Entry #4 The Screw Ball

   

The Screw Ball

     Do you play any sports? Yes, I am talking to you! If you do play or watch sports, you probably have heard of baseball. Baseball, our national past time has been known for its player doing spectacular accomplishments like Babe Ruth hitting home runs, but did you know he was a pitcher?

 

    Speaking of pitchers, every pitcher must have effective pitches like a fastball, sinker, slider, curveball, etc. You may have heard of these pitches that move sideways, up, down, or just straight, however, there is one pitch that defies physics, and it is called the screwball. This pitch moves straight and then breaks away from the batter at the last second. It is mind-blowing!!! Moreover, the genius behind this mystery pitch was a pitcher in the early 1900s that goes by the name Christy Mathewson. Mathewson created and named this pitch the fade as it would fade away from the batters. Thus, realizing that the screwball had an unorthodox movement than any other pitches, this pitch had batters swinging and missing!

    

    You may wonder if the screwball as good as it sounds like it is, does it dominate on the field? Yes and no. The fade or now known as the screwball is a pitch that is not as common to see in a pitcher’s arsenal. I guess you can say it faded away from baseball. The reason why the screwball is a popular pitch is because of the arm pronating the opposite way can cause harm to the arm. On the contrary, the New York Times notes that from this armature pitcher Matthew Bartolomei ‘’the stresses are no different from the stresses found in the fastball”. Therefore, if one of the most common pitches which are the fastball has the same stress on the arm as the screwball then you would think it would be frightening to throw any pitches at all. That is the point of sports there is always injury, but with the right mechanics that will reduce the chance of harm to the arm. Major League Baseball player Fernando Valenzuela threw the screwball and currently Minor League player Brent Honeywell is carrying the torch. The screwball is a pitch batter are not fond of seeing, so there could be an advantage pitcher have if they utilize it. Many people are stumped if it is a pitch that should be thrown. What are your thoughts?

Schoenfeld, Bruce. The Mystery of the Vanishing Screwball. 10 July 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/magazine/the-mystery-of-the-vanishing-screwball.html.

Bing, Microsoft, www.bing.com/videos/searchq=minor%2Bleague%2Bpitcher%2Bthat%2Bthrows%2Bthe%2Bscrewball%2B&&view=detail&mid=C9C1DDA4CB69AFEE248BC9C1DDA4CB69AFEE248B&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dminor%2Bleague%2Bpitcher%2Bthat%2Bthrows%2Bthe%2Bscrewball%2B%26FORM%3DHDRSC4.