My favorite- a pitch by Seattle's Dan Altavilla broke so much that after the Red's Jordan Patterson swung and missed, the pitch continued breaking, went between his legs and was caught by the catcher. Incredible.
Lord a mercy. It's already hard enough to hit a 3-inch ball of cowhide coming at you at 90+ mph with a two-inch stick, but when they're tossing the equivalent of video game cheat codes at you? Much respect for batters who can actually make contact with that and to the pitchers who pull it off! That pitch at 6:18...my god.
What people often forget,is that the previous pitch is usually what makes the killer pitch unhittable.One of the best two hit sequences I've seen is Alec Manoah throwing back to back pitches almost the same speed,but the first one broke hard and late to one side,the second broke hard and late to the other side.When the videos pitches were overlaid,there was no discernable difference in the delivery or trajectory until about ten feet in front of the plate,but then there was a split,and the two balls crossed the plate almost two feet apart,and hit the catcher's glove almost three feet apart.
Manoah is a freak. Broke in to the Show at 23 and immediately began throwing at near Cy Young caliber and still hasn't had a stretch of bad starts. The evolution of his two-seamer has made him eve more dominant this season. He's been using it as his out pitch a lot this season forcing hitters to have to guess between three pitches instead of two....and, all three of this pitches (4-seam, 2-seam, slider) all look the same out of his hand....which is what I believe you were eluding to in your comment
For someone who played a lot of baseball in the minors in Australia , I truly appreciate the art of these balls. I was no great achiever in the game, and often came on as a relief pitcher. MY fast ball wasn't fast , my curve ball didn't curve, and forget about breakers etc. But I actually enjoyed the challenge of being on the mound, knowing full well I had none of these in the locker. Still did OK, though.
1:16 that's the pitch that got me knocked cold at age 16 in pony league in a game I was pitching in and had a shutout going. It was my first out-of-body experience.
When I was a kid I either wanted to be a pitcher or MLB or a goalie for the NHL. BUT, I couldn't get near the plate with any consistency what so ever and I couldn't skate. Glad I'm flexible with my dreams.
@@dodgers4life244 That's right. Laugh at what they call a change these days (a 2-seamer, off-speed w/movement) 'cause it's so different from a "straight" change of yore. If I recollect correctly, it was thrown at the ideal moment after heaving gas (~ 94, 95 mph) on several consecutive pitches using the exact same delivery as that 4 seamer but slung about 78 - 80 mph.
@@Medalsforfucktards Blitzball > Wiffleball. Join the 21st century. Blitzballs can do funky shit Wiffleballs can't do, they can be practically unhittable in the hands of the right pitcher, and piss batters off to no end.
@@dalethelander3781 I agree, but enough sports already have a dense population of pretentious dickheads. Blitzball is pretty new, try not to be the first. Nobody is here to yuck your yum, so chill bro. Don’t create some goofy ass beef between wiffleball and blitzball, that’s weird asf.
I remember Roger Clemens having some amazing insane pitches. Speaking of insane pitches....can someone tell me who the heck was the Chicago pitcher at 1:13 ? That was one of the most amazing craziest pitches ever. 😳
The pitch @6:17 was so nasty, the hitter swung and missed before the ball went through his legs and the catcher nabbed it. I don't think I've ever seen that before.
The thing that I respect about pitchers in general is that the overhand throwing motion is unnatural to begin with. But these guys perform this motion as hard as they can, over and over and OVER. Many of them for YEARS. These guys are no joke- the sometimes accidentally beam the batters. Can you imagine getting beamed by a pitcher who INTENTIONALLY tries to hit you?! I remember playing Wall Ball with kids my age who played baseball and when they nailed you it was accurate and painful.
You know you're a "nasty" pitcher when you routinely make hitters look silly whether you get 'em swingin' or lookin'. The nastiest pitch I've ever bore witness to was Randy Johnson, "The Big Unit" throwing a 102 mph SLIDER! Who does that?!? Another sign that you're a "nasty" pitcher is that your stuff is so good, your catcher doesn't even have to frame your pitch.
@@jasonduvall9480 That's Where a Pitch is Thrown and the catcher will catch said pitch to "frame" it in the strike zone when often times the pitch is off.
@@markdubois4882 Brother, I'm not talking gas. I'm talking about straight up FILTH! Here's a shock: some non pitchers will make a hitter look absolutely "STOOPID" with an Eephus pitch... a pitch slow in speed, but has enough velocity to get into the strike zone. Think Bugs Bunny's slow pitch. 1. 2. 3 Strikes You're Out!
ROGER CLEMENS' SPLITTER. NASTIEST EVER. Maybe a Lidge Slider before 2005. Mariano Rivera's cutter. Kerry Wood's curveball or rising 4 seam. Or 2 seam. Ben Sheet's curveball. Scherzer's everything.
Piece of Trivia from Australia...Ben Sheets has a unique distinction for a US player. He was the winning pitcher when Tommy Lasorda's boys won the only Gold Medal the US has ever won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
In a video full of insanity, the most insane (to me, sitting here trying to imagine hitting these pitches) might be the Rays pitcher (Alvarado ?) at about 0:30. That might be the nastiest 2 seamer I’ve ever seen. As impressive as all of these pitches are, there’s just something extra satisfying in seeing the ball “back up” like that, especially when it’s already coming in at 100mph.
@6:20; The guy swings at a pitch that after he missed it, the catcher stopped it behind the batter AFTER IT WENT BETWEEN THE BATTERS LEGS!! Pitch coming DIRECTLY AT YOUR CORE, you swing & miss & it drops down enough to slip thru the 5 hole, AWESOME PITCHING!!!
Growing up in Central America, I recall my parents taking me to Miami for a weekend holiday, some time around 1970 or 71-ish, and as luck would have it, there was a big event at some venue, where visitors could line up to "challenge" famous basketball, football, golf, et al. players. At the time I was transitioning from being a die-hard Big Red Machine fan (did a double-year as exchange student in Ohio), to becoming an Amazin' Mets groupie (as I was accepted by NYU), so I lined up for 2 hours to try to hit a pitch thrown by Nolan Ryan. I've been shot (at) twice: 1968 in Panama City and 1979 in Managua, but never was I more terrified than seeing a Nolan Ryan 12-6 curve thrown right at my temple. The question of somehow hitting that pitch is ridiculous, one is simply concentrating on not assuming a fetal position in the dirt or wetting oneself (I managed to avoid the latter, not the former). Obviously, this was not Ryan's iconic 12-6, but just a tired lob, but please leave me a bit of dignity while I brush the dirt off.
At some point you're committed to the swing and the best you can hope for after the ball drops a foot and a half while you're swinging is chase it for a foul tip.
@@alexmiguel7304 A properly thrown knuckleball makes between a quarter and a half rotation on its way to the plate... and can move both left _and_ right on the way. An _improperly_ thrown knuckleball is batting practice for the other team, which is why there are so few masters at it - nobody likes those odds.
Its gets so much movement because a baseball isn't aerodynamically stable if it isn't spinning, so if thrown fast enough and with a *tiny* bit of rotation the airflow around the ball gets messed with by the seams and causes erratic movement. As you can see in the slow mo, there is basically no rotation until that last 1/4 of the flight where it shifts slightly, causing the air to hit the seams at a different angle and changing it's trajectory.
I don't watch baseball enough to know who is who, but the Mets pitcher at 1:39 threw a knuckle ball that sizzled in there. Maybe they called it a curve or slider, but it had absolutely no spin on it Helluva nice pitch.
@Lighthouse in the Storm Sure, one way to describe an aspect of pitching, in baseball, would be "action at a distance". (You may have heard that term before, applied to other activities.) The pitcher pitches the ball, and depending on his talent, the ball will make dramatic movements (action) near home plate, sixty feet six inches (distance) from the pitcher. This causes the hitter to swing and miss. There are names for the different kinds of movement such as curve or slider, just to name two kinds of pitches. There are numerous videos to explain better than I can about pitching in baseball. I hope you'll look into them. Cheers!
Back in the day when we had only three channels and black and white tv’s, there was a debate if the curve ball actually curved on the way to the plate. Baseball players all said the ball did change direction. Others tried to prove it was impossible for a ball going that distance at that speed to curve. That a curve ball was an optical illusion of some sort. High Def. and super slo-mo replays put that argument to rest.
It would be interesting to see how many pictures are using some type of sticky substance. They use it and get away with it all the time and it makes for better baseball. But less hits
I ask because I don't know. at 1:28. If that pitch had hit him in the "back leg" and he swung would that be a walk? Not up on all the ins and outs of baseball.
Think about it. A 70 mph fastball takes less than a half second to get to the plate. The average person's reaction time is .75 (three quarters) of a second. So when one of those curves drops out, well, ........ For the batter it is all about prediction and calculation. Its amazing. But I absolutely love watching the pitcher when he has the ball moving like he knows how. Its incredible to see.
There's no calculation going on. Hitters sometimes are guessing, sometimes just reacting or setting up the pitcher. Manny explained it perfectly about 15 years ago. Just Manny being Manny.
@@stephencorsaro954 @Stephen Corsaro don't take this offensively, but you may need to go back to school. Most things are performed on calculations. Give it, guessing the speed and the type of pitch and where it might cross the plate. One then calculates the timing of when he should begin his swing, where he should swing, effects of the wind, etc, all is done by calculation. Its theoretically impossible to guess, anticipate or perform a swing without calculation. This is not to say a player needs to take calculus but instead the training of habit, the thousands of pitches a pro batter faces, it becomes a natural ability. The brain works at an amazing speed, with the ability to perform about a thousand operations per second. Most people calculate more in a day than they will ever realize. BUT your theory is correct in the fact it becomes pretty much automatic to the batter. Thus Manny just being Manny.
@@DavidDeelLoco true enough. Motor preparation. That doesn't happen in the moment though. You can know what you're doing wrong. Work on it in practice ...but in the moment, still have the the problem. Depends on your ability to make adjustments in motor preparation. That hasn't changed . Has it? Maybe someday they'll have a pill for that too.
@@stephencorsaro954 oh Lord let's hope no more pills. Nope. Motor prep hasn't changed, you're dead on that. And I believe we agree, mostly it is a LOT of it all. Can you imagine all the hours that star hitter has put into each type of pitch? I mean the dedication. That's One of the reasons I like baseball and hockey so much. To me, the dedication in preparations of those athletes are extreme. I'll throw one at you. Phil Niekro. I used to love to watch his games. Poor catcher. Bruce "Eggs" Benedict, or even Bob Didier. But poor ole Eggs. You have to wonder how long it took him to settle his mind to the point of just accepting what was going to come. Like one catcher said about Phil. Theres no secret in catching him. You either caught the ball or didnt. I miss Knucksie. The Al Kalines of Detroit, Dale Murphy's of Atlanta, those were the days. LOL. Have a great day.
@@DavidDeelLoco this is very true in all sports. Many have the ability but without obsession it goes no where. You need both ability and obsession. I guess that goes for all professions in one way or another. Like they say " some times life gets in the way". You have to give up part of your life and hope Injury,illness or bad decisions don't take you down. Run the gauntlet so to speak.
This is called a knuckleball, it’s one of the hardest pitch to throw, you throw it with no spin at all (very hard do to, only 42 pitchers threw it) and basically, the wind goes around the seams so it gives a butterfly effect, going in all directions, it’s unpredictable, it is very hard to catch, hit and judge, you can go watch some videos on it it’s very interesting.
