| The pitcher. Arguably the most important person | | | | that the hitter is swinging before the ball ever |
| in the game of baseball. Without a good pitcher, | | | | gets to him. |
| the opposing team's batters will be knocking those | | | | If a pitcher can develop a third pitch, he becomes |
| baseballs out of the stadium so fast you'll be out | | | | very hard to beat, especially if he can throw all |
| of the game before you can blink an eye. That's | | | | three pitches for strikes. A common third pitch to |
| why some pitchers are earning in excess of $10 | | | | develop is the curveball. A curveball is thrown in a |
| million per year. So just how do these pitchers | | | | manner that when the ball is about to reach home |
| strike fear into the hearts of the opposing team? | | | | plate, the ball actually tails away from a right |
| There are many ways to get a good hitter out. | | | | handed batter, if the pitcher is right handed, or |
| The old saying is that good pitching will beat good | | | | into a left handed batter, thus tying him up. A |
| hitting. That may or may not be true but one | | | | curveball is very hard to hit because just as the |
| thing is for certain, it can't hurt. The main pitch | | | | batter is about to swing, the ball moves away |
| that most good pitchers use to get hitters out is | | | | from him. Batters who can hit curveballs are the |
| the fastball. A fastball is really just a fancy name | | | | ones who go on to become the most successful |
| for a straight pitch thrown as fast as possible. | | | | hitters in the game. |
| The top pitchers in the game have fastballs that | | | | An alternative third pitch would be what is called a |
| travel between 95 and 100 miles per hour. These | | | | forkball or a split fingered fastball. This is where |
| pitchers are very hard, but not impossible to hit. | | | | the baseball is held by the pitcher with the fingers |
| The reason it isn't impossible is because major | | | | spread apart across both sides of the ball. When |
| league hitters are very good. If they sit on a | | | | the ball is released, as it is about to cross the |
| fastball, meaning wait for it to come, they can hit | | | | plate, it takes a sudden dive, or drops out of the |
| it no matter what the speed. | | | | strike zone. This is a very difficult pitch to hit |
| That's why good pitchers need to develop other | | | | especially if thrown hard as it has the velocity of |
| pitches for their arsenal. A good pitch to mix in | | | | a fastball, requiring the batter to react quickly, but |
| with a fastball is a pitch called the straight change | | | | behaves nothing like it. The best split fingered |
| or changeup. This is really just another ball thrown | | | | pitchers in the game are almost impossible to hit |
| straight except the speed is drastically reduced. | | | | when they are on the top of their game. |
| Your really good pitchers can throw a change | | | | There are many other pitches such as the circle |
| around 70 miles per hour. The reason these | | | | change, knuckleball, palm ball and a slew more. But |
| pitches are so deceptive is because they are | | | | the ones mentioned above are pretty much your |
| thrown with the same arm motion as a fastball. | | | | basic pitches that the top pitchers in the game |
| So the hitter can't tell the difference between the | | | | use. |
| two. The change comes in so slow in comparison | | | | |