KRod's Special Pitch

[hellborn]

From SI.com...

'Rodriguez's signature pitch is as difficult to hit as it is to categorize. It's a pitch so distinctive, so devastating that it should really have its own name. Even Rodriguez has a difficult time finding a name for it, settling on calling what most refer to as his slider a "hard curve ball," before explaining his rationale. "The thing is, I throw it so hard and throw it with the same amount of speed as a slider that people call it a slider but its really hard curve ball," he says. "I really can't explain it. It's something I think I was born to do. I've been blessed to be able to pitch; I've been blessed with this arm." '

I guess it really looks like a curve to me when I watch his hand as he throws it. I remember being told that a slider was thrown without twisting the wrist much, but I've seen quotes from pitchers who threw what everybody called sliders that disagreed with that.
How about we call his pitch the krod?
:cap:

[scorekeeper]

From SI.com...

'Rodriguez's signature pitch is as difficult to hit as it is to categorize. It's a pitch so distinctive, so devastating that it should really have its own name…. '

Do you really believe that not one pitcher in the hundreds of thousands of pitchers who’ve pitched at the pro/semi-pro level, has ever thrown that same exact pitch, or that not even one P in all of pro ball is throwing it now? I’ll go along with KRod executing it very well on a very good team, but let’s not canonize him quite yet. A RHP who’s likely less than the listed 6’0” who has any success at the ML level should be applauded, but let’s applaud him for his skill, not in his ability to throw a pitch no one else throws.

There have been a lot of pitchers who get credit for “starting” a particular pitch, such as Sutter with the split or Face with the Fork. But the truth of the matter is, other pitchers were and are throwing those same pitches, but are either not executing them as well or not on teams that provide the necessary defense and offense for support.

[hellborn]

Well, of course other pitchers have thrown a fast, tight curve. I wasn't inviting anybody to buy into the SI writer's hyperbole...but, I must admit that my first thought when I saw KRod throw that pitch years ago was, "What WAS that?!?!?!" I posted the section because it had KRod's confirmation that it is a hard curve, which was my suspicion. I'd like to find footage of a young Kerry Wood and see if his unusual "slider" from that time was also a hard curve.
I have a very unusual pamphlet called "Pitching Curves" that is from the early '50s (but was originally published in the '30s) that shows grips for a forkball and even what was called a "split pitch", which is not too far off from the modern split fingered fastball. It also shows a number of changes that aren't too far from the circle change, although none featured the "OK" circle itself. The most interesting pitch discussed there is the "ocean wave ball", which, I suspect, is related to the gyroball.
:cap:

[Chris O'Leary]

From SI.com...

'Rodriguez's signature pitch is as difficult to hit as it is to categorize. It's a pitch so distinctive, so devastating that it should really have its own name. Even Rodriguez has a difficult time finding a name for it, settling on calling what most refer to as his slider a "hard curve ball," before explaining his rationale. "The thing is, I throw it so hard and throw it with the same amount of speed as a slider that people call it a slider but its really hard curve ball," he says. "I really can't explain it. It's something I think I was born to do. I've been blessed to be able to pitch; I've been blessed with this arm." '

I guess it really looks like a curve to me when I watch his hand as he throws it. I remember being told that a slider was thrown without twisting the wrist much, but I've seen quotes from pitchers who threw what everybody called sliders that disagreed with that.

How about we call his pitch the krod?

I haven't seen the pitch, but it sounds like a Power Curve.

It is relatively rare.

I think Felix Hernandez and Josh Beckett also throw this kind of pitch.

[mudvnine]

Do you really believe that not one pitcher in the hundreds of thousands of pitchers who’ve pitched at the pro/semi-pro level, has ever thrown that same exact pitch, or that not even one P in all of pro ball is throwing it now?

There have been a lot of pitchers who get credit for “starting” a particular pitch, such as Sutter with the split or Face with the Fork. But the truth of the matter is, other pitchers were and are throwing those same pitches, but are either not executing them as well or not on teams that provide the necessary defense and offense for support.

Nope . . . . never, never, never, ever, ever, ever . . . Frankie said he was "born to do it", so unless one of those "hundreds of thousands of pitchers" have his same DNA, then no, no one has EVER done it before.

And if one of them just might have been close to it, but were "not executing them as well", then they obviously weren't throwing the SAME pitch because I know how to swing the bat like an MLB hitter, it's just that I can't EXECUTE the swing nearly as well.

Now for those other pitchers who are so inept that they can't even get on a MLB team with the "necessary defense and offense" for them to succeed, then I think that speaks volume about that quality of a pitcher and they deserve to be looked down upon as inferior to Frankie (he not only throws well, but he knows how to get on a good team).

Finally, if you've read this far and still think this is a serious post, then this is the part where I must post . . . . just kidding!! Yeah, Frankie is a good pitcher, but as a devote Angels fan, I can tell you that he has struggled with his wild, appendages flailing delivery and has had us pulling our hair out more then once over the years.

Is Frankie a "great" pitcher? Debatable so far. Is he a good pitcher on a good team that has had some success? Most definitely. :highfive:

[PhilliesPhan22]

I haven't seen the pitch, but it sounds like a Power Curve.

It is relatively rare.

I think Felix Hernandez and Josh Beckett also throw this kind of pitch.


add Brett Myers to that list. It could be a tight slider.

[scorekeeper]

Nope . . . . never, never, never, ever, ever, ever . . . Frankie said he was "born to do it", so unless one of those "hundreds of thousands of pitchers" have his same DNA, then no, no one has EVER done it before.

And if one of them just might have been close to it, but were "not executing them as well", then they obviously weren't throwing the SAME pitch because I know how to swing the bat like an MLB hitter, it's just that I can't EXECUTE the swing nearly as well.

Now for those other pitchers who are so inept that they can't even get on a MLB team with the "necessary defense and offense" for them to succeed, then I think that speaks volume about that quality of a pitcher and they deserve to be looked down upon as inferior to Frankie (he not only throws well, but he knows how to get on a good team).

Finally, if you've read this far and still think this is a serious post, then this is the part where I must post . . . . just kidding!! Yeah, Frankie is a good pitcher, but as a devote Angels fan, I can tell you that he has struggled with his wild, appendages flailing delivery and has had us pulling our hair out more then once over the years.

Is Frankie a "great" pitcher? Debatable so far. Is he a good pitcher on a good team that has had some success? Most definitely. :highfive:

Nice post mud! I wasn’t sure how to take it, so I reserved judgment and did read it all the way through. That’s a big reason I often parse posts. ;)

Many people don’t realize it, but there really are a whole lot of fans who will blindly defend players on their favorite team or who are just their favorite players. But, many of those same fans are fair weather fans who will turn vicious, as soon as that same player they would defend shows signs of being human, or God forbid, his skills start to erode.

Personally, I think he’s having a great season is entitled to all the accolades people want to heap on him, and darn sure should be closer of the year in the AL.

[Chadbradfordwannabe]

Sheets, Lincecum, Gordon, Myers, Jenks, to name a few.

It's just a curveball that he throws hard. Really not that unusual, but yes, it is pretty nasty

[scorekeeper]

…I must admit that my first thought when I saw KRod throw that pitch years ago was, "What WAS that?!?!?!" …

I know that feeling all too well. But I think when that occurs, most of the time it happens because people aren’t very familiar with a player. The closest analogy I can think of right off the top of my head, is Omar Vizquel. When he played in Seattle, we Cleveland fans got to see him, but only a few times a year, and some of the things he did seemed superhuman.

When he came to Cleveland, it was an amazing thing to watch him play SS, but although he always inspired awe, after a few years, no Cleveland fan was surprised at the things he could do. When he got traded to the Giants, two things happened. The new Indians’ SS was in a horrible position because nothing he could possibly do would ever match Omar’s feats. The other thing was, very few people in the NL had gotten to see him for more than a few games a year, if that, and as old as he was, there were many Giants fans completely blown away by the things he could do on the field, so he got to enjoy that whole thing about inspiring awe all over again.

I’ve actually only seen KRod pitch a few times, and truthfully, can’t really tell a whole lot about his pitches from TV, so it may well be that I’d be awed if I saw him in person. But I seriously doubt that anyone who’d seen Smoltz in his prime, or Carlton even at the end of his career would be blown away by anything KRod could throw, and I’m guessing there are quite a few other P’s who’ve thrown something either as good or better. But if you aren’t familiar with them, there’s no way to know, so the result is, the guy gets the label of having the “best” or “tightest” curve, and he deserves it.

[Deemax]

http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/71213911.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=17A4AD9FDB9CF193875DCB1DD8387ABBF373E590C7B0975D 4E9C89C783688B46

[XV84]

It's just a power curve like the man says himself.

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa173/xvue84/pitching%20clips/krodcurve.gif
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa173/xvue84/pitching/krodcurverelease2.jpg