Breaking ball
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(April 2015) |
Inbaseball,abreaking ballis apitchthat does not travel straight as it approaches thebatter;it will have sideways or downward motion on it, sometimes both (seeslider). A breaking ball is not a specific pitch by that name, but is any pitch that "breaks", such as acurveball,slider,orscrewball.Apitcherwho primarily uses breaking ball pitches is often referred to as ajunkballer.
A breaking ball is more difficult than a straight pitch for acatcherto receive as breaking pitches sometimes hit the ground (whether intentionally, or not) before making it to the plate. A curveball moves down and to the left for a right handed pitcher. For a left hand pitcher, it moves down and to the right.[1]And blocking a breaking ball requires thought and preparation by the catcher. The pitcher then, must have confidence in the catcher, and the catcher in himself, to block any ball in the dirt; if there are runners on base, they will likely advance if the ball gets away from the catcher. (Whether the pitcher is right- or left-handed will dictate which direction the catcher must turn his body to adjust for the spin of an upcoming breaking ball. This necessary movement may reveal the next intended pitch to the batter; therefore an experienced catcher must fake or mask his intentions when preparing for the pitch.)
If a breaking ball fails to break, it is called a "hanging" breaking ball, specifically, a "hanging" curve or even more specifically a "cement mixer" if it is a "hanging" slider that just spins. The "hanger" presents a high, slow pitch that is easy for the batter to see, and often results in an extra-base hit or ahome run.
Don Mattinglywrote inDon Mattingly's Hitting Is Simple: The ABC's of Batting.300that "hitting a breaking ball is one of the toughest things you'll have to learn" due to the ball's very brief window in thestrike zone.[2]
Physics[edit]
Generally theMagnus effectdescribes the laws of physics that make a curveball curve. A fastball travels through the air with backspin, which creates a higher pressure zone in the air ahead of and under the baseball. The baseball's raised seams augment the ball's ability to develop aboundary layerand therefore a greater differential of pressure between the upper and lower zones. The effect ofgravityis partially counteracted as the ball rides on and into increased pressure. Thus the fastball falls less than a ball thrown without spin (neglectingknuckleballeffects) during the 60 feet 6 inches it travels to home plate.
On the other hand, a curveball, thrown withtopspin,creates a higher pressure zone on top of the ball, which deflects the ball downward in flight. Instead of counteracting gravity, the curveball adds additional downward force, thereby giving the ball an exaggerated drop in flight.
History[edit]
Baseball lore has it that the curveball was invented in the early 1870s byCandy Cummings,though this claim is debatable. An early demonstration of the "skewball" or curveball occurred at theCapitoline Groundsin Brooklyn in August 1870 byFred Goldsmith.In 1869, a reporter for theNew York ClipperdescribedPhonney Martinas an "extremely hard pitcher to hit for the ball never comes in a straight line‚ but in a tantalizing curve." If the observation is true, this would pre-date Cummings and Goldsmith.[3]In 1876, the first known collegiate baseball player to perfect the curveball wasClarence Emir Allenof Western Reserve College, now known asCase Western Reserve University,where he never lost a game.[4]Both Allen and his teammate John P. Barden became famous for employing the curve in the late 1870s.[5]In the early 1880s,Clinton Scollard(1860–1932), a pitcher fromHamilton Collegein New York, became famous for his curve ball and later earned fame as a prolific American poet.[6]In 1885,St. Nicholas,a children's magazine,featured a story entitled, "How Science Won the Game". It told of how a boy pitcher mastered the curveball to defeat the opposing batters.[7]
TheNew York Clipperreported, of a September 26, 1863, game atPrinceton University(then the College of New Jersey), that F. P. Henry's "slow pitching with a great twist to the ball achieved a victory over fast pitching." By 1866, many Princeton players were pitching and hitting "curved balls".[8]
HarvardPresidentCharles Eliotwas among those opposed to the curve, claiming it was a dishonest practice unworthy of Harvard students.[9][10]At an athletics conference at Yale University in 1884 a speaker (thought to be from Harvard, likely Prof. Charles Eliot Norton, a cousin of the Harvard President[11]) was reported to have stated: "For the pitcher, instead of delivering the ball to the batter in an honest, straightforward way, that the latter may exert his strength to the best advantage in knocking it, now uses every effort to deceive him by curving—I think that is the word—the ball. And this is looked upon as the last triumph of athletic science and skill. I tell you it is time to call halt! when the boasted progress in athletics is in the direction of fraud and deceit."[12]
In the past, major league pitchersTommy Bridges,Bob Feller,Virgil Trucks,Herb Score,Camilo PascualandSandy Koufaxwere regarded as having outstanding curveballs.
See also[edit]
- Swing bowling,a similar concept in cricket
References[edit]
- ^"How to Grip a Curve Ball".efastball. Archived fromthe originalon July 24, 2017.RetrievedApril 21,2018.
- ^Mattingly, Don; Rosenthal, Jim (2014).Don Mattingly's Hitting Is Simple: The ABC's of Batting 300.St. Martin's Griffin.pp. 60–63.ISBN9781466867758.
- ^"Charlton's Baseball Chronology – 1869".baseballlibrary.Archived fromthe originalon December 11, 2008.RetrievedJune 6,2008.
- ^Egan, James M. Jr. (May 21, 2008).Base Ball on the Western Reserve: The Early Game in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, Year by Year and Town by Town, 1865-1900.McFarland.ISBN9780786430673.RetrievedMay 9,2018– via Google Books.
- ^"The Kent Stater 28 April 1927 — Kent State University".dks.library.kent.edu.RetrievedMay 9,2018.
- ^"Clinton Scollard".Archived fromthe originalon February 24, 2014.RetrievedMarch 23,2013.
- ^"St. Nicholas".Scribner & Company. May 9, 1885.RetrievedMay 9,2018– via Google Books.
- ^Presbrey, Frank; Moffatt, James Hugh (May 9, 2018)."Athletics at Princeton: A History".Frank Presbrey Company.RetrievedMay 9,2018– via Google Books.
- ^"A look inside: Eliot House".Harvard Gazette.April 19, 2012.RetrievedOctober 14,2015.
- ^Kiara F. Z. Barrow (November 7, 2013)."Throwback Thursday".Harvard Crimson.RetrievedMay 9,2018.
- ^Herschberger, Richard."With a Deliberate Attempt to Deceive".SABR - Society for American Baseball Research.Baseball Research Journal, Spring 2017.RetrievedMarch 25,2020.
- ^"Give the Batsman a Chance".New York Clipper - cited in the Herschberger article cited above.Vol. XXXI, no. 44, Column 3. New York Clipper. January 19, 1884.RetrievedMarch 25,2020.
