The Jamie Moyer of the Tri-State League

Probably throwing a 50mph Curveball

I for one don't believe that I'm a great pitcher. If anything I could be labeled as a crafty lefty righty. The only time I thought that I could even pitch at a higher level say college was during my sophomore year in high school. Back then I could actually throw the ball with decent velocity and felt somewhat dominant over high school batters. My junior year on the varsity squad left me with limited innings due to having a bunch of seniors on the team that our coach felt deserved more playing time than I thought they needed. Whenever I was given the chance I tried to make the most of it and ended up pitching in some memorable moments that I will surely never forget. I hurt my back during my senior year and pitched the last inning of our last game of the season, hurling a 1-2-3, 9-pitch inning consisting of only fastballs because my body hurt to much to attempt anything else. I was never the same pitcher after that initial back injury and many more serious medical problems arose in my life including Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma which made me a shell of my former self. Because of these issues I had to learn how to adapt if I were to continue competing on a level with past, present, and future college players and pros.

I lost the ability to throw a "Fast"ball with any credible velocity and because of this I had to come up with a repertoire of pitches to complement this pitch. After several seasons of tinkering I finally came up with two main pitches that worked well with my fastball. The first one is my bread and butter pitch, the curveball. After listening to Bert Blyleven talk about Sandy Koufax's "drop ball," I began to do my research and discovered how both held theirs and tried it out for myself. It has now been labeled by my teammates as the "Gravity Ball" since it probably comes at you at 50mph but breaks from your head to your toes. Most guys either swing and miss at this or pop it out to the infield. The other pitch I use is a slider. I hold it just like a normal curveball but release it like I was turning a doorknob instead of coming straight over the top. The beauty of this pitch is that it looks just like a straight ball coming in and breaks at the last second usually missing the fat part of the bat and sending batters into a fit of expletives. 

For the past six seasons I have been using these pitches to frustrate batters in our league. One team in particular that I know hates me is the Winsted Whalers. I have beat them every time I have faced them and on many occasions beat them while facing off against their ace, Donny Crossman, who in my opinion is one of the top pitchers in our league and has plenty of accolades to show. Crossman has even said it himself that they just can't figure out how to hit me. It just goes to show sometimes that guts and determination can triumph over brute and strength. 

I find it funny at times when catchers ask me what pitches I am going to throw before a game. A chuckle and wry smile creeps up on my face and I say, "1, 2, 3...Changeup, Curveball, Slider." They get the joke and chuckle as well.

Later I'll post pictures of the pitches I throw along with a side story for each....check back later.