Articles
… related to The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers.
All the Pitchers Who Wouldn’t Fit: E-K
There were a lot of things that wouldn’t fit in the book, and a lot of things that I’ve found since the book, and these pages are designed to hold some of those things. If you see a pitcher’s name without any years or information on the same line, that means he’s in the book, and the information supplements his entry in the book. If you see his years in the majors or minors, or a Negro League identifier, that means he’s not in the book at all. Which means you’re looking at some new stuff!
140 pitchers listed below; updated 2/1/2014 Rocky Ellis (NEGRO LEAGUES) Key Pitch: Fastball Note: Ellis threw sidearm. Source: Black Baseball in Pittsburgh (Larry Lester and Sammy J. Miller, 2001) Red Embree Key Pitch: Sinker Ball Source: Baseball is a Funny Game (Joe Garagiola, 1960) Art Evans (1932) Pitch Selection: 1. Knuckleball 2. Curve 3. Fastball Source: The Sporting News (6/10/1937); this was five years removed from Evans’ very brief stint in the majors, and may not accurately describe his earlier repertoire. Felix “Chin” Evans (NEGRO LEAGUES) Key Pitch: Curveball Evans: “I threw three different speeds really. I threw it straight overhand to the left-handers and I threw three-quarters to break in on left-handers’ wrists. The more motion you use, the more you can confuse a batter. I raised my leg up and then I slung my arm around like that before I pitched. I think that helped me, because if a guy’s watching the pitcher and his delivery, he’s going to have trouble picking up the ball… They used to yell at me all the time, ‘Throw the ball hard!’ They’d cuss me coming off the field.” Source: Of Monarchs and Black Barons (James A. Riley, 2012) Trivia: In 1946, Evans was the winning pitcher in the East-West All-Star Game. Red Evans (1936 1939) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Curve 3. Screwball Source: The Sporting News (8/1/1935, Paul Williams) Red Faber Faber: “When I pitched, I chewed tobacco on one side of my mouth and gum on the other. I never got ’em mixed up, and the combination gave me a better ‘slippery’ for the spitball.” Source: Baseball Digest (March 1960) Pete Falcone Pitches: 1. Knuckle Curve 2. Fastball 3. Palmball Source: The Sporting News (12/27/1975, Neal Russo) Kyle Farnsworth (1999 2013) Pitches: 1. Fastball (100) 2. Slider Source: ESPN The Magazine (Jim Caple, 8/15/2005) Dick “Turk” Farrell Report: “Dodger pitching coach Joe Becker says Dick Farrell’s fast ball ranks with Ryne Duren’s ‘when Duren had his best years,’ and that Farrell’s curve ball is better. Better than what? Duren’s curve ball? Duren? Curve ball? Must be a weapon so secret it never has been trotted out before witnesses. Becker also says Farrell throws harder than Larry Sherry. Farrell, Becker says, ‘just rears back and overpowers the hitters.’ ” Source: Dick Farrell: Reinforcement for Dodger Relief Corps (1961, entry in The 1961 Dodger Family booklet series, published by Union Oil) Harry Craft: “Farrell’s fast ball is incredible. He’s one of the few pitchers who can overpower a hitter with speed.” Farrell: “Nobody needs more help than me. And nobody can give a pitcher more help than Richards. Paul worked with me on the ‘slip’ pitch and it’s coming along … It will serve as a change-up from my fast ball. Also, he’s helping me to throw a curve ball with the same five-fingered grip.” Report: “Until now, Farrell really didn’t need much more than a fast ball. In his role as a reliever, that is. He is so blinding fast that he throws the ball past the hitter — even when they know what’s coming. In this respect, Farrell is a throwback to the Yankees’ great relief specialist of the late forties, Joe Page. Like Page, he doesn’t have much of a curve ball, although he insists it is better than most people think.” Source: Dick Farrell in Here Come the Colts (1962, entry in booklet series published by Phillips 66) Scouting Report: “Saw in relief only — Control still a problem — All fast balls in this game — Still poor fielder” Source: Eddie Stanky (filed for Cardinals in April 1962) Jack Faszholz (MINORS 1944 1956) Memory: “… a solidly built 6’2″ guy with tremendous control and a sneaky fastball … His chief pitches were a good fastball (though not blazing), a curve and a slider.” Source: Ed Mickelson in Out of the Park (Mickelson, 2007) Charlie Faust (1911) John McGraw: “If a pitcher needed nothing but a wind-up I’ll back Charley Faust against the world.” Source: Victory Faust: The Rube Who Saved McGraw’s Giants (Gabriel Schechter, 2000) Vern Fear (1952) Key Pitch: Knuckleball Source: The Sporting News (1/16/1952, Edgar Munzel) Bob Feller Hal Newhouser: “There are a number of pitchers in the American League who throw good sliders, especially Marvin Shea, of the Yankees; Tex Hughson of the Red Sox; and Bob Feller of the Indians.” Source: Pitching to Win (Hal Newhouser, 1948) Ray Hayworth: “I was a pull hitter, usually hitting down the third base line. But when I hit against Feller, I hit mainly down the first base line. That’s how fast he was. And he had so much deception. During his whole delivery, he was looking out in right field until the very last second. Then he’d pick you up at the plate, and the ball would come whizzing in. I hated to hit against him. I had a wife and two kids to support, and I used to think that one of these days he was going to kill me at home plate.” Source: The National Pastime: Number 22 (SABR, 2002) Terry Felton (1979 1982) Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Curve 3. Slider 4. Change (occasional) Brooks Robinson: “What can you say about a guy who has lost 16 in a row? He has to get better if his control improves. He has outstanding stuff, and there is just no way that he is as bad as his 1982 record indicates. Don’t give up on him yet.” Source: The Scouting Report: 1983 Note: The Twins did give up on Felton, whose career ended at 0-16 in the majors. Sid Fernandez Gary Carter: “Sid Fernandez is even easier to catch than Bobby O[jeda]. He throws with a powerful thrust off his left leg, the arming coming not straight over the top but at three-quarters. His fastball climbs. It begins belt-high, then sails past the hitter at the letters on his chest. Duke’s curve ball floats, and he will seldom bounce one in front of me. I relax when Dukey’s out there.” Source: A Dream Season (Gary Carter & John Hough, Jr., 1987) Tom Ferrick Ferrick: “That knuckler sure was a good pitch. I threw it as hard as my fast ball and it would drop off sharp. One winter I put it on the shelf and I never could find it again.” Source: Arthur Daley in The New York Times (3/16/1960); according to Daley, Ferrick’s knuckleball had been “misplaced about a dozen years ago.” Wilmer Fields (NEGRO LEAGUES) 1. Fastball 2. Curves 3. Knuckleball Fields: “After gaining control of my fastball, I added a curveball to my repertoire… Sometimes I’d throw my curveball more like a slider, and other times like a big curve. As my career progressed, and I gained more confidence with my two pitches, I decided I needed a third option, especially for those times when my other pitches weren’t working. So I watched an old-timer for the Grays, Raymond Brown, throw his outstanding knuckleball, and I worked with him for several years while learning to throw one myself. Eventually, I got to the point where I could throw one consistently, and I had my third pitch.” Source: My Life in the Negro Leagues (Wilmer Fields, 1992) Tommy Fine (1947 1950) Memory: “During waking hours, Fine had more nervous energy than anyone. Tommy could not sit still for five minutes. Tommy always had to be doing something. He was a fidgety pitcher, too. He had a good overhand curveball, right from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock. Average fastball. But his curveball was his out-pitch.” Source: Don Lenhardt in Memories of Winter Ball (Lou Hernández, 2013) Hank Fischer (1962 1967) Scouting Report: “Fast ball pitcher. Used in relief, control was good — Looks like good young prospect.” Source: Eddie Stanky (report filed for Cardinals, April 1962) Eddie Fisher Al Lopez: “The turning point with him, I believe, came about the middle of 1964 when he finally got around to making the knuckler his main pitch. He had been throwing it before, but only 20 percent of the time. Now he throws it at least 80 percent of the time. The knuckleball is hard to control. Therefore, I’ve always felt that if you were going to be a knuckleball pitcher, you have to be one all the way or you’ll never perfect it.” Source: Baseball Dope Book — 1966 (article by Edgar Munzel) Al Fitzmorris John Mayberry: “Fitzy had absolutely nothing. He threw the kind of junk you leave on your front lawn and hope that someone steals.” Source: The Soul of Baseball (Joe Posnanski, 3/24/2007) Key Pitch: Sinker Source: 1976 American League Championship Series program (Royals edition) Ben Flowers (1951 1956) Key Pitch: Knuckleball Source: The Sporting News (9/7/1955, Cy Kritzer) Wes Flowers (1940 1944) Key Pitch: Knuckleball Source: The Sporting News (8/15/1940, Tommy Holmes; and 4/29/1943, Page 7) Josh Fogg (2001 2009) Report: “RHP Josh Fogg gets a lot of ground balls with his sinker, but he also isn’t afraid to use his curve and changeup to induce fly balls — even at Coors Field.” Source: The Sporting News (7/21/2006, Thomas Harding) Rich Folkers (1970 1977) Pitches: 1. Screwball 2. Fastball 3. Curve Source: The Sporting News (8/11/1973, Neal Russo) Jim Foor (1971 1973) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Hard Curve 3. Change Source: Foor in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002) Steve Foucault Foucault on his Sidearm Curve: “Now it’s my best pitch. I can’t throw it hard or soft, and it takes the place of both a slider and a change. I’m sure the sidearm delivery, mixed with the three-quarter fast ball, disturbs the batter, too.” Source: The Sporting News (Merle Heryford, 6/8/1974) Earl Weaver: “I can’t understand it. He looks so easy to hit I was tempted to grab a bat.” Source: The Sporting News (Randy Galloway, 6/29/1974) (Above replaces Foucault’s entry in book.) Ken Frailing (1972 1976) Pitches: 1. Sinking Fastball 2. Curve 3. Slider 4. Knuckleball Source: 1975 Pitcher Performance Handbook (Ronald H. Lewis) Earl Francis (1960 1965) Comment: “Earl Francis of the Pirates, who has one of the best curves in baseball today, throws his with the index finger cocked against a seam to help him impart greater spin. And some pitchers throw what they term a ‘knuckle curve,’ which is a curve spun off the index finger knuckle.” Source: The Making of a Big League Pitcher (Ed Richter, 1963) Jeff Francis (2004 2012) Comment: “Though he rarely tops 88 mph on the radar gun, Francis’s success is a result of using pinpoint command to locate his two-seam fastball and looping curve. Says an NL advance scout, ‘There’s no real secret to why he pitches well [in Colorado]. The bottom line is, he’s a very smart pitcher with very good stuff.” Source: Sports Illustrated (6/6/2005, Albert Chen) Report: “Even on the night the Rockies’ Jeff Francis shut out the Reds for seven innings, I wasn’t impressed with his stuff. His command has to be right on for him to be effective. He’s kind of a low-cost version of Denny Neagle.” Source: anonymous scout in The Sporting News (5/19/2006) Jason Frasor (2004 2013) Report: “RHP Jason Frasor abandoned his curveball after being sent to Syracuse and now uses a slider as his main breaking pitch. Frasor also is mixing in more split-finger fastballs. The approach is similar to the one Frasor used in 2004, when he had 17 saves.” Source: The Sporting News (9/1/2006, Jordan Bastian) Dave Freisleben (1974 1979) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Curve 3. Change 4. Slider (occasional) Source: The Sporting News (6/23/1973, Fred Borsch); this describes his repertoire while pitching in the Pacific Coast League, and might not accurately describe his pitches afterward, in the majors. Marion Fricano (1952 1955) Key Pitch: Knuckleball Source: The Sporting News (8/11/1954, Art Morrow; and 11/17/1954, Morrow) Kason Gabbard (2006 2007) Report: “Scouts and GMs are divided on how good LHP Kason Gabbard, shipped from Boston to Texas in the Eric Gagne deal, will be. Some swear he’s a young Jimmy Key, while others say he’s nothing special, a soft-tosser with a little deception and a bit of sink on his fastball.” Source: ESPN The Magazine (Tim Kurkjian, 8/27/2007) Yovani Gallardo (2007 2013) Pitches: 1. Fastball (88-94) 2. Curve 3. Change 4. Slider Source: ESPN.com (Keith Law, 6/18/2007) Bob Garibaldi (1962 1969) Garibaldi: “I was mainly a fastball pitcher. If I could look back and say if I had to do it all over again, maybe instead of going with a curveball I should have went with a change-up, or something else.” Source: SF Giants: An Oral History (Mike Mandel, 1979) Mike Garman (1969 1978) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Slider 3. Curve Garman: “I can’t experiment with too many pitches in relief. I rely on my fastball, but I also throw a slider and a curve. Maybe they think I should have a change-up.” Source: Chicago Tribune (10/30/1975, Dave Condon) Trivia: In 1975, Garman issued 23 intentional walks in 79 innings. Matt Garza (2006 2013) Joe Maddon: “Arguably some of the best stuff in the league. Fastball velocity-wise, he’s about 93 to 95, plus he throws at a down angle with movement. And then the slider off that and the curveball off of that.” Source: NESN broadcast, 7/1/2008 Dave Gassner (2005) Report: “His fastball usually tops out at 88 mph, but good command and a wide array of reliable breaking pitches helps him succeeed — much like Seatle Mariners veteran Jamie Moyer, after whom Gassner has patterned himself.” Source: Associated Press story, published 4/14/2005 Aubrey Gatewood (1963 1970) Pitches, 1963 – Sept. 6, 1965: 1. Fastball 2. Curve Pitches, Sept. 10, 1965 – ?: 1. Knuckleball (75-80%) 2. Fastball 3. Curve Source: The Sporting News (9/25/1985, Ross Newhan) Trivia: The last batter Gatewood faced in the majors was San Francisco’s Jim Ray Hart, in the fifth inning on July 8, 1970. Hart tripled to complete the cycle; he’d doubled in the second, singled in the third, and homered earlier in the fifth. Paul Giel (1954 1961) Pitches: 1. Fastball (low-mid 80s) 2. Slider 3. Change Source: Giel in Baseball’s Bonus Babies (Brent Kelly, 2006) Tom Glavine Report: “Glavine went through a similar process last summer when, mired in an awful slump, he abandoned his approach of changing speeds and throwing down-and-away changeups. He resurrected his curveball and started to throw inside more. The success rejuvenated his career.” Source: The New York Times (Ben Shpigel, 8/6/2006) Report: “The guy with the underwhelming fastball decided to begin serving his lukewarm heater on the inside part of the plate more often. Instead of living low and away, Glavine expanded his repertoire. He started throwing more curves and varying the location of all his pitches. In short, a guy who had always relied on touch and feel became an even better pitcher. The turnaround has been stunning: Since the second half of 2005, Glavine has gone 27-15 with a 3.28 ERA. In the 2 1/2 seasons prior: 26-35, 4.21.” Source: The Sporting News (Stan McNeal, 6/4/2007) Jim Golden (1960 1963) Pitches: 1. Curve 2. Fastball 3. Slider 4. Change Source: Jim Golden: the Boy from the Golden West (1962, part of “Here Come the Colts” series of booklets); same source says that Golden learned his slider from Art Fowler when the two were teammates on the Dodgers’ St. Paul farm team. Dave Goltz Pitches: 1. Sinking Fastball 2. Slider 3. Rising Fastball (developed in 1974) 4. Knuckle Curve 5. Change (occasional) Source: Goltz in The Sporting News (3/22/1975, Bob Fowler) Mike Gonzalez (2003 2006) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball (mid-90s) 2. Slider Source: The Sporting News (9/1/2006, Ed Eagle) Gonzalez: “I’m not going to trick you. I’ve got a fastball and a slider.” Source: The Sporting News (Matt Crossman, 3/12/2007) Dwight Gooden Gary Carter: “Dwight Gooden throws hard, always. His breaking ball bites hard. His pitches are alive; they sail, they fly, which means they don’t feel heavy hitting in the mitt.” Source: A Dream Season (Gary Carter & John Hough, Jr., 1987) Marv Goodwin Comment: “The former Cincinnati great, Marvin Goodwin, was another fine spitter. He took the slime off the bottom of his chin as he prepared to pitch. He had such a mouthful of slippery ellum at times that the corners of his mouth were sore.” Source: Kill the Ump! (Dusty Boggess as told to Ernie Helm, 1966) Rich Gossage Gossage: “I already had an out pitch. My fastball consistently registered in the midnineties. It was one of a handful of the hardest in the game and it had plenty of movement. I threw a sinker fastball and a high one with hop. Either could blow hitters away. In 1975 I added a much-improved slider to the mix.” Source: The Goose is Loose (Gossage with Russ Pate, 2000) Eli Grba (1959 1963) Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Curve 3. Slider 4. Change Source: The Sporting News (6/1/1960, Laurence Leonard) Trivia: Grba started and won (7-2) the first game in L.A. Angels history. Bill Greason (1954) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Curve Note: Greason threw mostly overhand, but also dropped to three-quarters and sidearm. Source: Greason in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002) Ross Grimsley Earl Weaver: “The change-up is his pitch, and we’ve got to accept the fact that he’s going to throw it a lot — and if he gets the pitch too high, he’s going to give up some home runs. But the same thing would happen to a fast-ball pitcher who didn’t get the ball in the right spot.” Report: “The fact that Grimsley uses the pitch so often, sometimes as much as 50 percent of the time, and throws it at three or four different speeds are factors that make the problem complex.” Source: The Sporting News (Jim Henneman, 6/21/1975) Bill Madlock: “You wonder how the guy does it. He seems like he’s throwing junk up there, but he wins so I guess you’ve got to rate his control and concentration as excellent.” Roger Craig: “I admire Ross for learning how to pitch after he had arm problems and lost his overpowering fastball. Now, he’s got a good sinking fastball, a screwball and a great changeup.” Source: SPORT Magazine (May 1979, Stephen Hanks) Marv Grissom Al Worthington: “Marv Grissom was an outstanding pitcher, I don’t know how a man could be any better. He had a tremendous curveball and a fastball and a screwball and he used them all.” Source: SF Giants: An Oral History (Mike Mandel, 1979) Eddie Guardado Pat Borders: “Hitting the spots is key, and Eddie seldom misses. He’s very deceptive with his fastball. It jumps on hitters and they are often behind it quite a bit.” Eric Chavez: “It’s deception. He tucks his throwing arm behind the shoulder during the delivery, so the hitter picks the ball up real late. You think it’s a heater, and you get the splitter. I’ve never really liked facing him.” Source: Mariners Magazine (August 2005, Scott Holter) Ron Guidry Scout Frank Malzone, 1978: “Guidry throws harder than anyone in baseball … Harder than Blue or Tanana, equal to Ryan. But his secret is his slider. He gets ’em looking for his heat, then dipsey-doodles it and they’re dead.” Source: Sport (October 1978, Mark Ribowsky) Guidry: “I never threw a changeup. Not until I was about 36 years old and I was going out the door.” Report: “In Guidry’s prime, his catcher, Thurman Munson, had only two signs, each with a variation. One finger meant a straight fastball. If Munson wiggled the finger, he wanted a tailing fastball. Three fingers meant the vicious slider Guidry had learned from Sparky Lyle. Three wiggling fingers meant a slider thrown just a bit slower.” Source: The New York Times (Tyler Kepner, 3/4/2007) Randy Gumpert Favorite Pitch: Slider Gumpert: “I gave up Mantle’s first home run. Five, one, fifty-one. I was with the White Sox and pitching at Comiskey Park. I threw Mantle a screwball. Evidently, it didn’t screw very well and he hit it into the bullpen in center field. Source: The National Pastime: Number 19 (SABR, 1999, article by Victor Debs, Jr.) (Above information supplements, and somewhat contradicts, Gumpert’s entry in the book.) Larry Gura Ron Luciano: “He’ll be sailing along, then start to lose it, survive on junk pitches for two innings, then finish strong. It’s his ability to get through those two innings when he doesn’t have his best stuff that has made him a major league winner.” Source: The Umpire Strikes Back (Luciano & David Fisher, 1982) Jeremy Guthrie (2004 2013) Report: “Guthrie throws a low-90s fastball, a slider and a changeup — none of them plus pitches.” Source: The Sporting News (Spencer Fordin, 4/23/2007) Harvey Haddix Comment: “A hitch, or jerking motion of the leg, is calculated to throw batters off stride. It works well for Harvey Haddix of the Pirates.” Source: The Making of a Big League Pitcher (Ed Richter, 1963) Charlie Haeger (2006 2010) Pitches: 1. Knuckleball 2. Cut Fastball Source: Baseball America Prospect Handbook (2006 edition) Kevin Hagen (1983 1984) Pitches: 1. Sinker 2. Slider Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Dan Raley, 5/31/2006) Roy Halladay (1998 2013) Pitches: 1. Cutter (93) 2. Sinker (93) 3. Curve 4. Splitter Source: Blue Jays catcher Tom Wilson in The Toronto Sun (6/12/2003, Bob Elliott) Note: Many would argue that Halladay’s curveball, of the 12-to-6 variety, is actually his best pitch. And at least one source suggests he sometimes got his fastball into the 97-m.p.h. neighborhood. Brad Halsey (2004 2006) Pitches: 1. Slider 2. Four-Seam Fastball (low-90s) 3. Cut Fastball 4. Change Report: “Halsey’s out pitch is a slider with late bite that tops out at 82 mph. He complements it with a 92-mph four-seam fastball, a cut fastball and a change-up. His slider sometimes looks more like a slurve, particularly when thrown from the windup. The slider and cutter look similar coming out of Halsey’s hand. Halsey throws his change for strikes, but the pitch lacks dive and is too easy to hit. Source: Lewis Shaw in The Sporting News (4/29/2005) Jack Hamilton Hamilton: “I did throw a spitter now and then. But not to Conigliaro. I guess people can believe what they want … People always want to know what I remember about Tony Conigliaro. To me, he was a first-ball hitter who had trouble with the curveball, and of course I couldn’t throw the curveball. I was just a fastball pitcher.” Source: Boston Herald (Steve Buckley, 8/17/2007) (Above supplements, and perhaps should replace, Hamilton’s entry in book.) Gerry Hannahs (1976 1979) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Knuckle Curve 3. Change (developing in 1976) Source: The Sporting News (8/28/1976, John Broderick) Jim Hannan (1962 1971) Key Pitches: Fastball and Curve Comment: “Hannan’s pitching repertoire otherwise was without fault. He boasted a fast-ball that made him the strikeout king of the NY-Penn League last season, bu this curve was his clutch pitch.” Source: The Sporting News (7/28/1962, Shirley Povich) Devern Hansack (2008) Pitches: 1. Slider 2. Fastball (low-90s) 3. Change 4. Splitter Source: BostonHerald.com (Jeff Horrigan, 9/23/2006) Note: In his second MLB start (10/1/2006) Hansack pitched a five-inning “no-hitter”. Aaron Harang (2002 2013) Report: ” ‘He’s sneaky,’ says Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran. ‘He doesn’t look like he’s throwing that hard, but somehow he gets it in on you, or by you.’ The 6’7″, 275-pound righthander accomplishes that with a slight hitch in his delivery that hides the ball well behind his right hip until he’s past his balance point. That blind spot also helps Harang to get hitters to chase his slider out of the strike zone.” Source: ESPN The Magazine (Jeff Bradley, 8/13/2007) Catcher Chad Moeller: “Six-foot-seven, very big. He throws an invisible fastball: a lot of them are right down the middle, and they don’t hit it.” Source: The New York Times (Tyler Kepner, 2/28/2010) Rich Harden (2003 2011) Report: “Don’t even bother sitting on his splitter or his changeup, because even if you do, you won’t hit it. Try to hit his fastball. Emphasis on try.” Source: anonymous scout in Sports Illustrated (Tom Verducci, 4/24/2006) Dan Haren (2003 2013) Report: “RHP Dan Haren can overpower opponents with a fastball in the low to mid-90s, but his split-finger fastball makes him one of the most promising young starters in the A.L. During a loss that ended a six-game winning streak, he struck out a career-high 12 hitters — 11 on splitters. Haren uses his changeup sparingly and has a good slider. He’s also an excellent athlete who fields his position well.” Source: The Sporting News (9/15/2006, Mychael Urban) Report: “But priority No. 1 was mastering the cut fastball, which, in addition to two- and four-seam fastballs, the spiked curveball he learned from Jason Isringhausent, and his trademark diving splitter, gave Haren five pitches he can throw for strikes.” Source: ESPN The Magazine (Lindsay Berra, 7/30/2007) Phil Haugstad (1947 1952) Key Pitch: Fastball Source: The New York Times (Roscoe McGowen, 2/20/1952) Wynn Hawkins (1960 1962) Key Pitch: Forkball Report: “Hawkins, a right hander, relies mainly on his fork ball — a change-up thrown with the same motion as his fast ball. However, his fork ball sings as it reaches the plate and is a tough pitch to hit very well.” Source: Milwaukee Sentinel (5/2/1960, Associated Press) Jehosie Heard (NEGRO LEAGUES) Memory: “Jehosie Heard was a hell of a left-hander. He was raw-boned, had a good curveball, and he had some heat, too. By the time you were through watching his curveball he’d blind you with his fastball.” Source: Bob Veale in Willie’s Boys (John Klima, 2009); Veale, the future major-league pitcher, was a teenager when he saw Heard pitching for Birmingham in the late 1940s. Roy Henshaw (1933 1944) Key Pitch: Sneak-Ball Source: Baseball Magazine (September 1937, Dan Daniel) Clay Hensley (2005 2013) Pitches: 1. Hard Sinker 2. Slider 3. Curve 4. Change Source: Interview with Portland Beavers pitching coach Gary Lance (7/7/2005, Rob Neyer) Dustin Hermanson (1995 2005) Key Pitch: Sinker Hermanson: “I’m a sinkerball pitcher. I can always hit that outside corner to a lefty, but it’s tougher for me to hit that inside corner to a lefty, so with me standing over farther on the first base side it enables me to get the ball over there on that side easier.” Source: The Starting Pitcher (Rob Trucks, 2005) Felix Hernandez (2005 2008) Pitches: 1. Fastball (96-97) 2. Curve (82-84) 3. Change (80-83) Source: Seth Stohs, who charted Hernandez’s second start (8/9/2005) and posted the results on his Website. According to Stohs, Hernandez threw 59 fastballs, 23 curveballs, and 12 change-ups (all of them after the first four innings), in the course of shutting out the Twins for eight innings. Mariners pitching coach Brian Price: “He is a tremendous power pitcher, and yet he throws his off-speed pitches with as much accuracy as his fastball. He’s also got a terrific slider, but we tell him not to use it — simply because he just doesn’t need it right now.” Source: Sports Illustrated (8/22/2005) Livan Hernandez Report: “Hernandez typically throws in the 80s, keeping hitters off-balance with a variety of screwy fastballs down in the zone.” Source: The Sporting News (6/23/2008) Orlando Hernandez Report: “White Sox RHP Orlando Hernandez has a similar pitching style to that of the team’s closer, RHP Shingo Takatsu. Hernandez comes at hitters with a variety of arm angles and speeds; his pitches ranged from 55 to 86 mph during a recent outing. But the team would like Hernandez to pick up a few more mph on his fastball, making the change of speeds more distinct.” Source: The Sporting News (3/25/2005, Scott Merkin) Shawn Hill (2004 2008) Key Pitch: Sinker Source: New York Times (AP, 2/6/2009) Guy Hoffman (1979 1988) Pitches: 1. Curve 2. Change 3. Sneaky Fastball Source: The Scouting Report: 1987 Brad Hogg (1911 1919) Key Pitch: Spitball Source: Spitting on Diamonds (Clyde H. Hogg, 2005) Bill Holland (Negro Leagues) Key Pitch: Fastball Report: “A fastball pitcher, this right-hander’s repertory also included a curve, drop, change-up, and emery ball.” Source: The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues (James A. Riley, 1994) Greg Holland (2010 2013) Miguel Cabrera: “It’s unbelievable. He throws 98, 99, 100. He’s got a very good split and very good slider.” Source: Twitter (Jon Paul Morosi, 9/13/2013) Bobo Holloman (1953) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Sinker Source: The New York Times (Associated Press, 5/7/1953) Bob Hooper (1950 1955) Red Rolfe in 1950: “Hooper throws sinkers and sliders. Very few curve balls. When he throws latter he lowers his head. Do not be agressive against him. Make him pitch. He tires with all his motions on the mound.” Source: The View from the Dugout (ed. William M. Anders, 2006) Bruce Howard Al Lopez: “He has everything: a sinking fastball, a curveball, a slider, and plenty of poise.” Source: Dell Sports (March 1965) Jay Howell Memory: “Jay Howell was a big pickup for us. We wanted a proven closer and he had done a good job for Oakland. He had a curve ball that he threw at two or three different speeds and threw it for strikes. He used his fastball but his best pitch was his breaking ball.” Source: Mel Didier in Podnuh Let Me Tell You a Story: A Baseball Life (Didier and T. R. Sullivan, 2007) Millard “Dixie” Howell (1940 1958) Key Pitch: Sinker Source: Howell in The Sporting News (Halsey Hall, 8/23/1950) Notes: In 1950, Howell threw the American Association’s first no-hitter in many years. During World War II, Howell spent seven months in a German P.O.W. camp. Howell spent the great majority of his 23-season professional career in the minors. In 1960, in training camp with the Indianapolis Indians, he suffered a heart attack and died. Willis Hudlin Hudlin: “The sinker-ball was my out pitch. I was a low-ball pitcher against all batters, even the ones supposed to be good low-ball hitters. My fastball sinker was my bread-and-butter pitch. But when I started losing it, I had to come up with some kind of a curveball, which I’d never had before. And there were no pitching coaches to teach you…” Source: Baseball Research Journal (Volume 16, 1987) Charlie Hudson (1972 1975) Key Pitch, 1972: Screwball Source: The Sporting News (8/11/1972, Neal Russo) Key Pitch: Knuckleball (developed in 1973) Source: The Sporting News (9/29/1973, Randy Galloway) Luke Hudson (2002 2006) Key Pitch: Sinker Source: The Sporting News (8/18/2006, Dick Kaegel) Sid Hudson Report: “Hudson lacks the bruising power of Bob Feller, Rowe and Newsom, with whom the figures rank him. He’s a heady pitcher and is called by Rick Ferrell, the Senators’ catcher, ‘the smartest rookie I ever handled.’ Hudson spends long hours pouring over charts and studying batting styles of opposing hitters.” Source: Jimmy Powers in the New York Daily News (8/14/1940). Jim Hughes Pitches: 1. Fastball 2. Curveball Joe Garagiola: “As the hitter, I had worked the count to two and two with both strikes being fouled off on fast balls. The two-ball count had been on curve balls and bad curves at that. This was about the pattern you figured, because Hughes was strictly a fast-ball pitcher. The two-two pitch was outside, a fast ball that missed, and now it was a full count. A walk would put the tying run at second, and I would be the winning run on at first base. Hughes broke off the best curve I’d seen in a long time, and all I could do was watch it sail by for strike three…” Source: Baseball is a Funny Game (Joe Garagiola, 1960) Phil Hughes (2007 2013) Report: “Hughes throws a four-seam fastball and a two-seamer in the low to mid-90s to both sides of the plate and also has a terrific curveball.” Source: The Sporting News (Sean Deveney, 2/25/2008) Hughes: “It’s one thing to try to throw fastball, curveball, cutter and get out of every inning 1-2-3, but at the same time I want to have results this year based on my changeup. I think the only time to get that work in is in games. You can throw in the bullpen all day long, but it’s just not the same.” Source: The New York Times (Tyler Kepner, 3/16/2010) Tex Hughson Hal Newhouser: “There are a number of pitchers in the American League who throw good sliders, especially Marvin Shea, of the Yankees; Tex Hughson of the Red Sox; and Bob Feller of the Indians.” Source: Pitching to Win (Hal Newhouser, 1948 Fred Hutchinson Hal Newhouser: “Freddie Hutchinson, of the Tigers, also can throw three or four different changes of pace.” Source: Pitching to Win (Hal Newhouser, 1948) Ira Hutchinson (1933 1945) Hutchinson: “I had a curve ball which they call a slider today.” Source: Baseball Digest (May 1967, John P. Carmichael) Al Jackson Comment: “Change-ups are thrown mostly off fastballs. But some pitchers use change curves and change sliders. Al Jackson of the Mets is one.” Source: The Making of a Big League Pitcher (Ed Richter, 1963) Note: Same book, photo caption of Jackson reads, “Tiny Al Jackson of the New York Mets. He uses high kick and delayed lay-back to get more momentum into each pitch.” Chuck James (2005 2007) Report: “His willingness to attack opponents inside allows him to get away with a 91-mph fastball and a solid changeup. Hitters say they have a tough time picking up James’ release point. If his slider improves, he will be even more deceptive. Source: The Sporting News (12/1/2006, Mark Bowman) Casey Janssen (2006 2013) Report: “His fastball barely reaches 90 mph, so he mixes in a curve, slider, changeup, and cutter. ‘They all have their days,’ he says. ‘If I don’t have a feel for one of the pitches, I still hae a couple of others I can use.’ Janssen mainly credits the two-seam cutter for his rapid rise. He discovered the grip as a college sophomore, when he was tinkering with a baseball on his couch when sidelined with an injury.” Source: ESPN The Magazine (7/3/2006, Matt Meyers) Bobby Jenks (2005 2011) Pitches: 1. Fastball (100) 2. Curve 3. Change (83) Source: ESPN The Magazine (9/26/2005, Amy K. Nelson) Jason Jennings Report: “Jennings is more successful when he is aggressive and doesn’t overanalyze every pitch sequence. He has a good slider but tends to be predictable with it, which allows hitters to sit on the pitch.” Source: The Sporting News (1/15/2007) Tommy John Ted Simmons: “He’ll throw maybe four balls to every strike. That sinking fastball starts at the knees and seems so slow, you feel you can golf the ball 450 yards to the green. But by the time you finish swinging, the damn thing’s at your ankles.” Source: SPORT Magazine (May 1979, Stephen Hanks) Don Johnson (1947 1958) Comment: “When Johnson found himself in trouble because his fastball wasn’t taking off, he was up the creek. Johnson, though, is a valuable bit of pitching bric-a-brac and a comer. Less reliance on his fastball and more of an assortment will make him a great pitcher because he has almost every other requisite.” Source: Yankee Doodles (Milton Gross, 1948); this was written at the very beginning of Johnson’s major-league career. Earl Johnson (1940 1951) Eddie Collins: “Though he is the rawest rookie on the staff he is the most polished of the lot at keeping down the stolen base total. Johnson has such a deceptive motion he keeps the base runner clinging to first — like a drunk to a lamp post.” Source: Jimmy Powers column in the New York Daily News (8/26/1940) Josh Johnson (2006 2013) Pitches: 1. Fasball (92-96) 2. Slider 3. Change Source: The Sporting News (Stan McNeal, 9/15/2006) Ken Johnson Pitches: 1. Knuckleball 2. Fastball 3. Curve Comment: “Johnson estimates he now throws the knuckle ball about one-third of the time and he is convinced that it has had a great deal to do with making his fast ball and curve more effective.” Johnson: “I’ve got quite a few strikeouts with my knuckle ball, but I think I’ve had just as many with my fast ball and curve. If I didn’t have the knuckler, though, they wouldn’t be striking out on those other pitches.” Source: Ken Johnson: Tree-Tall Master of the Knuckler (entry in “Here Come the Colts” booklet series, published in 1962) Scouting Report: “The same as last year with better control — Rarely runs count to 3-2 — Sinking fast ball was best pitch in Philadelphia — Too windy for knuckle ball.” Source: Eddie Stanky (April 1962) Roy Joiner (1934 1940) Pitches, 1940: 1. Fastball 2. Curve 3. Sinker 4. Knuckleball Source: Billy Terry in The Sporting News (4/11/1940, Page 12) Dave Jolly (1953 1957) Report: “Dave Jolly, who faded in midseason last year after appearing to regain his 1954 form as a relief pitcher, is experimenting with a knuckleball this spring. He used the knuckler to some advantage when he posted an 11-6 record in 1954, but not at all the last two seasons.” Source: The Sporting News (Bob Wolf, 3/13/1957) Randy Jones Jones on his famous Sinker: Warren “Hacker Hacker taught me about finger pressure, how in a sinker the thumb pushes in and the index finger pushes down on the ball. The other fingers just do the guiding. Before I’d been using pressure on all fingers. Thanks to Hacker, my sinker developed a different spin and the ball rotates counter-clockwise and it sinks very sharply.” Source: Sport (Don Freeman, May 1976; article says Jones throws his sinker “at least 80 percent of the time.”) Sherman “Roadblock” Jones (1960 1962) Key Pitch: Fastball Source: Tales from the 1962 New York Mets (Janet Paskin, 2004) Trivia: Jones started the first home game in Mets history and collected the first hit, a single to left field. Slim Jones (NEGRO LEAGUES) Key Pitch: Fastball Scouting Report: “I only knew one guy that [Satchel Paige] couldn’t beat, and that was Slim Jones. That’s the only pitcher Satchel couldn’t beat. Slim Jones was tall–about 6’6″–and skinny like Satchel, and he could throw the ball as hard as Satchel.” Source: Catching Dreams: My Life in the Negro Baseball Leagues (Frazier “Slow” Robinson with Paul Bauer, 1999) Buck Leonard: “I faced Lefty Grove and I faced Slim Jones, and I think Slim Jones was faster.” Source: Of Monarchs and Black Barons (James A. Riley, 2012) Trivia: In 1934, Evans started for the East in the East-West all-star game. Stacy Jones (1991 1996) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Slider 3. Split-Finger Source: Jones in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002) Todd Jones Jones: “As far back as 1999, I started working with a cutter, a pitch that for a righthanded pitcher will tail away from righthanded hitters because of the way the wrist is turned. It wasn’t until 2005, however, that I really learned how to use it.. Paul Lo Duca, my catcher with the Marlins, showed me the way. Though the cutter had become part of my mix, Lo Duca helped make it a primary pitch — a pitch I can go to when the chips are on the table.” Source: The Sporting News (Todd Jones, 3/5/2007) Mike Jurewicz (1965) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball (upper 90s) 2. Curve 3. Change (occasional) Source: Jurewicz in Cup of Coffee (Rob Trucks, 2002) Herb Karpel (1946) Key Pitch: Change Description: “… great change of pace, lots of slow stuff—good control.” Source: Pacific Coast Baseball News (4/25/1949) Scott Kazmir (2004 2013) Report: “His best pitches are a cut fastball that tops out at 93 mph and a four-seam fastball with late life that reaches the upper 90s. Also throws a hard slider that has good tilt when thrown from the windup but is not as effective when thrown from the stretch. Throws a low-80s changeup with decent dive and still is learning how to change speeds with it.” Source: The Sporting News (Lewis Shaw, 6/2/2006) Brooks Kieschnick (2003 2004) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Change 3. Breaking Ball Sources: The New York Times (5/9/2004, Dave Caldwell); Kieschnick interview on ESPN.com (posted 8/12/2003, Alan Schwarz) Harry Kelley (1925 1939) Key Pitch: Slow Curve Comment: “Kelley’s is one of the slowest curves in the majors, and has led to the supposition that he throws a knuckler.” Source: Baseball Magazine (September 1937, Dan Daniel) Note: Kelley pitched briefly for Washington in 1926 and ’26, then spent nine full seasons in the minors before resurfacing with the Athletics in 1936, when somehow he ranked as one of the better starters in the league (it didn’t last). Bill Kelso Report: “Bill throws a sinking fast ball, a high hard one which he calls his strikeout pitch, plus a slider, curve and occasional screwball.” Source: Baseball Digest (Ritter Collett, June 1968) (Above supplements, and perhaps replaces, Kelso’s entry in book.) Ian Kennedy (2007 2013) Report: “The young Mussina had a better fastball than Kennedy, and a wider array of pitches. But in addition to his four-seam fastball, curveball, changeup and cutter, Kennedy now throws a two-seam fastball, which has made an enormous difference for him. Instead of simply spotting his straight four-seamer on the edges of the strike zone, he now has the confidence to throw a pitch down the middle and know it will move.” Source: New York Times (Tyler Kepner, 3/7/2010) Mike Kilkenny (1969 1973) Billy Martin: “Our other starter was Mike Kilkenny, who should have been a 20-game winner every year he pitched, but he never challenged the hitters like he should. He went out and pitched to spots, and though he should have been great was just mediocre.” Source: Number 1 (Billy Martin & Peter Golenbock, 1980) Evans Killeen (1959) Killeen: “I threw very hard. I can remember after a game once, a huge black player, one of the Panamanian players — we were out somewhere socially — he looked at me and someone said, this is Evans Killeen, the kid who pitched tonight. ‘Nah,’ this player said, ‘You cannot be Evans Killeen. You have to be seven feet tall and three hundred pounds to be Evans Killeen. You scared the crap out of me tonight.’ I look back and feel good about things like that.” Source: Memories of Winter Ball (Lou Hernández, 2013) Byung-Hyun Kim Report: “RHP Byung-Hyun Kim has improved against lefthanded hitters by mixing in his changeup without overusing it and staying low with his two- and four-seam fastballs.” Source: The Sporting News (8/18/2006, Steve Gilbert) Ellis Kinder Coach Bill McKechnie: “He’s got a heart, a head and a low, sharp-breaking slider that’s as tough a pitch to hit as anybody throws.” Source: The Sporting News (Hy Hurwitz, 9/30/1953) Eric King Pitch Selection, 1988: 1. Fastball 2. Slider 3. Slow Curve (added in June 1988) Report: “Always blessed with an overpowering fastball which tails high and tight to righthanded hitters and a wicked slider …” Source: Tiger Tracks – 1989 (1989, The Mayo Smith Society) Clay Kirby Hank Aaron: “Kirby was not one of the best pitchers in the National League, but he had one of the best sliders…” Source: I Had a Hammer (Hank Aaron with Lonnie Wheeler, 1991) Eddie Klep (NEGRO LEAGUES) Memory: “He was a pretty nice pitcher. He had good stuff. He had a good fastball and a left-hander’s ball moves, period, if he throws it hard. And he had a good changeup and a good overhand curveball. He didn’t pitch nervous at all. He wasn’t scared of anything.” Source: Pitcher Jim Colzie in Of Monarchs and Black Barons (James A. Riley, 2012) Trivia: Klep, a white player, pitched briefly with the Negro American League’s Cleveland Buckeyes in 1946. Ed Klieman (1943 1950) Key Pitch: Sinker Source: The Sporting News (Ed McAuley, 6/25/1947) Bob Knepper Scout Hugh Alexander, 1978: “Knepper is a carbon copy of San Diego’s Randy Jones, only he throws harder. He turns the ball over, makes the ball run away from righthanded hitters. I don’t see the league solving him the second time around because he’s got enough hard stuff to get the strikeout when they’re looking for the screwball.” Source: Sport (October 1978, Mark Ribowsky) Darold Knowles Dick Groat: “He reminds me so much of Ron Perranoski. His fast ball tails off the same way, and hitters chop those big bouncers to shortstop. And he’s really got heart.” Source: Baseball Digest (Sandy Grady, July 1966) George Koby (Minors 1943-1951) Ed Mickelson: “He had been in the Cardinal organization only a few years, but his blazing fastball and Greek-god-like physique gave him a can’t-miss tag. He was with the Cardinals in spring training of ’48 and was supposed to have a chance to make the parent club. George hurt his arm in spring training, though, and was on his way down, if not out of baseball. . . He had nothing on his fastball, but he did have pitching experience and pinpoint control.” Source: Out of the Park (Mickelson, 2007) Doug Konieczny (1973 1977) Pitch Selection: 1. Fastball 2. Slider 3. Curve Source: The Sporting News (7/21/1973, Page 42) Jack Kralick Note: As late as 1961, Kralick was throwing the occasional knuckleball, though our other, later sources don’t mention a knuckler at all. Source: Kralick in The Sporting News (5/24/1961, Tom Briere) Harry Krause Report: “Control is his strong point, though his repertoire includes a fine curve and fair speed. His demeanor is modest and he admits that his sensational showing last year was as much of a surprise to himself as to anyone else.” Source: The Reach Official American League Base Ball Guide for 1910 Report: “His assortment of curves is wonderful, but without his fast one moving well he cannot do his best work. He is a sensitive, high-strung youngster, and much of his success in the 1909 season was due to the coaching of Ira Thomas.” Source: Francis Richter in The Reach Official American League Base Ball Guide for 1911 Lou Kretlow Story: “‘What an exhibition you gave your last time out,’ chided Detroit Catcher Aaron Robinson to Pitcher Art Houtteman. ‘You were so wild that we were thinking of changing your name to Lou Kretlow..'” Source: Baseball Digest (September 1950, Ed McAuley in the Cleveland News) Johnny Kucks Kucks on his Sinker: “I don’t know why it sinks, or how. I’m just glad it does.” Source: The Decline and Fall of the New York Yankees (Jack Mann, 1967) Masumi Kuwata (2007) Report: “His fastball seldom clocks above 86 mph, the speed of many pitchers’ sliders. But, when blended with his curveball, slider, changeup and … sushi-ball” — a super-slow curveball — “the velocity becomes relative.” Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Dejan Kovasevic, 6/26/2007)
