Curveball

For the CIA informant, see Curveball (informant).

Curveball grip

The curveball is a type of breaking ball in baseball thrown with a grip and hand motion that imparts forward spin to the ball. This causes it to "break," that is, to fly in a more exaggerated curve than would be expected. The pitch is slower than a fastball, and this difference in speed also tends to disrupt the hitter's timing. A good curveball drops sharply as it reaches the plate, causing the batter to swing above it.

It is a common misconception that throwing a curveball requires a wrist snapping motion during the release of the ball. This is more true for the slider. To properly throw a curveball, the pitcher cocks the wrist inward so that upon release the ball rolls forward over his fingers, creating the desired spin. The Magnus effect then produces a downward force on the ball; this combines with the force of gravity to make the ball curve down.

In contrast, a fast ball is thrown with back spin, so that the Magnus effect produces an upward force on the ball; this counteracts the force of gravity, and causes the ball to follow a flatter trajectory. As position is the second integral of force, the difference in trajectories between a fastball and a curveball is not apparent to the batter until the ball is close to the plate. At the speeds pitched in professional baseball, there is not time for the batter to adjust his swing after the ball breaks, so hitting a curveball is as much a matter of guessing the pitcher's intentions as of physical skill.

Ideally, a curveball breaks just as it reaches the plate, thus making it difficult to hit. A curveball that fails to break soon enough is called a "hanging curve" and is much easier to hit. Also, batters anticipating a curveball may try to move forward (closer to the pitcher) in the batter's box to hit the ball before it breaks.

The direction of the break depends on the axis of spin of the ball. There are several different types of curveballs which break differently and move at different speeds. The two most popular different types of curveball are the 12-6 and the powercurve. 12-6 is a slower curveball with a steeper break on the ball whereas the power curve is thrown much harder and has a later less pronounced break down and away from the throwing arm. Both curveballs are effective when used by pitchers who utilize different styles of pitching.

A "slow curve" is a curveball that is thrown in the low to mid 50's velocity range, and resembles type of changeup that is thrown at a similar speed. The slow curve is commonly thrown after a fastball or when the pitcher has two strikes on a batter.

A pitch that breaks down and towards the throwing arm is called a screwball. Most pitchers in the modern era do not throw a screwball, as it is very hard on the pitcher's arm.

A right handed pitcher throwing a curveball is toughest on a right-handed batter, as the pitch will tend to break down and away from the batter, as opposed to inside on his hands (that's what would happen if the right handed pitcher threw a curve to a left handed batter). Most batters prefer pitches down and in, instead of down and away, which allows managers to exploit matchups late in games. If a team has three right handed hitters coming up in the 8th, the opposing manager will usually go with a right-handed set up man because his curve is going to frustrate those hitters more.

Baseball lore has it that the curveball was invented in the later 19th Century by Candy Cummings.[1] An early demonstration of the pitch occurred at the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn in 1870. In the early years of the sport, use of the curveball was thought to be dishonest and was outlawed, but officials could not do much to stop pitchers from using it. Bert Blyleven was said to have had the best curveball of any modern pitcher.

For some reason, left-handed pitchers seem more inclined to throw curveballs. This is evidenced by the number of left-handed pitchers who throw high-looping, lower-velocity curveballs. It is speculated that left-handers have better natural pitching mechanics that are more conducive to being able to make the curveball spin.

Curveball

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See also