Submarine (baseball)
Encyclopedia
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, a submarine pitch
Pitch (baseball)
In baseball, a pitch is the act of throwing a baseball toward home plate to start a play. The term comes from the Knickerbocker Rules. Originally, the ball had to be literally "pitched" underhand, as with pitching horseshoes. Overhand throwing was not allowed until 1884.The biomechanics of...
is one in which the ball is released underhand and just above the ground, with the torso bent at a right angle and shoulders tilted so severely that they rotate around a nearly horizontal axis. (This is in stark contrast to an underhand pitch in softball in which the torso remains upright, the shoulders are level, and the hips do not rotate.)
The "upside down" release of the submariner causes balls to move differently than pitches generated by other arm slots. Gravity plays a significant role, for the submariner’s ball must be thrown considerably above the strike zone, after which it drops rapidly back through. The sinking motion of the submariner’s fastball is enhanced by forward rotation, in contradistinction to the overhand pitcher’s hopping backspin.
Submarine pitches are often the toughest for same-side batters to hit (i.e., a right-handed submarine pitcher is the more difficult for a right-handed to hit, and likewise for southpaw pitchers and batters). This is because the submariner’s spin is not perfectly level; the ball rotates forward and toward the pitching arm side, jamming same-sided hitters at the last moment, even as the ball drops rapidly through the zone.
The rarity of submarine pitchers is almost certainly attributable to its unusual technique. It is not typically a natural style of throwing—it is often a learned style—and because the vast majority of pitchers use an overarm motion, most young pitchers are encouraged to throw overhand.
Though the bending motion required to pitch effectively as a submariner means that submariners may be more at risk of developing back problems, it is commonly thought that the submarine motion is less injurious to the elbow and shoulder.
Past major league submariners include Carl Mays
Carl Mays
Carl William Mays was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. Despite impressive career statistics, he is primarily remembered for throwing a beanball on August 16, 1920, that struck and killed Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians, making Chapman one of two people to die...
(whose unorthodox delivery possibly contributed to the fatal beaning of Ray Chapman
Ray Chapman
Raymond Johnson Chapman was an American baseball player, spending his entire career as a shortstop for Cleveland....
), Ted Abernathy
Ted Abernathy
Ted Wade Abernathy was a Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He batted and threw right-handed.A native of Stanley, North Carolina, Abernathy changed his pitching motion after shoulder surgery left his career in doubt, switching from a three-quarter delivery and becoming an effective sidearmer...
, Elden Auker
Elden Auker
Elden le Roy Auker was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball noted for his submarine pitching style....
, Chad Bradford
Chad Bradford
Chadwick Lee "Chad" Bradford is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He was well known for his extreme submarine-style pitching, and his success in MLB despite his unconventional delivery and the slow speed at which he threw the ball led to him figuring prominently in the Michael Lewis...
, Mark Eichhorn
Mark Eichhorn
Mark Anthony Eichhorn is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher best known for his tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays the late 1980s - early 1990s where he often served as a middle reliever/set-up man for All-Star closer, Tom Henke...
, Kent Tekulve
Kent Tekulve
Kenton Charles Tekulve is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. During a 16-year baseball career, he pitched for three different teams, but spent most of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates...
and Dan Quisenberry
Dan Quisenberry
Dan Raymond "Quiz" Quisenberry was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Kansas City Royals...
.
Shunsuke Watanabe
Shunsuke Watanabe
is a professional baseball player from Tsuga, Tochigi, Japan who plays for the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japanese Pacific League.His submarine pitching form was noted during the 2006 World Baseball Classic.-Amateur career:...
of the Chiba Lotte Marines
Chiba Lotte Marines
The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by the Lotte conglomerate.-History:...
is known as "Mr. Submarine" in Japan. Watanabe has an even lower release point than the typical submarine pitcher, dropping his pivot knee so low that it scrapes the ground. He now wears a pad under his uniform to not injure his knee. In addition, his release is so low that his knuckles often become raw from their periodic drag on the ground.
Present day submarine/sidearm pitchers
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