# Pitching **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2001, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitching/63713 "2001-04-29T07:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2001, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitching/63713/21 "2001-05-01T22:18:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*Sorry to disappoint you, but the horizontal component of any baseball’s motion (aside from random effects from the wind or an illegally modified surface) is an arc of a circle, for the entire path. \*\* Not disappointed at all, **Chronos**. I was giving descriptions based on how it looks from the plate, not necessarily the actual laws of physics behind the pitches. ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitching/63713/22 "2001-05-06T11:16:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crunchy Frog \* > \*\*I also just wanted to clarify some of \*\*Snooooopy’s **answers: > A curveball breaks down and away from a hitter of the same-handedness as the pitcher. > In other words, if the pitcher is right-handed, the curveball curves down and to the left. A lefty’s curve goes down and to the right.** Actually, if I’m not mistaken, there’s a school of thought that the most effective curveball is the one that breaks straight down (on one plane instead instead of two). While this doesn’t seem to make sense from an intuitive standpoint (a ball breaking down and away would seem to be harder to hit than one “only” breaking straight down), apparently the lack of sideways movement makes that specific type of curve harder to identify as such. You may occasionally hear a scout, player or manager talk about someone’s great “12 to 6” curveball–this is what they mean (“12 to 6” meaning “12 o’clock to six o’clock” in baseball parlance.) \*\* > [@](#): > > **A slider moves a little bit left or right, but not much up or down.** > Whereas a curve ball moves in a curving path throughout, the slider will travel rather straight, and then ‘slide’ left or right. A good slider will also slant downwards slightly.\*\* As I understand it, the slider is thrown quite a bit harder than the normal curveball, and the break is smaller and tighter (sharper). As to the rising fastball either actually rising or being an illusion, I confess I’ve heard both sides and am not sure what to think. However, I understand that some sidearm pitchers (Byung Kim of the Diamondbacks comes to mind) throw the ball at what appears to be an upward plane. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitching/63713/23 "2001-05-06T15:16:42Z")
The curve ball breaking away is what makes the screwball so effective, as it breaks in. Incidentally, the split finger fast ball used to be called a forkball, and probably still is called that by some. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2001, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitching/63713/24 "2001-05-06T18:00:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*Incidentally, the split finger fast ball used to be called a forkball, and probably still is called that by some. \*\* That’s a lively argument within the baseball world. Some people say the splitter is just the forkball with a new name, some say the splitter has a slightly different grip. ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitching/63713/25 "2001-05-08T06:15:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > > \*\*Incidentally, the split finger fast ball used to be called a forkball, and probably still is called that by some. \*\* > > That’s a lively argument within the baseball world. Some people say the splitter is just the forkball with a new name, some say the splitter has a slightly different grip. \*\* The way I understood it, a forkball is thrown slower than a splitter–it is also used as a change of pace. Admittedly, it might be that the nomenclature has changed concurrent with the nature of the pitch. I believe that forkball artists of the seventies and eighties (Rollie Fingers IIRC comes to mind) didn’t throw the pitch has hard as the splitter is thrown nowadays. Back then, “that pitch” was called a forkball, now, the same pitch, presently thrown harder, is a splitter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitching/63713.md?page=1)