Blyleven is #1

[GPines]

First off, a couple of my new teamates come to my room and ask if I want to get in a little RBI tournament, they have no idea what they have gotten into, they ask me if I have played before, I said a little.

After winning 5 straight games play ends.

Anyways, Blyleven threw a complete game shutout against St. Louis. The guy I was playing was pretty good also, I only won 2-0.

But in the ninth, Bert was still going strong, his ball had some velocity left and movement off the plate.

He has got to be the #1 curve-style pitcher in the game, his stamina gives him the edge over the others. I know Gwynn3k will agree.

[Gantry]

This now leaves two votes for Blyleven, what do the rest of you curve-throwers think?  Most of you didn' t put him on the top5, why not?

[ALarge]

I prefer the good Doctor, with whom I have pitched 3 CG shutouts in the past 5 days and who seems to be hitting about .750 as of late.  Gooden all the way.  Second to him I'd give the nod to Clemens... both those guys have rubber arms.

[B]

now dont get me wrong, bertus can give you quality starts for the most part...he has some good action and a great nickname...but i he just has never struck fear into any of my hitters the way that other pitchers do...maybe its t's style....but the other pitchers on our list just have the ability to shut you down for 6-7 innnings and you cant really do anything about it....i feel like i can hit bert consistently

[GPines]

The thing is this:  to me a guy like the Doctor or the Rocket, they throw hard, but their ball does not move a lot, when I face a guy like that I'll guess which side of the plate its coming, and take a swing at it, you have to pick one or the other, you will run into one eventually. I usually hit better against a hard thrower than Blyleven or Krukow or Tudor.

A guy like Blyleven you need to conserve his arm by throwing a medium speed fastball on the corners,let them groud out or pop up. Then when you face a big hitter use the curve-ball, his movement is so good you can make the hitters look stupid.

My best pitching perormances are ususally only 1 or 2 strikeouts a game.

[Gwynn3k]

i am going to have to concur with piner... blyleven is solid and a horse at that... the guy not only has great stuff, he can go all night...   clemens is good but wont last past the 7th...  gooden doenst make it past the 5th... the whole key is who you are playing... if they are going to swing early in the count than those guys might last a little longer... however, over here in cali,  pines and burnzky know how to fatigue a pitcher... and now that we only use one starter a game,  blyleven has risen to the top of my list.   john tudor is good but is stuck on a team that i will no longer use.

piner go easy on those guys in florida,   they have no idea what they are getting in to.

[ALarge]

I don't know what Gooden you guys play with, but the one on my game was still throwing 75+ in the 9th inning, while retaining enough control to finish with 12 strikeouts.  The doctor is always in.  I dunno, maybe I got the version where he's hopped up on coke... yeah...

[GPines]

Gwynn how could you put me in the same boat as Burnzky, I'm the ultimate pitcher saver, I never strike anybody out.  Aaron uses his starter up in the 3rd, then says what happened, I think my record speaks for itself since we've had the 1 starter matches. Burnzky hasn't quite caught on yet. He's more concerned with how many errord he can get by throwing the ball away.

[Gwynn3k]

i wasnt talking about pitching... i was talking about your hitting... you more so than burnzky, know how to tire out a pitcher...  i  know your pitching style is to let the hitters get themselves out.  you misunderstood me.

[Dill]

Nolan, all the way.  The best curvy pitcher on the game.  Speed forever.  Conserve throughout the game, and the guy will still be mowing em down in the ninth.  Plus, the old bastard can really swing the stick.

[GPines]

Ok Joe, my bad.

[Gantry]

From an ignorant perspective, Nolan Ryan is much more intimidating in curve-style than Blyleven.  Then again, I would strike-out 25 times in a curve game.   It would be months before I took a pitch...

[Gwynn3k]

you would think that way but nolan gets tired too soon... blyleven is a horse.  he might not have the velocity on his fastball but he is deceptive and he is still out there throwing slop in the 7th when the flamethrowers like nolan and clemens are showering.

[Dill]

I have had better luck with Nolan.  He is still throwing hard in the later innings.  About the striking out 25 times a game, it doesn't happen for us.  We have an understood and unwritten rule stating that you keep the ball around the plate at all times.  Sure there are times that you have to throw the ball off the plate against Potatoes.  But a lot of the reason we keep the ball around the zone is because we have to conserve our starter, meaning we want the batter to put the ball into play early into the count.

[Gwynn3k]

efficiency is the key...  if you go for strikeouts, your pitcher will not last through 5.  we have the same strategy dill does...  let the hitters get themselves out but do it early in the count.

[GDavis]

This is a little off topic, but i love the fact that in order to throw an outside pitch you have to move all the way over on the mound.  Imagine seeing this in real baseball?  A pitcher has to move all the way to the right because his curveball doesn't break enough for him to throw it off the plate outside?  Of course, if that were the case, I guess all baseball players would have to be fat white guys without faces too.

[Gwynn3k]

we have found it more effective to toss slop on the corners from the center of the rubber in that the batter has no idea which side of the plate you are going to paint.  

[B]

i myself use the all the way to one side of the rubber routine when playing curve pitch....this isnt exclusive...but mastering the hitting of the corner is key....because you can dance between a strike and a ball and if the guy has enough action, you can throw one across the plate and inside...(its a chess match)