From the monthly archives:
A fastball typically has backspin, giving it relatively stable aerodynamic characteristics in flight. The spin of a curveball moves in the opposite direction. This spin causes a curveball to “break”, or drop down and sweep horizontally as it approaches home plate, thus frustrating the batter.
How do you throw a curveball?
Previously we wrote about The History of the Curveball. Now, without much introduction a quick video on the art of the curveball.
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Been a while since the last post, so I figured I’d just throw a number of random things I’ve been thinking about or come across out there for evaluation.
The first comes from a recent post on www.fangraphs.com in which David Appelman discusses the defensive shift many pull-heavy lefties face and the impact it has. Appelman highlights the top 5 players most impacted by the shift, either positively or negatively. This made me think of a Ty Cobb quote about Ted Williams, “The way those clubs shift against Ted Williams, I can’t understand how he can be so stupid not to accept the challenge to him and hit to left field.” I’ve always wondered whether certain players were better at exploiting holes created by the shift. While the data is not proof, it looks like David Ortiz is better at compensating than say Carlos Delgado.
Another thought that keeps coming up, hightened by the fact that he STILL hasn’t signed, is how the impact of this Manny Ramirez fiasco is going to impact the bargaining power of Scott Boras. It appears as Boras grossly misjudged the market, expecting the contracts of Dunn and Abreu to wait until the premier free agent was signed. But now that intrasquad games are starting, Dunn and Abreu have homes while Manny still remains unattached. Will this be written off as an outlier and bizarre effect of the tenuous economic reality we face? Will this be written off as an outlier and the bizarre effect of Manny being Manny leaving a sour enough taste in the mouths of GM’s? Or will people actually remember that Boras stood by his demands of as many as a six year contract when what was in his client’s best interest was to face the facts? I guess what Ramirez ends up signing for will ultimately dictate how Boras makes out.
Lastly, there are a few fantastic comeback stories starting to materialize. Rich Hill, who will turn only 29 years old in March, looks sharp and could surprise on a revamped Baltimore squad. Dontrelle Willis, still only 26 years old, has impressed in his first few sessions for Detroit. Technically, he’s competing for the 5th starter role. But the team has invested enough in him that if he can remain competent, he’ll have a chance at redemption. And finally, Travis Hafner is looking like he’s got his strength back on Cleveland. Last year, he claimed that his faulty shoulder wouldn’t even allow him to pick up a fork to eat dinner. It’s easy to write players off, but you know we all like a good comeback story.
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