Padres Unveil "new" uniform.....again.....

Padres unveil their latest version of uniform, and incorporate some things from their past, but did they go far enough or is this just another failure by the marketing department ?

On their site they discuss the reasons for why they chose these specific versions, but they might have missed the mark in a couple areas. I guess only time, and sales, will tell.

"SAN DIEGO -- The Padres tapped into their past on Wednesday, when they unveiled their updated uniforms and new logos at PETCO Park.

And from the looks of it, trendy has nothing on tradition.

"I think the most loved uniforms in baseball are the ones that have tradition and history. ... They stand the test of time," said Padres COO and president Tom Garfinkel. "They're not trendy colors or trendy design ... but they're a classic baseball style.

"That's why we've taken our current uniforms and [included] elements of our past that are unique to the Padres ... ones that have a traditional feel to it."

With a nod to the old uniforms the Padres wore during their Pacific Coast League days (1936-68), the updated look was the result of two years' worth of discussions that Garfinkel had with fans about what they wanted.

"We came up with some conclusions," Garfinkel said. "One, there was not a strong affinity for our current uniform design at all. Two, because we've had so many changes throughout our history, the idea of a big change wasn't well received."

Enter a stylistic twist on the uniforms the Padres wore last season.

"We wanted to take our current uniform design and improve on it. We thought the way to improve on it was to bring back classic elements from our history and bring in traditional baseball elements in the design," Garfinkel said. "We wanted to bring some consistency with the uniforms and celebrate civic pride here in San Diego.

"That's what we've tried to accomplish."

A look at the updated uniforms and logos:

• Starting this upcoming season, the team will wear updated home whites and road grays featuring classic block lettering and piping, along with a new blue alternate uniform that will show the Padres' "SD" on the chest.

• The team unveiled three new logos on Wednesday. The "SD" logo has been updated to a circular mark featuring the text "San Diego Padres Baseball Club." That will be used as the team's primary mark.

• The team's new secondary logo features the Padres script under skyline imagery of PETCO Park. The mark also includes the classic "SD" along with "Est. 1969" and will be featured in a patch on the sleeve of the club's blue and gray jerseys.

• The team has also modified the Swinging Friar logo by using the original classic Swinging Friar from the early days of Padres history, with updated colors to match the blue and white worn by the club. That logo will be featured in a patch on the sleeve of the Padres' white jerseys.

In addition, the Padres' military jerseys will still feature the digital camouflage pattern that debuted in 2011, one that was modeled after the U.S. Marines, but will have updated numbers and lettering on the back to remain consistent with the Padres' other uniforms.

As for the uniform colors, Garfinkel said he did speak to some fans who wanted the team to return to its roots and go brown, like the Padres did in the 1970s on several occasions and in 1984, when the team went to the World Series.

"What we discovered was there was a passionate, vocal minority that wants the brown but a much larger segment of the fan base that was adamantly opposed to the brown," Garfinkel said.

"The compromise is we'll still celebrate the brown uniforms on retro days throughout the year."

This is one of the "traditional" uniforms from yesteryear that probably should have made the final cut in place of the boring home white with the universally hated "P" script that was just a bad idea to create, and now wont seem to go away.

They also underestimated the desire to return to Padre unique colors. In the article Garfinkel says "What we discovered was there was a passionate, vocal minority that wants the brown but a much larger segment of the fan base that was adamantly opposed to the brown,". If you know Padre fans, have spoken to them, or visit pretty much any fan board out there, he's exactly backwards in his discovery. The majority out there have been requesting a return to the brown for years, and maintain that desire. The majority are not interested in the mustard yellow however, but the brown is what most would like to see. THAT is Padre colors and THAT is our tradition unless the idea is to take them all the way back to the PCL days, in which case they missed the boat by not using the old pinstripe look for Home games.

Either way they probably should have spent more time on the team, than what it will look like losing 90 games again.

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Dodgers are a complete fiasco....

While not news to many...I saw this posted in a forum and thought it was classic and market-able......I do hope I see them during the next Dodger/Padre match up.......I just hope no Padre fan finds himself beaten as a result.......We know how Dodger fan can act.

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Staff Ace for the Indians admits to using Roids

Charlie Sheen Admits to Juicing ???!!!???

Well it looks like The Wild Thing has more than Tiger Blood coursing through his veins. In an interview Charlie Sheen admitted to using PED's in order to prepare for his role in Major League. Not that anyone who saw that movie is suddenly going to care, as I doubt any of us thought for a second that he was blowing 100+ mph on the radar gun to begin with. This is however fantastic timing as the Roger Clemens trial is set to start.

"...Let's just say that I was enhancing my performance a little bit. It was the only time I ever did steroids,

...I did them for like six or eight weeks," he continued. "You can print this... my fastball went from 79 to like 85."

The former "Two and a Half Men" star also told the mag that character Ricky Vaughn's signature hairstyle combined with his steroid use was a dangerous combination...."

Link to article

Way to go Ricky........Forget about the Curveball Ricky....Give'm the Heater !!!

T.Pichierri
-Planet Padres Writer

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Special thanks to KIP & Steve Kozle

Planet Padres, myself specifically, would like to send out a personal thank you to Steve Kozle and KIP America. We were recently at a convention and were lucky enough to win the door prize of a new IPad2. This was a fantastic gift and we can't thank you enough. It will be utilized to the n-th degree and is something I've always wanted for business and play.

KIP is an award winning and leading innovator in the industry of wide format printing and image capture technology. KIP is environmentally conscious and committed to product designs that promote environmental health & sustainability. Their goal is improving and refining the technologies in KIP products that keep the planet green. If you have need for this kind of technology then KIP should be on your radar. Just click the link embedded in their logo and take a look at all they have to offer.

Once again thank you to KIP industries for their gift.

T.Pichierri
-Planet Padres Writer-

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The Streak ends at 8 games

Well for the sake of the baseball gods we didn't want to post anything about the Storm for fear of jinxing their streak, but it finally game to an end at 8 games....Great run boys put another one together.

The Streak Ends at Eight with Loss Against Inland Empire

By Steve Smaldone

The Storm were riding an eight-game winning streak going into Inland Empire on Wednesday night. After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, it looked as if the Storm were going to pull off their ninth win in a row.

Storm starter Pedro Hernandez pitched five innings of shutout baseball to keep the 2-0 lead in tact. However, Inland Empire would get after the Storm bullpen, scoring nine runs between the sixth and seventh innings.

Just as it seemed all was lost, the Storm bats would wake up when LF Dean Anna led off the inning with a double. 66ers pitcher Kevin Nabors would then walk the next three batters in a row to help the Storm push across another run. SS Jeudy Valdez would strike out next for the first out. With the bases still loaded and the score 9-3 in favor of IE, Storm 3B Jedd Gyorko earned his first hit of the night, a two-RBI double bring the Storm within four runs.

Jedd Gyorko was also named Cal League Player of the Week. This hot hitting 3rd baseman has really made an impact on this league and team already. He's currently hitting .390ba with a .455obp and a monstrous .701 slg pct. He plays a very solid 3rd and is hot on the heels of James Darnell who is currently in AA. This kid has a very bright future and we will continue to keep our eyes on him while he's in LE.

California League - c/o MiLB
Jedd Gyorko, Lake Elsinore
.469/.897/1.365, 7 G, 12-for-29, 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 9 RS, 3 BB, 2 K, 4 SB, 0 CS
The Padres grabbed West Virginia product Jedd Gyorko in the second round of last year's Draft, and the 22-year-old infielder is already succeeding in Class A Advanced ball. After finishing the previous week with a two-homer Sunday, Gyorko went yard again Monday and had a double, a single, two stolen bases, an RBI and two runs scored Tuesday. He was a triple shy of the cycle on a five-RBI Wednesday and missed out on the feat by a double Friday. Although he chilled out by going 0-for-7 over Saturday and Sunday, he did manage a stolen base and a run scored between those games.

The Storm have surged back into relevance, but have a ways still to go to reel in Rancho Cucamonga. They are currently 8 games out and will play RC this weekend in RC. For now it's on to game two against Inland Empire, and hopeuflly the start of another 8 game winning streak. Good luck STORM !!!

T.Pichierri
-Planet Padres Writer-

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Non Baseball Related

But still needs to be celebrated. The FBI has updated their 10 most wanted list with some great news

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108 Stitches with Bill Pierce

Recapping the 4-22-11 game

Hit Parade In Lake Elsinore.....

Coming into last nights game the Storm were looking to build on the 5-10 record and their eyes were set on the 7-8 Mavericks.

Lake Elsinore sent Matt Lollis out to face-off against High Deserts Yoervis Medina. Both pitchers are coming into the game win-less with Lollis posting a high 6.06 ERA and Medina being only slightly better at 4.60. Im sure Lollis is hoping for a better defensive effort from the boys behind him who the previous night put up a ridiculous 6 errors.

Well by the time the fireworks erupted over the diamond the sizable Friday night crowd was treated to a 12-1 trouncing of High Desert. The Storm won handily not looking at all like a 5-10 club.
Aside from one 3rd inning pitch that found the bleachers (HDM,s James Jones) Lollis sparkled allowing only 2 hits over 5innings of work while putting up 8 k's in the process. Never getting too cute with his pitches he relied on his hard stuff reaching 94 on the gun several times. The relief core finished of the game handily going the final four innings scoreless and putting up 7 more K's.

Now, here is where the "hit parade" part starts. the Storm put on a display at the plate. With nearly all hitters contributing, here are a few standouts in this writers mind. Gyorko continued to rake going 3-4 with a walk and remains an anchor in the line-up. Nathan Freiman who looked silly in his first AB and looked off balance two pitches into his second turned it around quickly hitting 2 consecutive bombs and continued with very hard outs driving in 5 runs. Edinson Rincon had a great night at the plate in DH role. He went 4-5 hitting the ball on the screws at every AB. Rincon still remains a bit of a mystery though as he shows no progression defensively. While he is still young he may be destined to be stuck in that DH position until they figure out a way to remove that iron skillet from his glove hand.

- Bill Pierce -

Planet Padres beat writer

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Tonights Game at The Diamond / 4-22-11

Tonight's lineup as seen on the wall of the Diamond

High Desert Mavericks
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Carroll	DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.328
Franklin	SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.306
Catricala	LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.358
Raben	1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.292
Martinez, M	3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.143
Almonte, D	CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.355
Jones, J	RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.139
Coleman	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.176
Noriega	2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.216

Lake Elsinore Storm
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Fuentes, R	CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.321
Galvez	2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.341
Gyorko	3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.386
Hagerty	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.277
Freiman	1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.259
Rincon	DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.300
Valdez, J	SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.222
Liriano	RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.106
Noel	LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.175

High Desert Mavericks
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Medina, Y	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.60

Lake Elsinore Storm
Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Lollis	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.06

Lollis comes out of the shoot going 1-2-3 in the first, and hitting 93mph on the gun. Hopefully he'll have his A game and the boys on defense behind him will bring theirs as well. Good luck Storm.

Play Ball !!!

Off to Lake Elsinore

Planet Padres hits the road for it's 2nd trip to the Diamond

The Storm are off to a very slow start at 5-10, and are now looking to Lollis to get them on the right track tonight against the High Desert Mavericks. He will be up against Yoervis Medina, a big strong right-hander, who is also looking for his first win tonight. The boys will have their work cut out for them so lets hope they stop throwing the ball around, and get back to the good brand of baseball we've all come to enjoy at the Diamond.

First Pitch is 7:05 and there are post game fireworks so bring the whole family out for a great night of baseball and fun.

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Storm take down Quakes

Storm bounce right back and hammer the Quakes 11-4

Final score 11-4 Storm

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Rancho Cucamonga	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	1		4	9	0
Lake Elsinore	0	0	1	0	5	1	4	0	x		11	12	1

By Steve Smaldone
On Wednesday night the Storm tied their season high in runs, beating the Quakes 11-4 at The Diamond. The Storm would also score a season high in runs in one inning, scoring five in the fifth.

Lake Elsinore starting pitcher Jose DePaula continued to put up big numbers going five innings and allowing one run off three hits. In two starts this season, DePaula is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA, five strikeouts, one walk, one earned run and a 0.90 WHIP.

Offensively, Jonathan Galvez took home the star of the game after reaching base every time he came to the plate. Gavez went 3-for-3 with two walks, three runs batted-in, two runs scored and one home run, his first of the season. DH Jedd Gyorko also blasted his first home run of 2011, taking Quakes starter Allen Webster deep in the third inning to tie the game at one.

For more information on the Lake Elsinore Storm and this game, or any future games, please follow the link at the top of this article......OR you can find a link to the Storm on the right side of the Planet Padres home page.

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Tonights Game at The Diamond

Tonight's Lineup

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Buss	CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Lemmerman	SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.182
Wise	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.385
Smith, B	RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.150
Delmonico	DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Songco	LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.136
Gallagher, A	1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.400
Denker, T	3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.067
Ynoa	2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250

Lake Elsinore Storm
Player	Pos	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
Fuentes, R	CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Payne	RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Gyorko	3B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.316
Freiman	1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Hagerty	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.375
Galvez	SS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.417
Killian	DH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Anna	2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Noel	LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.154

Lets go Storm ! Back to .500

Final Score 5-2 Quakes

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Rancho Cucamonga	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0		5	9	0
Lake Elsinore	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0		2	4	1

Play Ball !!!

Off to Lake Elsinore

Storm vs. Quakes

Planet Padres is off to the Diamond tonight as the Quakes are in town to take on the Storm. Lollis toes the rubber against Matt Magill, first pitch at 7:05pm. The Storm's offense finally came alive last game, and brought their record to 2-3. Now they hope to keep it rolling along as they look to get back to .500 tonight.

Bring the whole family out to see the Storm and for some great baseball. GO STORM !!!

PLAY BALL !!!

108 Stitches with Bill Pierce

Pitching and defense win ballgames.

But a little offense would be nice

It is early enough not to panic of course but the Padres, with the exception of Nick Hundley and Chase Headley, have really come out of spring pretty cold offensively. Everyone is aware of the offensive struggles, and with the coaching staff that we have, a hiccup like this can be worked through but lets not wait for the Santa Ana's for the bats to heat up.

-Bill Pierce -

Planet Padres Beat Writer

Some frustrations I'm sure most of us Padre fans share with you. Thanks again Bill.

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Storm Drop Home Opener...

Storm lose 4-0 to defending Champs

The Storm, in front of a sold out crowd, couldn't over come the cold and rain and fell to the two time defending Cal League champs. Lollis wasn't sharp and the neither were the bats as they could only muster 4 hits on the evening.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
San Jose	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0		4	7	2
Lake Elsinore	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	4	1

Player	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Lollis (L, 0-1)	6.0	4	2	2	3	5	1	3.00

The Storm is looking to regroup and take game 2 tonight at the Diamond tonight at 7:05 when they send lefty Jose DePaula to the hill. Good luck Storm !

Play Ball !!!

108 Stitches with Bill Pierce

The Lake Elsinore Storm..... the next best thing

Just a short ride up the I-15 is a baseball oasis worthy of stopping and taking a rest in the shade of Americas past time.

Year in and year out the Lake Elsinore Storm has played the game the right way. With Lezcano leading the team and Plantier and Patrick next to him on the bench, Lake Elsinore has always put down a good brand of baseball. Competitive and entertaining, which is what baseball should be.

Along with the current crop of young talent the Storm (as most fans know them) is the proving ground for injured major leaguers working their way back to the show. Another bonus due to there location are the cusp players. Players that bounce back and forth between the majors and minors and need to be ready to go.

With every seat in the house being pretty much front and center view, and promotions such as Charlie Sheen-co De Mayo, you will always get a lot of bang for your buck.

-Bill Pierce -

Planet Padres Beat Writer

Thanks as always Bill. See you at the Diamond.

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Lake Elsinore Opening Day

The Storm is coming !!!

The Elsinore Storm opens it's 2011 season today at the Diamond at 7:05pm, and there are some very exciting players to keep your eyes on. The outfield is going to be outstanding to watch with players like Fuentes, Liriano and Noel patrolling it, and guys like McBryde and Lollis, who is your opening day starter, are going to head up what should be a very good rotation this year. So get out there and support your High A Padres affiliate as often as you can.

Below is their roster to start the year.

Pitchers
#	Name	Pos	Bat	Thw	Ht	Wt	DOB	Status	MLB 40-man
17	Hayden Beard	P	R	R	6' 1"	175	01-22-1985	Active	No
10	Jose De Paula	P	L	L	6' 1"	170	03-04-1990	Active	No
41	Chris Fetter	P	R	R	6' 8"	230	12-23-1985	Active	No
30	Erik Hamren	P	R	R	6' 1"	195	08-21-1986	Active	No
19	Pedro Hernandez	P	L	L	5' 10"	200	04-12-1989	Active	No
1	Zachary Herr	P	L	L	5' 9"	185	12-01-1986	Active	No
47	Matt Lollis	P	R	R	6' 9"	250	09-11-1990	Active	No
25	Jeremy McBryde	P	R	R	6' 2"	225	05-01-1987	Active	No
26	Miles Mikolas	P	R	R	6' 5"	220	08-23-1988	Active	No
36	Stiven Osuna	P	R	R	6' 3"	170	05-05-1987	Active	No
8	Dustin Pease	P	S	L	5' 11"	170	10-04-1985	Active	No
28	Jerry Sullivan	P	R	R	6' 4"	220	01-18-1988	Active	No
27	Mike Watt	P	L	L	6' 1"	185	02-24-1989	Active	No

Catchers
#	Name	Pos	Bat	Thw	Ht	Wt	DOB	Status	MLB 40-man
14	Ross Brayton	C	R	R	6' 3"	195	05-16-1988	Active	No
33	Jason Hagerty	C	S	R	6' 3"	220	09-13-1987	Active	No
6	Daniel Killian	C	L	R	6' 4"	195	01-14-1989	Active	No

Infielders
#	Name	Pos	Bat	Thw	Ht	Wt	DOB	Status	MLB 40-man
3	Dean Anna	SS	L	R	5' 11"	180	11-24-1986	Active	No
20	Nathan Freiman	1B	R	R	6' 7"	225	12-31-1986	Active	No
4	Jonathan Galvez	SS	R	R	6' 2"	175	01-18-1991	Active	No
5	Jedd Gyorko	3B	R	R	5' 10"	195	09-23-1988	Active	No
16	Edinson Rincon	3B	R	R	6' 1"	185	08-11-1990	Active	No
12	Jeudy Valdez	2B	R	R	5' 10"	185	05-05-1989	Active	Yes

Outfielders
#	Name	Pos	Bat	Thw	Ht	Wt	DOB	Status	MLB 40-man
15	Reymond Fuentes	CF	L	L	6' 0"	160	02-12-1991	Active	No
37	Rymer Liriano	CF	R	R	6' 0"	211	06-20-1991	Active	No
2	Rico Noel	CF	R	R	5' 9"	175	01-11-1989	Active	No
9	Eric Patterson	CF	L	R	6' 0"	170	04-08-1983	Rehab	Yes

Good luck on your season Storm......Planet Padres will be seeing you soon

Play Ball !!!

2011 HOME OPENER - 3:35 start

• Native San Diegan Aaron Harang gets the start vs. Madison Bumgarner
• Petco is sold out !
• Weather will be a fantastic mid 70's at game time
• Time for the boys to bring their offense & defense home and show why this team is built the way it's built with Petco in mind
  

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Taking 2 of 3 in St Louis is a great start

Take a Series win every time

Dustin Moseley had a very solid outing allowing only 1er in 7 innings, but the boys fell short in their attempt to sweep the Cards in StL for the first time in 30 years. The great news is that Padres pitching essentially shut down Albert Pujols for the entire series, and any time you can do that you give yourself a great chance to win.

Way to open the season, now lets have a great OPENING DAY in Petco this week guys.

Play Ball !!!

Breaking down the types of pitches out there....

Pitches 101

Ever wonder why professional hitters sometimes look like they really don't know what's coming at them ? Have you ever stopped to really think about the potential arsenal a Pitcher takes with him to the mound ? Considering it takes about .44 sec for a 95mph fastball to travel 60'6", and even less when you factor in that the pitchers stride shortens the distance even more, giving a batter about .25 sec. to react, it's amazing that major league hitters can do what they do as often as they do it. Then again a failure rate of 70% is considered outstanding, so I guess it's all perspective.

Here are some of the pitches that a batter can face at any given time. The difference in speed between them can be up to, and greater than, 15mph, which means a hitter can be kept very off balance, especially if the arm action of the pitcher doesn't vary much from pitch to pitch.

4-seam fastball

---Grip and rip. This is typically the hardest thrown pitch and is thrown with the intention of little or no movement. This ball is gripped with fingers across the seams, the 4 perpendicular seams, added to the backspin created by throwing it, causes this ball to go as straight as possible with maximum velocity. This is typically thrown directly over the top.

2-seam fastball

---Hard with a bite at the end. This is typically not thrown quite as hard as a 4-seam, and will dart down and to the opposite side of the arm used by the pitcher. This is a very effective pitch if controllable, and can either saw off a batter or show a late break away depending on which side of the plate the hitter is on. Arm angle can influence how this ball moves.

Split Fingered

---Hard and down. This pitch has the appearance of a fastball to the batter, but has late movement straight downward making it extremely hard for a batter to compensate for and react too. Arm angle can influence how this ball moves

Cutter

---Hard with a bite at the end. This pitch is very similar to the 2-seamer and Slider (which I feel are all variants of the same pitch). Usually not thrown as hard as a 2-seamer in order to have a bit more movement at the end. This pitch can really saw off a batter, or move hard away depending on which side you are on.

Sinker

---Hard and down. This pitch is very similar to the Split Fingered Fastball (which I feel is essentially the same pitch). This pitch has the appearance of a fastball to the hitter, but has extreme late movement straight downward. I suppose one could argue that it's not throw as hard as a Splitter, but I believe that changing speeds of a pitch doesn't necessarily require a name change as well. Again arm angle can change how and what this pitch does.

Offspeed and Breaking Balls

Curveball

---Medium Speed, large break. This pitch is exactly what it sounds like a ball that curves. It varies from pitcher to pitcher but essentially by placing the middle finger along a larger seem, then snapping off the wrist, a pitcher can actually get enough rotation on the ball to cause it to break one way or the other. There are variants of this pitch as well depending on arm angle, speed the pitcher chooses to throw the ball at etc., which can cause this pitch to move more or less.
One such pitch is the 12-6 Curveball, in which the pitcher is able to get the rotation to go right over the top of the ball causing it to break straight downward. This is a very tough pitch to hit as there is more vertical break. Most Curveball's come in more like 2-8 and slide across the strike zone more.

Knuckleball

---Slow and unpredictable. An almost non-existent pitch now a days, this pitch was thrown by placing either knuckles or fingernails on the ball to try and stop all rotation. The result is a ball that has seams catching air currents in every direction causing this slow pitched ball to dart in an unpredictable manner. This is not only a problem for hitters, but for the Catcher as well since he really has no idea where the ball is going to go. Every time the pitcher throws this pitch is can react differently. Altering the grip, and changing speeds can cause this pitch to do different things as well. One such pitch is the Knuckle Curve. This is a pitch thrown like a fastball, but with a Knuckleball type of grip. The result is a very deceptive Curveball like pitch.

Changeup

---Slow to Medium, can have movement. A very important pitch to just about every arsenal is a good off speed pitch. The Changeup is the most common. By placing the ball further back in the hand while using a fastball delivery, the ball actually comes out with less velocity. Batters can have a very hard time with a good Changeup since it looks and acts like a fastball. In that split second a batter has to react, the brain sees fastball, and the bat is put into motion. The problem is the ball is going so much slower that by the time the ball enters the strikezone the batter has finished his attack on the ball. This pitch can be varied many ways by arm angle, grip (circle and vulcan) and velocity adding great movement to the pitch and making it that much harder to hit.

Palm Ball

---Slow to Med with movement. This pitch is very similar to the Changeup ( which I feel is essentially the same pitch ). If you push the ball into the back of the hand, holding it with the ring finger and thumb, and throw it like a fastball the pitch will appear like a fastball coming out of the hand, but with far less velocity and can have tremendous movement as well.

Eepheus

---Very very slow. This pitch is thrown overhand but with a trajectory similar to soft toss softball, meaning a very very high arc. It's extremely rare to see this anymore since it can catch batters off guard, but if not then it's likely going to be deposited in the OF seats. Either way it's pretty fun to see this happen from time to time. Especially if it works !

Screwball

---Medium speed, moderate break. This pitch is like a Curveball, but breaks in the opposite direction depending on the pitching arm. For instance if you are a right handed pitcher, your Curveball breaks from right to left, so your Screwball would break from left to right. It's a very difficult ball to throw well, and depending on the arm angle can have a bit of downward action to it as well.

There are many pitches out there we didn't cover, mostly because I feel they are just versions of what we just got done talking about. Also because as the decades pass different guys want to put their stamp on the game, and thus a new name for the same old pitch is given and adopted into baseball vernacular.

Here is an interesting test I've found while bouncing around the web to see if you even possess the reactions necessary to at least give yourself a chance to hit a fastball. Keep in mind this test doesn't mean you can hit one, just gives an idea of whether or not you have the ability to react quick enough to maybe hit one. Click here and enjoy

T.Pichierri
-Writer Planet Padres-

Play Ball !!!