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32-411: Prior to the rule changes in 1920, the same ball would often be used throughout an entire game, only being replaced if it began to unravel. Pitchers were also allowed to deface or scuff the ball, apply foreign substances to it (such as dirt or spit ), and cut into the ball with an emery board . Balls would not even be replaced after a foul ball or home run , with fans instead throwing the ball back onto

64-404: A foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly . This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to move in an atypical manner. It may also cause the ball to "slip" out of the pitcher's fingers without the usual spin that accompanies a pitch. In this sense, a spitball can be thought of as a fastball with knuckleball action. Alternative names for

96-435: A hitter to see. Additionally, pitchers were no longer allowed to deface, scuff, or apply foreign substances to the ball, but 17 pitchers who mostly threw the spitball were allowed to throw it until they retired. The last one to legally throw it was Burleigh Grimes on September 20, 1934. The impact of the rule changes was felt almost immediately. In 1920, the game changed from typically low-scoring to high-scoring games, with

128-590: A newfound reliance on the home run . That year, Babe Ruth set a record for slugging percentage and hit 54 home runs (smashing his old record of 29). Aiding in Ruth's success was that he held the bat lower and swung with an uppercut, essentially trying to hit home runs. His 54 home runs in 1920 were a total greater than 14 of the other 15 teams at the time, and it nearly tripled fellow slugger George Sisler 's second-highest total of 19 that season. Seeing his success (and his popularity that followed), young players who debuted in

160-559: A pitch. Preacher Roe , who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s, was renowned both for his ability to control the spitball and to throw it without getting caught and described his methodology in a 1955 article in Sports Illustrated . "The Outlawed Spitball Was My Money Pitch" was published a year after he retired. Another famous user of the pitch was Gaylord Perry , who went so far as to title his autobiography Me and

192-416: A result of the kind of pitch thrown. Therefore, the ball keeps moving in the path of least resistance, which constantly changes. For example, the spin from a properly thrown slider (thrown by a right-handed pitcher) results in lower air pressure on the pitcher's left side, resulting in the ball moving to the left (from the pitcher's perspective). The goal is usually to make the ball difficult to hit by confusing

224-490: A spitball. Pitch (baseball) In baseball , the pitch is the act of throwing the baseball toward home plate to start a play. The term comes from the Knickerbocker Rules . Originally, the ball had to be thrown underhand, much like "pitching in horseshoes" . Overhand pitching was not allowed in baseball until 1884 . The biomechanics of pitching have been studied extensively. The phases of pitching include

256-400: Is doctoring . The invention of the spitball has been popularly credited to a number of individuals, among them Elmer Stricklett and Frank Corridon . Numerous accounts, however, refer to different players experimenting with versions of the spitball throughout the latter half of the 19th century, and it remains unlikely that any one individual "invented" the spitball. Ed Walsh , however,

288-400: Is basically a pitch thrown very fast, generally as hard as a given pitcher can throw while maintaining control. Some variations involve movement or breaking action, some do not and are simply straight, high-speed pitches. While throwing the fastball it is very important to have proper mechanics, because this increases the chance of getting the ball to its highest velocity, making it difficult for

320-564: Is certainly responsible for popularizing it. Walsh dominated the American League from 1906 to 1912, primarily on the strength of his spitball, and pitchers around the league soon copied his spitball or invented their own trick pitch. The dramatic increase in the popularity of "freak deliveries" led to a great deal of controversy throughout the 1910s regarding the abolition of the spitball and related pitches. In his autobiography , Ty Cobb wrote that such "freak pitches [...] were outlawed when

352-459: Is coming at 75 mph which means he is swinging too early to hit the ball well, making the changeup very effective. The most common changeups are: Other pitches which are or have been used in baseball are: The most common pitching delivery is the three-quarters delivery. Other deliveries include the submarine (underhand) and the sidearm deliveries. There is also the crossfire pitch, which only works for sidearm delivery. A pickoff move

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384-405: Is sometimes used to describe a pitch that moves like a spitball without saliva, such as the forkball or split-finger fastball . It is sometimes used simply as slang for the knuckleball . There is also the remote term of God-given spitter , which is when the ball is naturally dampened by moist air or light rainfall, which allows pitchers to be able to throw pitches with sharper breaks, much like

416-698: The 1920s, including Lou Gehrig and Mel Ott , followed Ruth's example. The home run has been a significant part of baseball since. Ruth broke his own record in 1921, hitting 59 home runs; six years later, he passed his own mark once again by hitting 60 home runs, a single-season record that stood for 34 years. While the rule changes instituted in 1920 were a major factor in the increased scoring and number of home runs seen in Major League Baseball, established sluggers who had been successful prior to 1920 (including Sisler, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker ) were able to maintain their previous successful hitting styles into

448-475: The 1920s. Such success is attributed to Sisler (and others) choking up on the bat, resulting in fewer strikeouts and more doubles. In 1920, George Sisler also set his long-standing record of 257 hits in a single season, which would not be eclipsed until 84 years later in 2004 when the Seattle Mariners ' Ichiro Suzuki hit 262. The live-ball era also had a lasting impact on pitchers. Between 1910 and 1920,

480-499: The Spitter and chronicled the clever ways in which he avoided detection. For example, Perry would put Vaseline on his zipper because umpires would never check a player's groin. Don Drysdale also used the pitch regularly, as did Lew Burdette . Drysdale would apply oil to the back of his hair to put on the ball to make it sink. Mike Fiers has been accused of doctoring the baseball during both his no-hitters. The name dry spitter

512-420: The batters. Most breaking balls are considered off-speed pitches . The most common breaking pitches are: The changeup is an off-speed pitch, usually thrown to look like a fastball, but arriving much slower to the plate. Its reduced speed coupled with its deceptive delivery is meant to confuse the batter's timing. It is thrown the same as a fastball, but simply further back in the hand, which makes it release from

544-411: The existing score. Pitchers may bounce their pitches in the dirt before they reach the batter, but these pitches are ruled balls even if they pass through the strike zone . The responsibility for selecting the type of pitch is traditionally made by the catcher , who gives hand signals to the pitcher with his fingers, usually one finger for fastball or the pitcher's best pitch, with the pitcher having

576-487: The field to be re-used. As a result, the ball would become increasingly dirty and worn as the game progressed, making it difficult to see and making its movement erratic. Furthermore, the physical wear on the ball reduced its elasticity as the game progressed, making it increasingly difficult to hit for distance. These factors ultimately gave pitchers a major advantage over batters, resulting in low-scoring games. There were also rules in force prior to 1920 that contributed to

608-403: The hand slower, but still retaining the look of a fastball. A changeup is generally thrown 8–15 miles per hour slower than a fastball. If thrown correctly, the changeup will confuse the batter because the human eye cannot discern that the ball is coming significantly slower until it is around 30 feet from the plate. For example, a batter swings at the ball as if it was a 90 mph fastball, but it

640-403: The last decade of the dead-ball era , eight pitchers had 30-win seasons. Since the beginning of the 1921 season, the first full season of the live-ball era, only three pitchers have had 30-win seasons: Lefty Grove in 1931; Dizzy Dean in 1934; and Denny McLain in 1968. Spitball A spitball is a now-illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of

672-499: The low-scoring games. In 1901, the National League adopted the "foul-strike rule," which counted foul balls as strikes. Before this rule, batters could safely swing at many marginal pitches, which not only tired out the pitcher but also allowed for more hits because a "flukey" hit could land in play. With the introduction of the foul-strike rule, the batter had to let many more pitches "go" without being swung on, dramatically reducing

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704-410: The opposing player to hit the pitch. The cut fastball, split-finger fastball, and forkball are variations on the fastball with extra movement, and are sometimes called sinking-fastballs because of the trajectories. The most common fastball pitches are: Well-thrown breaking balls have movement, usually sideways or downward. A ball moves due to the changes in the pressure of the air surrounding the ball as

736-432: The option to ask for another selection by shaking his head. Alternatively, the manager or a coach relays the pitch selection to the catcher, via secret hand signals, to prevent the opposing team from having the advantage of knowing what the next pitch will be. The fastball is the most common pitch in baseball, and most pitchers have some form of a fastball in their arsenal. Most pitchers throw four-seam fastballs. It

768-499: The owners greedily sold out to home runs ." In addition, there were serious issues with the spitball, including some that affected safety. A variation on the standard spitball called for the pitcher to smear the entire surface of the normally white ball with a mixture of tobacco spittle and dirt or mud in order to stain it the same deep brown color as the infield which made it nearly impossible for batters to see (and sometimes avoid) in low-light conditions. In August 1920, Ray Chapman

800-402: The pitcher manipulates the grip on the ball at the point of release. Variations in the grip cause the seams to catch the air differently, thereby changing the trajectory of the ball, making it harder for the batter to hit. The selection of which pitch to use can depend on the type of hitter who is being faced; whether there are any base runners ; how many outs have been made in the inning; and

832-582: The return of the spitball, telling a sportswriter, "If I had my way, I'd legalize the old spitter. It was a great pitch and one of the easiest to throw. There was nothing dangerous about it." Despite the Commissioner's enthusiasm, the pitch remained illegal. The spitball is now banned in Major League baseball. It is a pitching violation in NCAA Baseball. However, it is still sometimes thrown in violation of

864-431: The rules. In 1942 , Leo Durocher , then-manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers , fined Bobo Newsom for throwing a spitball and "lying to me about it." Typically, a lubricant is hidden behind the pitcher's knee or under the peak of his cap. Others will place the ball in their mitt and then cough on or lick it. Another tactic pitchers use is to soak their hair in water before going out to the mound, and then rub their hair before

896-400: The spitball are spitter , mud ball , shine ball , supersinker , or vaseline ball (because originally, Vaseline was used to give the ball a little more break ). A spitball technically differs from an emery ball , in which the surface of the ball is cut or abraded. Saliva or Vaseline smooths the baseball, while the emery paper roughens it. The general term for altering the ball in any way

928-761: The spitball was banned with the exception of a group of 17 existing spitballers, who became legacy spitballers who were allowed to throw the pitch legally until they retired. Of the exempted group, Burleigh Grimes lasted the longest, retiring in 1934. The complete list of exempted spitballers is: Ray Fisher (played through 1920); Doc Ayers (1921); Ray Caldwell (1921); Phil Douglas (1922); Dana Fillingim (1925); Marv Goodwin (1925); Dutch Leonard (1925); Allen Russell (1925); Allen Sothoron (1926); Dick Rudolph (1927); Stan Coveleski (1928); Urban Shocker (1928); Bill Doak (1929); Clarence Mitchell (1932); Red Faber (1933); Jack Quinn (1933); and Grimes. In March 1955, MLB Commissioner Ford Frick advocated for

960-423: The total number of hits. The American League followed suit in 1903, making the rule universal. Rather than change the construction of the balls, which remained consistent between the transition from the "dead-" to "live-ball eras", rule changes were instituted around how the balls were treated. Starting in 1920, balls were replaced at the first sign of wear, resulting in a ball that was much brighter and easier for

992-480: The windup, early cocking, late cocking, early acceleration, late acceleration, deceleration, and follow-through. Pitchers throw a variety of pitches, each of which has a slightly different velocity, trajectory, movement, hand position, wrist position and/or arm angle. These variations are introduced to confuse the batter and ultimately aid the defensive team in getting the batter or baserunners out . To obtain variety, and therefore enhance defensive baseball strategy,

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1024-405: Was killed when he was struck in the temple by a pitch thrown by known spitball pitcher Carl Mays during a poorly lit game. In Major League Baseball (MLB), the spitball was banned in two stages. In the winter of 1919–1920, managers voted to partially ban the spitball. Each team was allowed to designate up to two pitchers who would be permitted to throw spitballs. After the 1920 season, the use of

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