hits + at bats + BA + OBP = confusion - Page 4

Dagrims · 09-28-2006, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees

Hmmm. Dagrims, you should mention to him, if this is apropos, that there is an option under Global Setup, Player Options, to turn off Player Development if you do not want that to affect historical simulations. Sounds like more fun the way you describe it, but battists mentioned this in another thread as being of interest to people who don't want to see Ruth flame out in their simulations. Correct me if I am wrong, because I'm not into imported rosters. Here's the post: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...5&postcount=11

That's a good point, and definitely appropriate, but now I don't need to mention it to him!

baseball_newbie · 10-19-2006, 08:48 AM

Ok im back, and although the new football manager arrived today, and im busy job hunting, still finding plenty of time for baseball watching and playing.

Today i come to pitching, now there are a lot of pitches and i dont exactly know what they are, fastball, curveball, and sinker are pretty self explanatory (i hope). But there are other such slider, changeup, and circle change which i have no idea about.

Could someone tell me what these pitches are, what the pitcher does different for each pitch to do it, and if there are any pitches im missing.

Also who is seen as the best pitcher ever, roger clemens is a name ive heard around for a long while, and what is the fastest pitch ever recorded?

treedom · 10-19-2006, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baseball_newbie

Could someone tell me what these pitches are, what the pitcher does different for each pitch to do it, and if there are any pitches im missing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_(baseball)

Gastric ReFlux · 10-19-2006, 10:34 AM

Quick descriptions:

Fastball - basically throw the ball as hard as possible. The seams can be positioned differently in the fingers to give varying amounts of tail, a slight break, to the pitch. Most major league pitchers are capable of throwing a fastball at least 90 miles per hour, although there are some who get by with fastballs in the 80's. There have been a few pitchers who could throw a ball over 100 mph.

Changeup - This is a pitch of deception. The idea is to throw the ball with the exact same arm action as a fastball, but by gripping the ball differently get the ball to go 10 to 15 mph less than the fastball. It can be very effective if it fools the hitter into thinking a fastball is coming, as the hitter will have to decelerate his swing to correct for the slower speed. A circle change is a changeup and refers to the grip used, it's held with the last 3 fingers on top of the ball, and then the forefinger and thumb forming a circle on the side

Curveball - The ball is thrown with a snap of the wrist and gives the ball spin to make the ball break right-to-left thrown by a righthander, and left-to-right by a southpaw. The pitcher usually tries to put a bit of topspin to the break, as it is usually better to give the curve downward break at the end. It's important to get a very good wrist snap when throwing it, as it makes the break much better. A curveball that doesn't break or breaks very little is called a hanger, or hanging breaking ball, and hitters can jump all over those.

Screwball - It's a difficult pitch to throw, because the pitcher has to turn the hand over in the direction opposite of the curveball. It's also been most frequently favored by lefthanded pitchers, because a lefty throwing a screwball gets the ball to break right-to-left, or away from right-handed hitters. Generally, breaking pitches away from batters are harder to hit than breaking pitches that break in towards batters.

You left off the knuckleball!

The knuckleball is a pitch held in the fingertips, which causes the knuckles to stick out and gives the pitch its name. By holding the ball this way, the pitcher can throw the ball in such a way that it leaves the fingertips with little or no spin. A ball thrown that way can do almost anything, because the seams disrupt the smooth flow of air and also wind gusts can affect the path of the pitch. The ball breaks erratically, making it very difficult for hitters to judge, and also hard for catchers to catch.

I hope that helps some.

disposableheros · 10-19-2006, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baseball_newbie

Also who is seen as the best pitcher ever, roger clemens is a name ive heard around for a long while, and what is the fastest pitch ever recorded?

i personally think thats too tough a question to answer, but some of the names tossed around (not that i agree with all of them

)

Walter Johnson
Christy Mathewson
Cy Young (who the annual MLB pitching award is named after)
Sandy Koufax
Roger Clemens
Greg Maddux
Pedro Martinez
Pete Alexander
Steve Carlton
Kid Nichols
Pud Galvin
Nolan Ryan
Addie Joss
Orval Overall

Curtis · 10-20-2006, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baseball_newbie

Who is seen as the best pitcher ever? What is the fastest pitch ever recorded?

For an entire career, probably Christie Matthewson. For a six season stretch, either Walter Johnson or Sandy Koufax. For one season, maybe Bob Gibson.

The fastest pitch ever guesstimated was 106mph. There was a pitcher who died earlier this year who threw stupidly fast, so fast that he couldn't get the ball over the plate. In the minors he pitched a no-hitter in which he walked twelve batters and had five or six wild pitches, resulting in eight runs and losing the game.

baseball_newbie · 10-21-2006, 10:30 AM

wow thanks everyone just what i wasl ooking for with the descitpions and the wiki, and the list of pitchers is great. A lt of them are name ive heard but didnt really know they that some of them were in baseball, or what they did in baseball.

CardinalsFan · 10-22-2006, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baseball_newbie

Also who is seen as the best pitcher ever, roger clemens is a name ive heard around for a long while, and what is the fastest pitch ever recorded?

Walter Johnson is widely regarded as the best pitcher of all time. He is 2nd all time in Wins (417) while pitching for the WORST team in baseball for most of his career. He had an effortless sidearm motion that unleashed a wicked fastball.

Some pitchers never had a chance to showcase their talents. Someone mentioned who the "fastest" was, but missing from that list was JR Richard (http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/richaj.01.shtml) who was a pitcher for the Houston Astros in the late 70's whose career was sadly cut short due to a stroke. He pitched in a pitcher friendly Astrodome, but he completely dominated his games and was widely reported to have a 103mph fastball.

My $0.02.

Curtis · 10-23-2006, 05:43 AM

Walter Johnson was unbelievable early in his career, but he hurt his arm not too long into it and lost a lot of velocity (maybe from pitching both ends of a doubleheaders twice in three days).

He was also one of the nicest players of his era (which was known for hard-edged, nearly criminal play. cf. Ty Cobb). He made a habit of serving up easy pitches to batters who had never had a major league hit before, just so they could brag that they got their first off of the 'Big Train'.

DBR · 11-12-2006, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curtis Cook

The fastest pitch ever guesstimated was 106mph. There was a pitcher who died earlier this year who threw stupidly fast, so fast that he couldn't get the ball over the plate. In the minors he pitched a no-hitter in which he walked twelve batters and had five or six wild pitches, resulting in eight runs and losing the game.

He is still actually still alive....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Dalkowski

Curtis · 11-12-2006, 04:57 PM

Dalkowski is the right guy. Funny, because the only reason I heard about him was that I read his obituary several months ago. I guess the reports of his death were… somewhat exagerated.

10-19-2006, 08:48 AM	#62
baseball_newbie Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 29	Ok im back, and although the new football manager arrived today, and im busy job hunting, still finding plenty of time for baseball watching and playing. Today i come to pitching, now there are a lot of pitches and i dont exactly know what they are, fastball, curveball, and sinker are pretty self explanatory (i hope). But there are other such slider, changeup, and circle change which i have no idea about. Could someone tell me what these pitches are, what the pitcher does different for each pitch to do it, and if there are any pitches im missing. Also who is seen as the best pitcher ever, roger clemens is a name ive heard around for a long while, and what is the fastest pitch ever recorded?

10-19-2006, 10:34 AM	#64
Gastric ReFlux Hall Of Famer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Member #3409 Posts: 8,350	Quick descriptions: Fastball - basically throw the ball as hard as possible. The seams can be positioned differently in the fingers to give varying amounts of tail, a slight break, to the pitch. Most major league pitchers are capable of throwing a fastball at least 90 miles per hour, although there are some who get by with fastballs in the 80's. There have been a few pitchers who could throw a ball over 100 mph. Changeup - This is a pitch of deception. The idea is to throw the ball with the exact same arm action as a fastball, but by gripping the ball differently get the ball to go 10 to 15 mph less than the fastball. It can be very effective if it fools the hitter into thinking a fastball is coming, as the hitter will have to decelerate his swing to correct for the slower speed. A circle change is a changeup and refers to the grip used, it's held with the last 3 fingers on top of the ball, and then the forefinger and thumb forming a circle on the side Curveball - The ball is thrown with a snap of the wrist and gives the ball spin to make the ball break right-to-left thrown by a righthander, and left-to-right by a southpaw. The pitcher usually tries to put a bit of topspin to the break, as it is usually better to give the curve downward break at the end. It's important to get a very good wrist snap when throwing it, as it makes the break much better. A curveball that doesn't break or breaks very little is called a hanger, or hanging breaking ball, and hitters can jump all over those. Screwball - It's a difficult pitch to throw, because the pitcher has to turn the hand over in the direction opposite of the curveball. It's also been most frequently favored by lefthanded pitchers, because a lefty throwing a screwball gets the ball to break right-to-left, or away from right-handed hitters. Generally, breaking pitches away from batters are harder to hit than breaking pitches that break in towards batters. You left off the knuckleball! The knuckleball is a pitch held in the fingertips, which causes the knuckles to stick out and gives the pitch its name. By holding the ball this way, the pitcher can throw the ball in such a way that it leaves the fingertips with little or no spin. A ball thrown that way can do almost anything, because the seams disrupt the smooth flow of air and also wind gusts can affect the path of the pitch. The ball breaks erratically, making it very difficult for hitters to judge, and also hard for catchers to catch. I hope that helps some.

10-21-2006, 10:30 AM	#67
baseball_newbie Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 29	wow thanks everyone just what i wasl ooking for with the descitpions and the wiki, and the list of pitchers is great. A lt of them are name ive heard but didnt really know they that some of them were in baseball, or what they did in baseball.

10-23-2006, 05:43 AM	#69
Curtis Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Watertown, New York Posts: 4,567	Walter Johnson was unbelievable early in his career, but he hurt his arm not too long into it and lost a lot of velocity (maybe from pitching both ends of a doubleheaders twice in three days). He was also one of the nicest players of his era (which was known for hard-edged, nearly criminal play. cf. Ty Cobb). He made a habit of serving up easy pitches to batters who had never had a major league hit before, just so they could brag that they got their first off of the 'Big Train'.

11-12-2006, 04:57 PM	#71
Curtis Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Watertown, New York Posts: 4,567	Dalkowski is the right guy. Funny, because the only reason I heard about him was that I read his obituary several months ago. I guess the reports of his death were… somewhat exagerated.