of winning that game."
Source: Black Diamonds (John B. Holway, 1989)

Catcher "Slow" Robinson: "Another guy that threw that screwball was Verdell Mathis of the Memphis Red Sox. I played against him quite a bit. He was a left-hander and a good pitcher all-around. He'd use that screwball on right-handed batters and, just like Tiant [Sr.], it'd keep you off stride. The other thing that Mathis did that reminded me of Tiant was fool runners with a very tricky pickoff move." Source: Catching Dreams: My Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues (Frazier "Slow" Robinson with Paul Bauer, 1999)

Daisuke Matsuzaka (2007 2008)
Key Pitch: Fastball (mid-90s)
Theo Epstein: "When he wants, he can reach back for more. He also has a sufficient slider, a tough changeup, a split finger, a curveball and cutter."
Source: Sports Weekly (Jorge L. Ortiz, 2/13/2007)

Report: "Of his four main pitches (sorry, the gyroball isn't one of them), his fastball is the best. He throws it hard -- in the low to mid-90s -- and likes it to ride up and out of the zone. Because major league umpires are not known for calling high strikes, Matsuzaka may have to adjust if hitters lay off those pitches. . . A scout who has watched Matsuzaka in person and on tape says his fastball (he has a four-seamer and two-seamer), curve, slider and splitter are well above average by big league standards and that his changeup is above average. His curve features such a big break that throwing it for strikes can be a challenge."
Source: The Sporting News (Stan McNeal, 3/5/2007)

Report: "By his own count, Matsuzaka throws a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a cut fastball, a shuuto (hard sinker with left to right cut), a curveball, a splitter, and a changeup that the Red Sox regard as his nastiest pitch because he imparts a rare screwball action to it."
Source: SI.com (Tom Verducci, posted 3/20/2007)

Dave McCarty (2004)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (low-80s) 2. Slider 3. Splitter 4. Change
Source: ESPN.com (3/9/2004, Jayson Stark)

Bob McClure
Note: I asked McClure about his knuckleball, and he told me 1) he didn't throw it at all when employed as a short reliever, 2) he threw a "hard knuckleball," and 3) when pitching for the Brewers, he was pitching a shutout through three innings, throwing nothing but knuckleballs, and George Bamberger told him if he threw one more knuckler, Bamberger would yank him from the game.
Source: Interview (8/14/2005)

(Above supplements McClure's entry in book.)

Phil McCullough (1942)
Key Pitch: Knuckleball
Source: The Sporting News (3/26/1942, Shirley Povich)

Booker "Cannonball" McDaniels (Negro Leagues)
Key Pitch: Fastball
Buck O’Neil: "That Booker McDaniels could throw hard, just about as hard as Satchel. Ruined his arm from it."
Source: Black Baseball in Kansas City (Larry Lester and Sammy J. Miller, 2000)

Danny McDevitt (1957 1962)
Pitches: 1. Sinker 2. Curve 3. Fastball 4. Change-up
Source: The Sporting News (7/3/1957, Dan Daniel)

Trivia: On September 24, 1957, McDevitt pitched a 2-0 shutout against the Pirates in the last game at Ebbets Field.

Terris McDuffie (Negro Leagues)
McDuffie: "I concentrated on control. I had a sinker, a slider, a curve and different speeds and a good fast ball. My favorite pitch was my sliding sinker. I never had to use off-pitches like the knuckler or sneaky slow stuff."
Source: Baseball Has Done It (Jackie Robinson, 1964)

Cody McKay (2004)
Pitches: 1. Knuckleball (54) 2. Fastball (79, occasional)
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (4/9/2004, Rick Hummel)

Note: McKay was a back-up catcher who pitched a few games in the minors in emergency situations, then pitched a game for the Cardinals in 2004.

Cal McLish
According to one source cited in the book, McLish threw a screwball. But on July 21, 2004, McLish told me that he never threw a screwball. Instead, he threw a sort of change-up that behaved something like a screwball.

Don McMahon
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Curve 3. Slider
McMahon: "I didn't have a curve until 1959 and I didn't develop a good one until two years later. The fast one is still my bread and butter pitch, however."
Source: Don McMahon: Relief Ace of the Colt .45s (entry in "Here Come the Colts" pamphlet series); same source says that McMahon relied mostly on his fastball and curve, and threw them both overhand and sidearm.

McMahon: "I relied completely on the fastball and sheer strength . . . Just try to overpower them. I'd get bruised on my arm from trying to throw too hard. But that's all I did, there was no finesse about it. And my ball moved. There's not too many fellas where their fastball will move consistently the way mine did. I pitched in and I pitched up most of the time. That's against the whole theory of pitching, but that's the way I pitched.
Source: SF Giants: An Oral History (Mike Mandel, 1979)

(This information supplements McMahon's entry in book.)

Dave McNally
Hank Bauer: "To be effective as a starter a pitcher has got to have more than one pitch. Dave McNally, who by my standards has the best curve ball in the league, would not be nearly so good with it if he did not also have a live fast ball one that moves as it comes to the plate."
Source: Championship Baseball (1968)

(Above supplements McNally's entry in book.)

Heinie Meine
Story: "His name was Heine Miene, who gave so much concentration to his job that when he had finished a game he could check off each of the 100-odd pitches he had made, cite the situation and explain just why he made each pitch. sometimes he failed to accomplish what he wanted but more often he succeeded because he had a definite plan in mind against each hitter."
Source: Ernie Mehl in The Kansas City Star (3/4/1962)

(Above supplements Meine's entry in book.)

Cla Meredith (2005 2008)
Key Pitch: Sinker
Source: The Sporting News (9/1/2006, Lyle Spencer)

Report: "He shows no fear as he throws his sinker and slider on the black, and his razor-sharp control keeps him out of hitters' counts. He developed his sidearm motion playing second base as a kid, while emulating his hero . . . Cal Ripken."
Source: The Sporting News (9/15/2006, Lyle Spencer)

Andy Messersmith
Tom Seaver: "Messersmith has the best understanding of any pitcher of the importance of changing speeds in pitching. Even in college -- and I saw him pitch then -- he had a great change-up. He always kept the hitters off-stride. He never let himself settle into a predictable pattern."
Source: Sport  (Dick Schaap, May 1976)

Andrew Miller (2006 2008)
Key Pitch: Fastball (mid-90s)
Report: "He's trying to become more consistent with his sinker and is learning to command a changeup."
Source: The Sporting News (Ryan Fagan, 3/31/2008)

Stu Miller
Miller: "I just came up with an excellent  change of pace. And it got me right up to the big leagues in a hurry. Other than that I just threw the normal pitches, fastball, curveball, and I changed up on each one. But I could throw them both sidearm, too. Overhand fastball, sidearm fastball, overhand curveball, sidearm curveball, and I changed up on each one, which gave me about eight different things I could throw. Later on I worked with a slider but not with too much success. I never had any knuckleball or spitter or screwball, just the normal stuff."
Source: SF Giants: An Oral History (Mike Mandel, 1979)

Hank Bauer: "We have a relief pitcher, Stu Miller, who does practically all his pitching with his head and neck. His motions vary so from pitch to pitch that the batter can never tell when the ball is really coming. A lot of them will insist that if Stu ever came down with a stiff neck he would be out of a job in two weeks. That is not strictly true, because Stu can still put quite a lot on a baseball. But those twists and gawks and cranings of neck and head add about 50 per cent to his effectiveness."
Source: Championship Baseball (Hank Bauer, 1968)

(Above supplements Miller's entry in book.)

Dick Mlady (Minor Leagues, 1940 1948)
Key Pitch: Curve Ball
Source: The Sporting News (3/5/1947, Harold C. Burr)

Joe Moeller (1962 1971)
Key Pitch: Fastball
Comment: "Moeller's No. 1 pitch is more than alive. He can make it take off either way by exerting pressure with either his index or middle finger."
Source: The Sporting News (3/14/1962, Bob Hunter)

Note: Same article, Al Campanis quoted calling Moeller "the best prospect I've ever seen." During the 1962 season, Walter Alston said that Moeller, at nineteen the youngest player in the majors, "will develop faster than Sandy Koufax."

Randy Moffitt
Pitches: 1. Slider  2. Sinker (fastball)
Source: SF Giants: An Oral History (Mike Mandel, 1979)

(Above information supplements Moffitt's entry in book.)

Johnny Morrison
Note: "Anticipating that Johnny Morrison, whose forte is a fast overhand ball, would be in the Pittsburgh box today. Manager Ha   rris had Harry Leibold, Bobby Veach and Everett Scott, all overhand throwers, although not pitchers, flinging to the Nat batters in the preliminary stick drill."
Source: The Washington Post (Frank H. Young, 10/15/1925)

Don Mossi
Comment: "With Frank Lary and Jim Bunning, Mossi became a bellwether of the Detroit mound corps in 1961. He improved the new pitches he needed to acquire in order to make it as a front-line hurler -- the slider and changeup."
Source: Inside Sports (Ray Lasky, August 1962)

(Above supplements, and contradicts somewhat, Mossi's entry in book.)

Mark Mulder (2000 2007)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (low-90s) 2. Slider 3. Curve 4. Change
Source: The Scouting Notebook 2004

Dick Mulligan (1941 1947)
Key Pitch, 1941: Knuckleball
Source: The Sporting News (1/29/1942, Shirley Povich)

Les Munns (1933 1936)
Pitch Selection:  1. Fastball  2. Knuckleball
Source: The Sporting News (3/15/1934)

Dale Murray
Key Pitch, 1974-1976: Sinking Fastball
Other Pitches: 1. Knuckle Curve 2. Slider (added in 1976)
Source: The Sporting News (7/10/1976, Bob Dunn)

(Above supplements Murray's entry in book.)

Mike Mussina
Report: "Mussina made up his knuckle-curve and used it for more than 20 years. He hooked his index and middle fingers into the seams and used his other three fingers to support the bottom half of the ball. As he propelled the ball forward, he shot his fingers out to form a V. The result was hard topspin action that caused the ball to break in different directions. Now that he is 38, with an elbow that has bothered him in recent years, Mussina no longer throws that pitch. His current curveball is one he learned at Stanford in 1988. He digs into the seam above the sweet spot with his index finger only -- a so-called spike curveball -- and rests his middle finger a few centimeters away."
Source: The New York Times (Tyler Kepner, 3/4/2007)

(Above supplements Mussina's entry in book.)

Ray Narleski
Narleski: "When I'm right, my fast ball hops or jumps. So the batters would miss it or come under it for fly balls that go nine miles high. If it doesn't jump, they hit it nine miles on a line out of the ball park. It wasn't hopping last year and that's why I had such a miserable season."
Source: Arthur Daley column in The New York Times (3/16/1960).

(Above supplements Narleski's entry in book.)

Buster Narum (1963 1967)
Report: "Pitcher Buster Narum had enjoyed some success with the Senators -- he had average stuff but a good change-up -- but he hadn't been consistent."
Source: Terwilliger Bunts One (Wayne Terwilliger w/Nancy Peterson & Peter Boehm, 2006)

Joe Nathan (1999 2008)
Huston Street: "Joe Nathan. His fastball tops out at 100, and crosses home plate with so much tilt it's ridiculous. His slider is 90. Just listening to hitters talk about him, I'd say his stuff tops the charts."
Source: ESPN.com (Buster Olney, 3/4/2007)

Joe Nelson (2001 2006)
Report: "Nelson's success is based on control and deception with a low-90s fastball, plus some off-speed pitches highlighted by a change-up one scout calls a 'Vulcan' pitch."
Source: Kansas City Star (Sam Mellinger, 9/4/2006)

Hal Newhouser
Newhouser: "I have never thrown a knuckle ball during a regular ball game because I have never had the right opportunity to use it."
Source: Pitching to Win (Hal Newhouser, 1948)

Fred Newman (1962 1967)
Key Pitch: Sinker
Source: The Sporting News (8/12/1967, Ross Newhan)

Jimmy Newberry (Negro Leagues)
Description: "He had more pitches than Satchel Paige. Knuckleball, screwball, sinker, dipsy-doo -- that was an overhand drop -- and he had a good fastball, too. Could make it run in, make it run out."
Source: Interview with Artie Wilson (6/30/2004)

Phil Niekro
Note: While pitching a shutout and notching his 300th win on October 6, 1985, Niekro didn't throw a single knuckleball until the last batter, when he struck out Jeff Burroughs on three knucklers to end the game. Prior to Burroughs, Niekro "used an assortment of curveballs, screwballs, sinking fastballs and his blooper-type slip pitches."
Source: The Sporting News (10/14/1985, Moss Klein)

(Above supplements Niekro's entry in book.)

Fred Norman
Scout Hugh Alexander, 1978: "Fred Norman's got a screwball now because he can't throw as hard as he used to. But he's a battler, and when he's on -- unbeatable."
Source: Sport (October 1978, Mark Ribowsky)

(Above supplements Norman's entry in book.)

Win Noyes (1913 1919)
Key Pitch: Spitball
Source: Chicago Tribune (7/16/1910)

Billy O'Dell
O'Dell: "I was a fastball pitcher. I had good control and threw a lot of hard sliders, but basically I was a fastball pitcher."
Source: SF Giants: An Oral History (Mike Mandel, 1979)

Casey Stengel: "That young man throws a fast ball, a slider, and a mysterious pitch from Mexico."
Source: Dell Sports Baseball Stars (Feb. 1959)

(Above supplements O'Dell's entry in book. And no, I don't know what the hell Casey was talking about.)

Steve Olin (1989 1992)
Pitch Selection: 1. Sinking Fastball 2. Slider 3. Change
Note: Olin was a submariner, and learned his change-up from Dan Quisenberry.
Source: The Scouting Report: 1993

Wayne Osborne (1935 1936)
Fact: Thanks to a childhood accident that included a blasting cap and a hot stove, Osborne's pitching hand included a mangled thumb and an index finger missing its upper third.
Source: The Sporting News (3/14/1935; photo included)

Injury Report: "Wayne Osborne, right-handed pitcher of the Missions, left the mound in the third inning the other day, thinking he had pulled a muscle in his back. An examination showed that a veterbra was out of place. He suffered the same kind of an injury last year and now has two vertebrae that pop in and out in an annoying manner.'
Source: The Sporting News (Ed. R. Hughes, 9/3/1936)

Pat Osburn (1974 1975)
Osburn: "I wouldn’t think of myself as a fastball-slider pitcher. I had a pretty good moving fastball away from right-handers. It would run away and sink. And then I would throw a four-seam fastball if I ever wanted to try to come in or up on anybody, so the ball wouldn’t tail back over the middle of the plate. Just an assortment. I had a pretty good change-up. I had a pretty good curveball."
Source: Osburn in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002)

Stubby Overmire
Hal Newhouser: "As we said before, a change-of-pace pitch, or a slow ball, is absolutely essential for any pitcher. Stubby Overmire, of the Detroit Tigers, uses it as his main 'stock in trade'."
Source: Pitching to Win (Hal Newhouser, 1948)

Henry Owens (2006 2007)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball (mid-90s) 2. Slider
Source: The Sporting News (5/14/2007, Brendan Roberts)

Jim Palmer
Ron Luciano: "The thing that has made Jim Palmer a Hall of Fame pitcher is the movement on his pitches. Sometimes his ball moved so much I'd swear it had to be a Wiffle Ball. Palmer throws what I call a positive fastball. Ever batter was positive he could hit it. But as soon as he started his swing  that ball would jump, or dive, or zip outside. He was one of those pitchers against whom a batter would go hitless in four at bats and think they'd had a good game."
Source: The Umpire Strikes Back (Luciano & David Fisher, 1982)

(Above supplements Palmer's entry in book.)

Lowell Palmer (1969 1974)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (80%) 2. Curve 3. "small" Slider 4. Change
Source: Palmer in The Sporting News (Carl Guymon, 6/30/1973; according to article, slider and change-up just developing in '73)

Jonathan Papelbon (2005 2008)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (97) 2. Splitter 3. Slider
Source: ESPN The Magazine (Peter Gammons, 5/8/2006)

Report: "Papelbon features a fastball that often hits 96 mph, a vicious slider that comes in at 89 and a split-finger that dives at 90."
Source: The Sporting News (Mike Berardino, 6/23/2006)

Report: "He threw Jonny Gomes a 'slutter.' That's what Jonathan Papelbon calls his new pitch -- a combination cut fastball and slider. The new pitch, as Papelbon was explaining it near his locker, had reporters in stitches. . . But Papelbon was serious. He spoke about how he throws it with his palm out and how he doesn't 'pronate through the ball' when he throws it. He was very serious. He said it wasn't a true slider or a cutter because of the angle at which the ball travels."
Source: Boston.com (Nick Cafardo, 8/22/2007)

Kevin Millar: "Pap's got that four-seam life on his fastball, that little oomph at the end, that you just can't teach. And like that's not enough, he has a devastating splitter. Pap's split is the best in the league."
Source: Sports Illustrated  (Tom Verducci, 10/1/2007)

Chan Ho Park
Report: "The chances of RHP Chan Ho Park sticking with the Rangers coulud hinge on whether he's able to master the two-seam fastball. The team doesn't want him to rely so heavily on the four-seamer. Park has shown he still can be effective if he keeps the ball down, but he doesn't have the velocity to get away with high pitches."
Source: The Sporting News (3/25/2005, Robert Falkoff)

(Above information supplements Park's entry in book.)

Roy Parmelee
Report: "Boy, he was tough to handle. He had terrific stuff, but there were times when he just couldn't control it and there was no telling where that ball was going when it left his hand."
Source: Giants catcher Harry Danning in Baseball Magazine (John Drebinger, March 1950)

(Above supplements Parmelee's entry in book.)

Rube Parnham (1916 1917)
Fritz Maisel: "Rube didn't have anything really spectacular. One of his standby pitches was a low fast one between the belt and the knees. Most batters dribbled that one on the ground. another was a fast, inside pitch which seemed -- so help me -- to shoot up as it crossed the plate. Batters popped that one up. His change of pace was what he called his 'nickel curve,' now known as a slider. It started out to cut the plate and slide off by six inches. Usually the batters didn't hit this one at all."
Source: The Baseball Research Journal, Number 24 (SABR, 1995)

Note: Parnham pitched just briefly in the majors, but starred for the International League's Baltimore Orioles in the early 1920s.

Roy Partlow (Negro Leagues)
Pitch Selection:  1. Fastball  2. Drop Ball  3. Curve
Source: Black Baseball in Pittsburgh (Larry Lester and Sammy J. Miller, 2001)

Claude Passeau
Ted Williams: "Claude Passeau was the pitcher. He was having a great year with Chicago. He had a fastball that he spun just a little bit. It was kind of like a slider, but nobody that I know of was actually throwing a slider then."
Source: Terwilliger Bunts One (Wayne Terwilliger w/Nancy Peterson & Peter Boehm, 2006.

Joe Pate
Report: "... Pate threw only three pitches--the fast ball, knuckler, and the spitball."
Source: Kill the Ump! (Dusty Boggess as told to Ernie Helm, 1966)

(Information above supplements Pate entry in book.)

Max Patkin (Minor Leagues)
Patkin: "I wanted to be a big league pitcher. Could have been one. Had this terrific windup. Kicked high. Higher than Juan Marichal ever kicked. Higher than the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes ever kicked. I'd rock back and throw my left leg high in the air and the batter would stare at that and whoosh, I'd throw my fastball right by him. They didn't have radar guns in those days but I knew I threw 90, 92 MPH. I didn't always know where the pitch was going, but it got there in a hurry."
Source: The Clown Prince of Baseball (Patkin and Stan Hochman, 1994)

Commentary: In 1941, Patkin's only full season before he got hurt and then went into the service, he pitched in the Wisconsin State League and went 10-8 with 134 strikeouts, 94 walks, and 13 wild pitches in 178 innings. So it sounds like his self-inflicted scouting report isn't far off.

Ramon Pena (1989)
Report: "He threw a lot of breaking balls. Slider, slider, slider."
Source: Tigers broadcaster Rod Allen (FSN Detroit, 7/20/2007)

Joel Peralta (2005 2007)
Pitches: 1. Fastball (low-90s) 2. Splitter 3. Slider 4. Change
Sources: The Sporting News (8/26/2005, Mike Scarr); The FutureAngels Blog (Stephen C. Smith, 5/26/2005 entry); Rally Monkey.com (6/24/2005, Mike DiGiovanna in L.A. Times)

Troy Percival
Report: "His velocity is still coming back, and while he'll never again hit 97 mph, his heater now sits in the low 90s. 'When I tried to come back with the Tigers last year,' he says, I couldn' get past 84."
Source: ESPN The Magazine (8/27/2007, Tim Kurkjian)

(Above supplements Percival's entry in book.)

Glen Perkins (2006 2008)
Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball (88-92) 2. Changeup 3. Hard Curve
Source: The Sporting News (Kelly Thesier, 4/23/2007)

John Perkovich (Minors, 1946-1951)
Ed Mickelson: "Johnny Perkovich was the hardest thrower in the league, with good control and an excellent curve ball. . . John hurt his arm after that season and never reached his full potential."
Source: Out of the Park (Mickelson,  2007; describes Perkovich in 1947)

Gary Peters
Peters: "A curve and slider don't go along real good together. You're going to have one good and one just okay. And that's the way I was. I learned the curveball, but my curveball was always slow, just an okay pitch, not a great pitch. My slider was my good breaking ball. Everything I threw was two-seam, but you just released it a little differently to make it sail in on a right-hander as left-handed pitcher, because my other pitch sunk and tailed away. If you didn't have something inside they'd crowd the plate."
Source: The Starting Pitcher (Rob Trucks, 2005)

(Information above supplements Peters's entry in book.)

Ray Peters (1970)
Pitch Selection:  1. Overhand Curve  2. Fastballs (two-seam, four-seam)  3. Slider
Source: Peters in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002)

Andy Pettitte
Report: "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)

Scouting Report: "Andy Pettitte has morphed into a different guy. He's not able to overpower anybody, but he's deceptive--hitters can't see his ball. He's in and out, up and down with his fastball, and he sells his changeup well."
Source: The Sporting News (author/date missing)

(Information above supplements Pettitte's entry in book.)

Lee Pfund (1945)
Description: "Lee came at hitters from several different angles and used a big windup. [Mickey] Owen helped him with his pitching motion."
Source: Hardball on the Home Front (Craig Allen Cleve, 2004)

Bill Pierro (1950)
Pitch Selection:  1. Fastball  2. Curve
Note: Pierro threw sidearm.
Source: Pierro in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002)

Taylor Phillips
Report: "Phillips' principal pitching weapons are exceptional speed, an acceptable curve and change-up and two 'extra' pitches -- a knuckleball and a sinker. Root taught him the sinker this year, and the pitch has become an important part of his repertoire."
Source: The Sporting News (Bob Wolf, 8/22/1956)

Bud Podbielan (1949-1959)
Key Pitch: "magical curve"
Source: Ed Mickelson in Out of the Park (Mickelson, 2007)

Johnny "Specs" Podgajny (1940 1946)
Report: "He was a right-handed pitcher with excellent control, but not very fast. He didn't hae a great curveball either. But he made the opposition hit his pitch."
Source: Danny Litwhiler: Living the Baseball Dream (Litwhiler w/Jim Sargent, 2006)

Pitches:  1. Curve  2. Change of Pace  3. Fastball
Comment: "Podgajny is not used regularly as a starter, because he doesn’t hold his ‘stuff’ over nine innings. But for four, five or six rounds he’s tops and a marvelous competitor in the pinch. Specs has fair speed, a fine curve, great change of pace and, above all, amazing control. When Johnny walks a batter, it’s an event."
Source: The Sporting News (8/23/1945, Hugh Trader, Jr.); this item appeared after the vast majority of Podgajny’s major-league career, as he spent all of 1944, 1945, and most of 1946 in the minors.

Johnny Podres
Comment: "The most common change-up is thrown with three fingers atop the ball, which is jammed far back into the hand... Johnny Podres, who probably possesses the best change-up in baseball today, has extremely short, stubby hands and can't get the ball back far enough in his hand to use that delivery. Instead, Podres puts pressure on the ball from the middle joints of his first two fingers, and throws with the same general motion he uses for fastballs and curves, but with a stiff wrist."
Source: The Making of a Big League Pitcher (Ed Richter, 1963)

(Above information supplements Podres's entry in book.)

Lou Possehl (1946 1952)
Description: "He is a magnificently built youngster, with a three-quarter motion that is much like that of George Earnshaw."
Source: The Sporting News (3/10/1948, Stan Baumgartner)

Jack Powell Key Pitch, 1904: Spitball
Source: Sporting Life (10/15/1904, Francis C. Richter)

(Above information supplements Powell's entry in book.)

Willie Powell (Negro Leagues)
Powell: "That was my main pitch, my curveball. I had a good one too, if I do have to say so myself. I could put a bucket at home plate and drop my drop ball into it."

Dave Malarcher: "He had a fastball that had a real hop on it, and one of those fade-away curves that would come up like a fastball and would just flutter away. Great."

Alec Radcliff: "He had a good change of pace curveball and a sneaky fastball that would take off, and he would mix it up on them."

Note: Later in his career, Powell learned a screwball from Bullet Rogan, and he also would occasionally cut the baseball.

Source: The National Pastime (Winter 1985, John Holway)

Hub Pruett
Babe Ruth: "All I did was swing at his motion. He was an octopus pitcher, one of those guys who throws everything at you except the ball. I told him that with his motion, the way he jerked his arm, he wouldn't last long and he didn't."
Source: The Sporting News (Stan Baumgartner, 3/24/1948)

(Above information supplements Pruett's entry in book.)

Bob Purkey
Report: "Some of the hitters who discovered it was futile to swing against him, couldn't understand his success. They say the ball 'looks like a grapefruit' when he heaves it toward the plate, but they can't seem to meet it solidly. The answer lies in Purkey's specialty, the sinker. It may float up there looking like a ripe fruit, but it takes a sudden dip and fools even the better hitters."
Source: Dell Sports Baseball Stars (Feb. 1959)

(Above supplements Purkey's entry in book.)

J.J. Putz (2003 2008)
Pitches 1. Fastball (98) 2. Slider 3. Splitter
Source: Sporting News Baseball 2007

Pitches: 1. Fastball (95-98) 2. Splitter (high-80s)
Source: ESPN The Magazine (Luke Cyphers, 9/10/2007)

Ewald Pyle (1939 1945)
Key Pitch: Knuckleball
Source: Source: The Sporting News (3/25/1943, Shirley Povich)

Brad Radke
Pitches, 2004: 1. Fastball (89-91) 2. Change (76-78) 3. Curve
Scouting Report: "Radke moves the fastball around, inside and outside. He uses that pitch to set up his changeup. He clearly is willing to throw that pitch at any time, in any count. Radke really does not throw his curveball very often. Mixing speeds, hitting spots, maintaining poise. That's how Brad Radke pitches, and that's has been how he has remained successful."
Source: Seth Speaks (8/18/2004)

Radke: "My velocity is way down, so I really have to focus more on pitching. I have to hit my spots, so my command has been better. I think my changeup has gotten better because it's so slow."
Source: ESPN The Magazine (Tim Kurkjian, 9/11/2006; Radke spent much of the 2006 season pitching with a tear in the labrum of his pitching shoulder.)

(Information above supplements Radke's entry in book.)

Tom Qualters (1953 1958)
Pitch Selection: 1. Sinking Fastball 2. Curveball
Source: Qualters in Baseball's Bonus Babies  (Brent Kelly, 2006)

Ken Raffensberger
Note: Raffensberger credited Hollis Thurston for teaching him to throw a down-breaking curve in 1943, and Gabby Hartnett for teaching him to throw a slow curve as a change of pace in 1940.
Source: The Sporting News (6/29/1944, Bill Dooly)

Fred Rath (1998)
Pitch Selection:  1. Fastball  2. Curve  3. "Runner"
Source: Rath in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002)