Mack On Baseball – Chapter 6 – 4-Seam

Mack On Baseball – Chapter 6 – Four-Seam

The fastest known pitch in a professional game, witnessed by many and documented by radar, was 105.1 mph by Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman at Petco Park in San Diego in 2010.But Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller once claimed that he threw a baseball 107.9 miles per hour at a demonstration at Griffith Stadium in 1946.

And Ted Williams claimed that the fastest pitcher he ever hit against was Steve Dalkowski, who, according to Williams, routinely “hit 105.”

No one becomes a major league pitcher without an effective fastball. Even R.A. Dickey throws one in the mid-80s; one that seems like 100+ after facing his knuckler all night. Ask a scout and they’ll tell you they’d drive 100 miles just to see a high school pitcher hit 90.

Pitchers usually throw more fastballs than any other pitch. However, even that has changed over the past decade. Now we have multiple variations - two-seamers, four-seamers, a cutter, a sinker and a riser.

The run-of-the-mill fastball, which has been thrown by everyone that ever pitched an inning of organized ball, is called a “four-seam fastball.” Naturally, it has nothing to do with how many seams your fingers cover. It gets its name because of the number of seams that cut through the air after the release. The pitcher actually places two of his fingers crossing over two of the seams. The release causes the ball to spin, or “cut,” creating the “pop” every successful pitcher looks for when he throws this pitch.

Four-seam fastballs are also thrown by fielders. I played third base most of the time and I always threw a four-seam to first base. Outfielders are also coached to throw this way, which basically eliminates any side movement of the ball heading either to the cutoff man or the catcher. Try to imagine what happens to a curve ball thrown from right field to home. You have a better chance of the ball going in the dugout than hitting the catcher’s mitt.

Four-seam fastballs also seem to rise sometimes. They don’t actually rise, because objects actually fall as they move slower rather than rise. Some pitchers manage to put a little extra cut on the ball they release, so the seams pull more on the air and reduce the drop-time. The ball doesn’t rise, but an optical illusion is created to make a batter think the ball is moving upward. It’s simply dropping less.

A four-seam can also be more effective when the delivery is altered to minimize the batter’s vision on the release of the ball. This is sometimes known as a “heavy” fastball, or an “exploding” fastball. Ex-Met Francisco Rodriguez and current prospect Robert Carson throw “heavy” fastballs.

A standard four-seam fastball goes exactly where you throw it. That means it also goes straight. Throw it down the pipe to one of your friends, and you’re the bomb of the neighborhood. Throw it down the pipe to a professional baseball player known for his hitting, and you won’t get out of the third inning.

A perfect example of this kind of pitcher is the 2011 version of Bobby Parnell. Yes, he throws fast and is currently credited with one of the top ten fastballs ever thrown in a professional baseball game (2010: 103.0). But this kind of fastball is only effective if its final destination is barely on the inside portion of the strike zone. Going outside is a foul ball in the making. Inside is a pop-up. But down-the-middle is an invitation.

Anyone that ever began a pitching career started with this pitch and the last thing you worried about early on was any movement. You had to consistently throw in the mid-80s to have any high school coach put you in their rotation, but the great ones spent as much time directing their fastball rather than just throwing it as hard as they could.

Remember … you throw to the catcher, not the radar gun.

I always thought throwing a fastball hadn't changed since grade school. To me, the speed went up with maturity and proper arm training. If you give a baseball to a five-year-old and teach him how to hold and release a four-seam, that ball will come off his hand faster. It may only go 20 mph and travel five feet, but eventually, with the right training and maturing process, it will get better.

There are countess training programs all over the internet, but a good pitcher needs more than that. The vast majority of successful pitchers turn their training over to someone else. It might be their father, a coach on their team, or just someone they met through a traveling team program. Either way, it’s usually a former pitcher that wants to teach someone how to do something right that they once did wrong.

A four-seam fastball is the fastest pitch you will ever throw. Throw it in the low-70s and you’ll be a great softball pitcher someday. Hit 80 and you’ll never get out of high school ball. But, sit above 80 and start hitting 85+ and it’s time to take this game a little more seriously.