"From the New York Times baseball columnist, a ... history of the national pastime as told through the craft of pitching, based on years of archival research and interviews with more than three hundred people from Hall of Famers to the stars of today"--Dust jacket flap. Even the slightest calibration can turn a baseball from an ordinary pitch into a weapon to thwart the greatest hitters in the world. Each pitch has its own history, evolving through the decades as the masters pass it down to the next generation.Kepner traces the colorful stories and fascinating folklore behind the ten major pitches, from the blazing fastball to the fluttering knuckleball to the slippery spitball. -- adapted from jacket.

The slider : a little itty bitty dot -- The fastball : velo is king -- The curveball : a karate chop with a ball -- The knuckleball : grabbing the wing of a butterfly -- The splitter : through the trapdoor -- The screwball : the Sasquatch of baseball -- The sinker : the furthest strike from the hitter's eyes -- The changeup : a dollar bill hooked on a fishing line -- The spitball : hit the dry side -- The cutter : at the end, it will move.