We had a best hitting motion in baseball thread once before. It came down to Griffey Jr., Ted Williams, or Manny as the winner (if I remember correctly).
While watching games and highlights today I was watching some pitchers, so I figured I would see who everyone thinks has the best pitching motion in baseball, current or history.
My vote is the most beautiful motion in history Tim Lincecum. There is nothing that isn’t gorgeous about how this kid pitches. Any other great ones/iconic ones/overall faves out there?
Jim Palmer.
Juan Marichal or Luis Tiant.
I didn’t say they had classic motions, just that they were more fun to watch than any other pitchers I’ve ever seen.
Greg Maddux & Proper Pitching Mechanics I don’t like the guy but his delivery was classic.
Those were my two immediate thoughts.
Tiant definitely. No one could match him (and they’d be foolish to try), but watching him pitch was always a treat, mostly because he never seemed to use the same motion twice. You don’t see that sort of unique motion these days – everything is homogenized; probably the last unusual motion would be Orlando Hernandez or maybe Oliver Perez (which isn’t as striking at Hernandez or Tiant).
Jim Bunning used to have an interesting motion, too – ending up with his ass facing home plate.
As for the classic motion, I’ll got with Christy Mathewson.
For terrific motions, Bob Gibson. It was unique, I’ll say that. It looked pretty normal for its time until the end at which point he would heave himself to the left, as if trying to leap all the way to first base. It worked.
I’ve always liked Maddux for the simplicity and ease of motion. I don’t think anyone was ever as in control as he was (and his motion was a big reason why he was an outstanding fielding pitcher, perfect balance put him in fielding position after every throw).
But for fun, nothing beats Hideo Nomo. Watch it, and try it once. If you didn’t hurt yourself, you probably had a lot of fun trying it, admit it.
Tiant. Every kid in our sandlot did an impression of the Tiant motions.
Do I just really suck at Youtube, or can I really not find any video on Tiant?
Granted it was probably responsible for his shortened career, but I always loved Rob Dibble’s delivery. Unlike most pitchers, who try to keep the ball concealed for as long as possible, Dibble held the ball out away from his glove for longer than any other pitcher I can recall.
It was like he wasn’t pitching – he was just hurling a rock at a tin can or something, as hard as he possible could.
