You might say I have I have waited a life time for this, the chance to air my thoughts, analysis, and sometimes offbeat opinions on the sport that is most dear to my heart: Baseball. It is with much gratitude to that hotdog-wielding fellow Detroit Tigers’ fan, The Heckler, that I say, the pleasure is surly mine. To quote from the current MLB promo, “I live for this.”

My name is Punch N. Judy, and I am, by my own reckoning a life long student of the game. Whether attending a major league contest, a little league tilt at the local sandlot, or playing that old man’s version, Slo-pitch softball, this game to me is a living, breathing, chalkboard that must always hold your utmost attention. According to the wit and wisdom that is Yogi Berra, “you can observe a lot by watching.”

Well, as we roll into the month of June, almost a third of the way into the 2006 season, my list of observations is endless. With access to virtually every game via MLB’s major league ticket, I have been able to catch almost every start made by baseball’s best starting rotation. Yes folks, I am referring to the five stalwarts dealing for my beloved Tigers.

From the home grown slants of Justin Verlander, Nate Robertson and Mike Maroth, to Jeremy Bonderman and free agent signee Kenny Rogers, this staff’s versatility has been its hallmark of success. Though vastly different in makeup, approach and of course stuff in general, the one thing all five starters possess in spades is the confidence to throw strike one. To do this consistently, a pitcher must have command of the oldest pitch in the book, the fastball.

Over the years however, this pitch has evolved into several offshoots of the original. Rather than just pure radar gun busting gas, a good fastball is measured by its movement and late break as it approaches the batters happy zone. The four most prominent examples of this are the split-finger, two-seam, four-seam and cut-fastball. Let’s breakdown the pitch, formerly known as old number one, and rate the best practitioner of each.

The Splitter: With apologies to newly inducted hall of famer Bruce Sutter, the best split-finger pitch I have I’ve ever witnessed belonged to Jack Morris. When Roger Craig taught this pitch to the ornery Morris he became one of baseballs best clutch pitchers of all time. Roger Clemens also revived his career by not only adding the split to his repertoire, but sometimes only pairing it with his standard four-seam heater. Thrown with the index and middle fingers split over two seams with the thumb directly underneath, it, is thrown with the same arm speed of a fastball. As it approaches the plate the ball dives, inducing either a weak ground ball or a flailing whiff.

The Cutter: Released with most of the pressure coming from the tip of the middle finger, a cutter breaks slightly, mimicking a curveball without the spin. Discussion of the best cutter starts and ends with Yankee great Mariano Rivera. The Panamanian Express has sawed off more maple than Paul Bunyan himself.

The Two Seamer: Held with the index and middle fingers over the seams, it is the pitch taught to every kid that toed the rubber at 10 years old. Even at that age some kids, particularly lefties can invoke a nice little tailing action. It’s often used to backdoor hitters on the black of the plate. For my money, Pedro Martinez, especially when he takes a little off it, has the best two-seam fastball.

The Four Seamer: If ever a ball traveled from point A to point B in a straight line this is it. Known as the pitch most easily controlled, the four-seam fastball is used most effectively by pure power pitchers looking to challenge hitters, and as Nuke La Loosh used to lament, “announce” their “presence”.

Getting back to that Tiger staff, their effective use of these fastballs is evident start to start. However, the lack of a splitfinger pitcher in the Detroit organization seems unfathomable. Punch just can’t help thinking it’s the one element keeping Bonderman from membership in the 20 win club.

photo copyright Baseball Big Mouth and the Heckler
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This entry was posted on Saturday, June 3rd, 2006 at 4:48 pm and is filed under Punch N. Judy Pinch-hits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.