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Screwball Pitchers
A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball Pitch (baseball), pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a Slider (baseball), slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known as the scroogie or airbender. Carl Hubbell was one of the most renowned screwball pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball. Hubbell was known as the "scroogie king" for his mastery of the pitch and the frequency with which he threw it. Other famous screwball hurlers include Tug McGraw, inaugural Hall of Fame member Christy Mathewson, and Cy Young Award winners Mike Cuellar, Fernando Valenzuela, Mike Marshall (pitcher), Mike Marshall, and Willie Hernández. Grip and action The baseball is held with the open end of the horseshoe shape (where the seams are closest together) facing upward. The thumb is placed just beneath the bottom of the horseshoe, the index finger is curled against the top of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch (baseball), plays, with each play beginning when a player on the fielding team (baseball), fielding team, called the pitcher, throws a Baseball (ball), ball that a player on the batting team (baseball), batting team, called the Batter (baseball), batter, tries to hit with a baseball bat, bat. The objective of the offensive team (batting team) is to hit the ball into the field of play, away from the other team's players, allowing its players to run the Base (baseball), bases, having them advance counter-clockwise around four bases to score what are called "Run (baseball), runs". The objective of the defensive team (referred to as the fielding team) is to prevent batters from becoming Base running, runners, and to prevent runners base running ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batter (baseball)
In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher. The three main goals of batters are to become a baserunner, to drive runners home or to advance runners along the bases for others to drive home, but the techniques and strategies they use to do so vary. Hitting uses a motion which is virtually unique to baseball and its fellow bat-and-ball sports, one that is rarely used in other sports. Hitting is unique because it involves rotating in the horizontal plane of movement, unlike most sports movements which occur in the vertical plane. Goals In general, batters try to get hits. However, their primary objective is to avoid making an out, and helping their team score runs. There are several ways they can help their team score runs. They may draw a walk if they receive and do not swing the bat at four pitches located outside the strike zone. In cases when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Franco
John Anthony Franco (born September 17, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed relief pitcher between and . Franco established himself as an Major League Baseball All-Star Game, All-Star player with the Cincinnati Reds before spending the majority of his career with the New York Mets. He ended his 21-year career with one final season with the Houston Astros. Franco's 1,119 career games pitched is a National League record, and ranks fourth in major league history. His 424 career save (baseball), saves ranks seventh all-time in major league history (ranking second when he retired), and remains the most by a left-hander. For 15 of his 21 seasons, he played for the New York Mets, serving as team captain in his final years with the team. Franco was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2012. Early life Franco, who is of Italian Americans, Italian heritage, grew up in the Gravesend, Brooklyn, Gravesend se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rich Folkers
Richard Nevin Folkers (born October 17, 1946) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from to for the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers. He was tall and weighed . The draft Before entering professional baseball, Folkers attended both Ellsworth Community College and Parsons College and was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round of the 1966 draft. Deciding not to sign, he was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and the New York Mets in 1967 at different times. The White Sox chose him in the third round, while the Mets took him in the first. The 20th pick overall of the secondary phase draft of 1967, Folkers decided to sign with the Mets. The minors From 1967 to 1970, Folkers' earned run average in a minor league season never rose above 3.19. In , his record was 13–9, and he posted an ERA of 2.41 in 27 games, striking out 142 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Brewer (baseball)
James Thomas Brewer (November 14, 1937 – November 16, 1987) was an American relief pitcher and coach in Major League Baseball. From 1960 through 1976, Brewer played for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and California Angels. He batted and threw left-handed. Following the advice of Warren Spahn, Brewer developed a screwball to become one of the most successful relievers in the National League in the 1960s and 1970s. Career A graduate of Broken Arrow Senior High in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Brewer compiled a 69–65 record with 810 strikeouts and a 3.07 earned run average in a 17-year career that began with the Cubs and ended with the Angels, and in between spent twelve seasons with the Dodgers. In his career, Brewer recorded 133 saves, 126 with the Dodgers, appearing in 474 games for the club. Only two Dodgers pitchers, Don Sutton and Don Drysdale, have more appearances—550 and 518, respectively. As a Dodger, Brewer appeared in the 1973 All-Star Game and in three Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keith Comstock
Keith Martin Comstock (born December 23, 1955) is an American baseball coach and former relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of six seasons, spending time with the Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, and Seattle Mariners. He also played for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and several Minor League Baseball teams in various countries. Comstock has served as the rehab pitching coordinator for the Texas Rangers since 2007. Playing career Comstock was drafted by the California Angels in 1976 and played for their minor league affiliate, the Idaho Falls Angels. He spent the next eight years in the minor leagues. According to a 1990 article in ''Sports Illustrated'', in 1983 the Oakland Athletics organization sold him to the Detroit Tigers for $100 and a bag of balls, which he had to deliver himself. In 1984, he was called up to the majors by the Minnesota Twins. From 1985 to 1986, he played in Japan for Nippo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Castillo
Robert Ernie "Babo" Castillo Jr. (April 18, 1955 – June 30, 2014) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB) between and . He was in the bullpen for the Dodgers in the 1981 World Series, pitching one inning against the New York Yankees. He also pitched one season in Japan for the Chunichi Dragons in . Castillo is credited with teaching his former Dodgers teammate, Fernando Valenzuela, how to throw a screwball A screwball is a baseball and fastpitch softball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action. The pitch is sometimes known .... Castillo died on June 30, 2014, from cancer at the age of 59. References External links {{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Bobby 1955 births 2014 deaths Albuquerque Dukes players 20th-century American sportsmen American baseball p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Browning
Thomas Leo Browning (April 28, 1960 – December 19, 2022) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1984 to 1995, spending almost his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds. In his rookie season in 1985, Browning won 20 games and was runner-up for the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award; he was the Reds' first 20-game winner in 15 years, and equalled the most wins by a Cincinnati lefthander since 1925. He quickly became a mainstay in the team's pitching rotation, leading the NL in games started four of the next five years. Browning pitched the twelfth perfect game in major league history on September 16, 1988, against the Los Angeles Dodgers, just the third perfect game by a lefthander; it was the highlight of a season in which he was 18–5, posting the league's second-highest winning percentage. He helped the Reds to a sweep in the 1990 World Series, winning Game 3 against the defending champion Oakland Athletics. In 1991 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Brecheen
Harry David Brecheen (, , October 14, 1914 – January 17, 2004), nicknamed "the Cat", was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the St. Louis Cardinals. In the late 1940s, he was among the team's stars, in 1946 becoming the first left-hander ever to win three games in a single World Series, and the only pitcher ever to win consecutive World Series games. He later led the National League in several categories in 1948. Bracheen's career World Series earned run average of 0.83 was a major league record from 1946 to 1976. From 1951 to 1971, he held the Cardinals' franchise record for career strikeouts by a left-hander, and he also retired with the fourth-highest fielding percentage among pitchers (.983), then the top mark among left-handers. Early life Born in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, Brecheen was acquired by the Cardinals in 1938 from the Chicago Cubs after two minor league seasons, but made only three relief appearances during 194 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Baldschun
Jack Edward Baldschun (October 16, 1936 – June 6, 2023) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for all or part of nine seasons (1961–67; 1969–70), for the Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and San Diego Padres. Baldschun threw and batted right-handed, and was listed as tall, weighing . Personal life Baldschun was a graduate of Greenville High School in his native Greenville, Ohio. He was originally signed by the Washington Senators out of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1956. Baldschun spent only one year in the Washington organization before he was acquired by Cincinnati and assigned to their Class C affiliate in Wausau, Wisconsin. In 1957, while playing minor league baseball for the Lumberjacks, he met his future wife, Charlotte Kolbe. They were married on April 10, 1958, and had two children, Kim and Brad. Baseball career Baldschun was selected by the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft on November ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luis Arroyo
Luis Enrique "Tite" Arroyo, (February 18, 1927 – January 13, 2016) was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball pitcher from 1955 to 1963. Arroyo was the first Puerto Rican player to appear for the New York Yankees and was a key part of their pennant winning seasons in and .Staff Writer (January 17, 2016"Star reliever during Yankees magical 1961 season" ''The Washington Post'', page C7. Baseball career Arroyo, from Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, made his MLB debut on April 20, 1955. A stocky left-hander, he spent one season primarily as a starter with the St. Louis Cardinals. Though he was a member of the National League All-Star team that year, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates the next spring, where he was moved to the bullpen. Struggling to establish himself in the role, he went from the Pirates to the Cincinnati Redlegs, then the New York Yankees. Arroyo was the first to play for the Yankees, and despite his earlier struggles, he quickly became an important contributor to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cy Blanton
Darrell Elijah (Cy) Blanton (July 6, 1908 – September 13, 1945) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. Blanton batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Blanton was a screwball pitcher. Pitching career Blanton grew up in Trousdale, Oklahoma, and was living in Shawnee, Oklahoma, playing on sandlot teams. In 1929 he joined the Shawnee Robins, a C Class team in the Western Association. Blanton was a pitcher for the Independence Producers in 1931. The Independence Producers were a Class C minor league team located in Independence, Kansas. Blanton had twelve wins and eight losses for the season. Blanton was one of the mainstays of the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation in the mid-1930s. He pitched for the Albany Senators in 1934, being promoted to Pittsburgh to pitch one game. Earlier he pitched in the Piedmont League and the Western Association. In his 1935 rookie season he recorded 18 wins with 14 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
