palmball

McNally: My change-up, though, is what might be called a palmball.

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

McNally: My change-up, though, is what might be called a palmball.

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

McNally: My change-up, though, is what might be called a palmball.

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

Note: According to 1997 edition, Wagner “experimented with a straight change, palmball, and forkball without much success.”

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

Note: The 2001 edition of The Scouting Notebook says that Foulke throws breaking pitches to right-handed batters, but recent sources agree that he throws his fastball and outstanding change-up—basically a palmball—almost exclusively.

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

Quote from The Scouting Report: 1985: “LaPoint considers his off-speed pitch to be pretty much a change-up, but it has actions like a palmball or more likely a screwball.”

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

So I started working on the side with it and started developing a pretty good ‘Cuban palmball.’

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

He demonstrated the pitch, which he called “basically a palmball.”

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

There are “specialty” change-ups—circle change, palmball, slip pitch, and others—but “change” often simply means “taking something off” the fastball or curveball.

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004

Today Pedro has a good fastball, a rubber arm and that Cuban palmball that sometimes breaks a good deal more than the hitter expects.

The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers Bill James Rob Neyer 2004