Curveball

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For the CIA informant, see Curveball (informant).

The curveball is a type of breaking ball in baseball thrown with a grip and hand motion that imparts forward spin to the ball. This causes it to "break," that is, to fly in a more exaggerated curve than would be expected. The pitch is slower than a fastball, and this difference in speed also tends to disrupt the hitter's timing. A good curveball drops sharply as it reaches the plate, causing the batter to swing above it.

It is a common misconception that throwing a curveball requires a wrist snapping motion during the release of the ball. To properly throw a curveball, the pitcher cocks the wrist inward so that upon release the ball rolls forward over his index finger, creating the desired spin. The Magnus effect then produces a downward force on the ball; this combines with the force of gravity to make the ball curve down.

In contrast, a fast ball is thrown with back spin, rolling off the finger tips, so that the Magnus effect produces an upward force on the ball. This counteracts the force of gravity and causes the ball to follow a flatter trajectory. At the speeds pitched in professional baseball, there is not much time for the batter to adjust his swing after the ball breaks, so hitting a curveball is as much a matter of guessing the pitcher's intentions as of physical skill.

Ideally, a curveball breaks just as it reaches the plate, thus making it difficult to hit. A curveball that fails to break soon enough is called a "hanging curve" and is much easier to hit. Also, batters anticipating a curveball may try to move forward (closer to the pitcher) in the batter's box to hit the ball before it breaks, or, put differently, before the downward angle becomes too great. There is actually no specific point where a ball breaks, but the deviation from a fastball trajectory becomes progressively greater as the ball approaches the plate.

The direction of the break depends on the axis of spin of the ball. There are several different types of curveballs which break differently and move at different speeds. The two most popular different types of curveball are the "12-6" ("dropball" or "drop curve") and the standard power curve. 12-6 is a slower curveball with a steeper break on the ball, whereas the power curve is thrown much harder and has a later, less pronounced break, down and away from the throwing arm. Both curveballs are effective when used by pitchers who utilize different styles of pitching.

A "slow curve" is a curveball that is thrown in the low 70 MPH velocity range and resembles type of changeup that is thrown at a similar speed. The slow curve is commonly thrown after a fastball, or when the pitcher has two strikes and no balls on a batter.

A pitch that breaks down and towards the throwing arm is called a screwball. Few pitchers in the modern era throw a screwball, due in part to the belief that it is hard on pitchers' arms and elbows.

A right handed pitcher throwing a curveball is toughest on a right-handed batter, as the pitch will tend to break down and away from the batter, as opposed to inside on his hands (that's what would happen if the right handed pitcher threw a curve to a left handed batter). Most batters prefer pitches waist high and in the middle, instead of down and away, which allows managers to exploit matchups.

[edit] The Great Curveball Debate: Cummings or Goldsmith?

Baseball lore has it that the curveball was invented in the later 19th Century by either Candy Cummings.1 or Fred Goldsmith. An early demonstration of the "skewball" or curveball occurred at the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn in August of 1870 by Fred Goldsmith, who later starred with the London Tecumsehs (1876-78), the Troy, New York Trojans (1879), the Chicago White Stockings (1880-1884) and the Baltimore Orioles (1884).

In the early years of the sport, use of the curveball was thought to be dishonest and was outlawed, but officials could not do much to stop pitchers from using it. Bert Blyleven was said to have had the best curveball of any modern pitcher.

For some reason, left-handed pitchers seem more inclined to throw curveballs. This is evidenced by the number of left-handed pitchers who throw high-looping, lower-velocity curveballs. It is speculated that left-handers have better natural pitching mechanics that are more conducive to being able to make the curveball spin.