This video shows a Tim Lincecum fastball and curveball delivery correlated at the release point and superimposed to provide an overlay comparison of the two motions. The two pitches look nearly identical to my untrained eye. This YouTube video uploaded by laflippin on June 18, 2009.
So I’m listening to play-by-play of a game the other day and the announcer says instantly “that was a fastball (curveball, sinker, slider, doesn’t matter … you get the point) and I’m thinking how the hell does he know that? I mean the ball’s traveling at 90-95 mph and he’s up in the announcer booth 200 feet away. I know this announcer used to be a pitcher so I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about, but how is that possible ~ to call the pitch instantly in split-second timing, almost before the ball’s even thrown?
I set out to research this so I might understand the difference between the pitches and how a pitcher might determine which pitch to throw and when to throw it. Continue reading
