Fastball

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the American band of the same name, see Fastball (band).

For the game also known as fast-pitch softball, see Softball.

The fastball is the most common type of pitch in baseball. Some "power" pitchers, like Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson, have thrown it 95-105 mph (150-160 km/h), and relied on this speed to prevent the ball from being hit. Others throw more slowly but put movement on the ball or throw it on the outside of the plate where the batter cannot easily reach it. The appearance of a faster pitch to the batter can sometimes be achieved by minimizing the batter's vision of the ball before its release. The result is known as an "exploding fastball": a pitch that seems to arrive at the plate quickly despite its low velocity. Fastballs are usually thrown with backspin, so that the Magnus effect creates an upward force on the ball, causing it to fall less rapidly than might be expected. A pitch on which this effect is most marked is often called a "rising fastball", as the ball appears to rise to the batter. Colloquially, use of the fastball is called throwing heat or putting steam on it, among many other variants.

Gripping the ball with the fingers across the wide part of the seam ("four-seam fastball") produces a straight pitch, gripping it across the narrow part ("two-seam fastball") produces a sinking fastball, and holding a two-seam fastball off-center ("cut fastball") imparts lateral movement to the fastball.

A variation on the fastball is the forkball and the similar split-finger fastball.

1 Pitches
2 References

[edit] Pitches

[edit] Four-seam fastball

A four-seam fastball is a variant of the fastball.

The four seam fastball is a pitch that is used often by the pitcher to get ahead in the count or when he needs to throw a strike. The type of fastball is intended to have minimal lateral movement if any. It is most often the fastest pitch that a pitcher throws, sometimes reaching 100 miles per hour, with recorded top speeds in the 102-104 range. There are two general ways to throw a four-seam fastball.

The first and most traditional way is to find the horseshoe seam area, or the area where the seams are the farthest apart. Keeping those seams parallel to the body, the pitcher places his index and middle fingers perpendicular to them with the pads on the farthest seam from him. The thumb then rests underneath the ball about in the middle of the two fingers. With this grip, the thumb will generally have no seam to rest on.

[edit] Two-seam fastball

A two-seam fastball, sometimes called a two-seamer, or a sinker is another variant of the straight fastball.

The two-seam fastball is designed to have more movement than a four-seam fastball so that the batter cannot hit hard, but can be more difficult to master and control. Because of the deviation from the straight trajectory, sometimes it's called a moving fastball.

The pitcher grabs a baseball and finds the area on it where the seams are the closest together. Then, the baseball is rotated so that those seams are perpendicular to his body, with the index and middle fingers on each of those seams respectively.

Each finger should be touching the seam from the pads or tips to almost the ball of each finger. The thumb should rest underneath the ball in the middle of those two fingers, finding the apex of the horseshoe part of the seam. The thumb needs to rest on that seam from the side to the middle of its pad.

This ball will tend to move for the pitcher a little bit depending on velocity, arm slot angle and pressure points of the fingers. Greg Maddux and Pedro Martínez are known for their particularly effective two-seam fastballs.

[edit] Rising fastball

The rising fastball is an effect perceived by batters, but is known to be a baseball myth. Some batters claim to have seen a "rising" fastball, which starts as a normal fastball, but as it approaches the plate it rises several inches and gains a burst of speed. Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden were often described as the paramount pitchers with this kind of ball action.

Such a pitch is known to be physically impossible, due to restrictions of gravity, conservation of momentum, and air density. It has been explained as an optical illusion. What is really happening is that the pitcher first throws a fastball at one speed, and then, using an identical arm motion, is able to throw another fastball at a higher speed. The higher speed fastball both arrives faster, and sinks less due to its high speed. In fact, the added back-spin from the higher speed further decreases the amount of sink. Thus, as the pitch is thrown the batter expects a fastball at the same speed, yet it arrives more quickly and at a higher level. The batter's eyes and brain perceive it as a fastball which has risen and increased in speed. A switch from a two-seam to a four-seam fastball can further enhance this effect.

This perception is also created by the fact that a hard-throwing pitcher, usually at least six feet tall, is throwing the ball from a higher release point on an elevated mound (the pitcher's rubber is ten inches above the field level). Factoring in the element of depth perception when the hitter watches the pitcher from sixty feet away from the pitcher's mound, and the hitter perceives the pitcher's size and positioning on the mound to be much less elevated than it actually is. Hence, to the hitter an overhand pitch will appear to be thrown at a hitter's shoulder level (or even belt level), as opposed to several inches above the hitter's head, from where the pitch is actually released from the pitcher's hand. This perception enhances the apparent "rising" motion of the fastball when the pitch passes by the hitter at a higher level than where the hitter perceived the pitch to have left the pitcher's hand.

It is possible for a rising fastball to be thrown by a submarine pitcher because of the awkward technique with which they throw the ball. Because they throw almost underhand, with their knuckles near the dirt, the batter perceives the sensation like the ball going upward because of its rarely experienced trajectory. However, this is not the traditional rising fastball batters believe they see. Left-hander Sid Fernandez was known for throwing a rising fastball from a slightly "submarine" motion.

[edit] Cutter

A cutter, or cut fastball, is a type of fastball which breaks slightly as it reaches home plate. This pitch is somewhere between a slider and a fastball, as it is usually thrown faster than a slider but with more motion than a typical fastball. A common technique used to throw a cutter is to release a fastball with slight pressure from the tip of the middle finger.

The cut fastball is famously associated with Mariano Rivera, a relief pitcher for the New York Yankees. Rivera has become one of the best closers in Major League Baseball history by relying heavily on this pitch. Rivera's cutter is particularly effective because of the significant amount of movement (away from right handed batters and in on the hands of left handed batters) that he is able to achieve while still throwing the ball around 95 mph. His cutter is so effective that, despite throwing only a cutter and a four seamer, Rivera is still one of the most feared and respected pitchers in the league. Al Leiter rode his cutter to 162 career wins and a no-hitter. Esteban Loaiza effectively used a cutter to help him win 21 games in 2003. Roy Halladay also has a very effective cut fastball, but claims that it has given him pain in the past: "throwing that 50 per cent of the time... was probably too much."[1] This may have prematurely ended Halladay's 2006 season due to forearm stiffness. Mark Buehrle and Andy Pettitte are two other current pitchers who have had much success throwing the cutter.