Eephus pitch
Encyclopedia
An Eephus pitch in baseball
is considered a junk pitch with very low speed. The delivery from the pitcher has very low velocity and usually catches the hitter off-guard. Its invention is attributed to Rip Sewell
of the Pittsburgh Pirates
in the 1940s. According to manager Frankie Frisch
, the pitch was named by outfielder Maurice Van Robays
. When asked what it meant, Van Robays replied, "'Eephus ain't nothing, and that's a nothing pitch." Although the origin is not known for certain, Eephus may come from the Hebrew word "efes" , meaning "nothing
".
The Eephus pitch is thrown overhand like most pitches, but is characterized by an unusual high arcing trajectory
and corresponding slow velocity
, bearing more resemblance to a slow-pitch softball
delivery than to a traditional baseball pitch. It is considered a trick pitch because, in comparison to normal baseball pitches (which run from 70 to 100 miles per hour), an Eephus pitch appears to move in slow motion (55 miles per hour or less).
off the Eephus, to Ted Williams
in the 1946 All-Star Game
. Williams challenged Sewell to throw the Eephus. Sewell obliged, and Williams missed the pitch. However, Sewell then announced that he was going to throw the pitch again, and Williams clobbered it for a home run. Years later, however, Williams admitted that he had been running towards the pitcher’s mound as he hit the ball, and photographs reveal that he was in fact a few feet in front of the batter’s box when he made contact. Since under Rule 6.06(a) of the Official Baseball Rules a batter is out for illegal action when he hits a ball with one or both feet on the ground entirely outside the batter’s box, Williams would have been out had it been spotted by an umpire.
Bill "Spaceman" Lee
threw an eephus referred to as the "Leephus", "spaceball" or "moon ball". Pitching for the Boston Red Sox
in the Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, the Red Sox were up 3–0 when Lee threw three eephus pitches to Tony Pérez
with a runner on base. The third resulted in a towering two-run home run and the Red Sox would go on to lose the game 4–3, costing them the chance for their first World Series victory since 1918.
Other pitchers known to have employed the Eephus pitch include: Mark Buehrle
; Casey Fossum
(called the Fossum Flip); Steve Hamilton
of the New York Yankees
(the folly floater); Liván Hernández
; Phil Niekro
; Orlando Hernández
; Dave LaRoche
(LaLob); Vicente Padilla
(dubbed the soap bubble by Vin Scully
); Pascual Perez
(the Pascual Pitch); Dave Stieb
(the Dead Fish); Kazuhito Tadano
; and Bob Tewksbury
.
Other nicknames for the Eephus pitch include the bloop curve, gravity curve, and Bugs Bunny curve (a reference to the Bugs Bunny
cartoon
where batters swing three times at a pitch before the ball reaches the plate).
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...
is considered a junk pitch with very low speed. The delivery from the pitcher has very low velocity and usually catches the hitter off-guard. Its invention is attributed to Rip Sewell
Rip Sewell
Truett Banks "Rip" Sewell was a right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played 13 years in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates...
of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
in the 1940s. According to manager Frankie Frisch
Frankie Frisch
Francis “Frankie” Frisch , nicknamed the "Fordham Flash" or "The Old Flash", was a German American Major League Baseball player of the early twentieth century....
, the pitch was named by outfielder Maurice Van Robays
Maurice Van Robays
Maurice Rene Van Robays , nicknamed "Bomber," was a Major League Baseball player who was born and died in Detroit, Michigan. Primarily an outfielder, Van Robays spent six seasons in the majors, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates...
. When asked what it meant, Van Robays replied, "'Eephus ain't nothing, and that's a nothing pitch." Although the origin is not known for certain, Eephus may come from the Hebrew word "efes" , meaning "nothing
Nothing
Nothing is no thing, denoting the absence of something. Nothing is a pronoun associated with nothingness, is also an adjective, and an object as a concept in the Frege-Church ontology....
".
The Eephus pitch is thrown overhand like most pitches, but is characterized by an unusual high arcing trajectory
Trajectory
A trajectory is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time. The object might be a projectile or a satellite, for example. It thus includes the meaning of orbit—the path of a planet, an asteroid or a comet as it travels around a central mass...
and corresponding slow velocity
Velocity
In physics, velocity is speed in a given direction. Speed describes only how fast an object is moving, whereas velocity gives both the speed and direction of the object's motion. To have a constant velocity, an object must have a constant speed and motion in a constant direction. Constant ...
, bearing more resemblance to a slow-pitch softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
delivery than to a traditional baseball pitch. It is considered a trick pitch because, in comparison to normal baseball pitches (which run from 70 to 100 miles per hour), an Eephus pitch appears to move in slow motion (55 miles per hour or less).
Development and use in Major League Baseball
After appearing in over 300 major league games, Rip Sewell gave up only one career home runHome run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
off the Eephus, to Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
in the 1946 All-Star Game
All-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...
. Williams challenged Sewell to throw the Eephus. Sewell obliged, and Williams missed the pitch. However, Sewell then announced that he was going to throw the pitch again, and Williams clobbered it for a home run. Years later, however, Williams admitted that he had been running towards the pitcher’s mound as he hit the ball, and photographs reveal that he was in fact a few feet in front of the batter’s box when he made contact. Since under Rule 6.06(a) of the Official Baseball Rules a batter is out for illegal action when he hits a ball with one or both feet on the ground entirely outside the batter’s box, Williams would have been out had it been spotted by an umpire.
Bill "Spaceman" Lee
Bill Lee (left-handed pitcher)
William Francis Lee III , nicknamed "Spaceman", is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the Boston Red Sox from - and the Montreal Expos from -...
threw an eephus referred to as the "Leephus", "spaceball" or "moon ball". Pitching for the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
in the Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, the Red Sox were up 3–0 when Lee threw three eephus pitches to Tony Pérez
Tony Pérez
Atanasio Pérez Rigal , more commonly known as Tony Pérez, is a former Major League Baseball player. He was also known by the nickname "Big Dog," "Big Doggie," and "Doggie."...
with a runner on base. The third resulted in a towering two-run home run and the Red Sox would go on to lose the game 4–3, costing them the chance for their first World Series victory since 1918.
Other pitchers known to have employed the Eephus pitch include: Mark Buehrle
Mark Buehrle
Mark Alan Buehrle is a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He has pitched his entire baseball career for the Chicago White Sox, starting the opening game every season from 2002 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2011....
; Casey Fossum
Casey Fossum
Casey Paul Fossum is an American baseball pitcher in the New York Mets organization. He played for the Boston Red Sox , Arizona Diamondbacks , Tampa Bay Devil Rays , Detroit Tigers , and New York Mets of Major League Baseball, and the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball...
(called the Fossum Flip); Steve Hamilton
Steve Hamilton
Steven Absher Hamilton was a Major League Baseball and NBA player....
of the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
(the folly floater); Liván Hernández
Liván Hernández
Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera is a Cuban professional baseball pitcher. He is the half-brother of pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernández.-Playing career:...
; Phil Niekro
Phil Niekro
Philip Henry Niekro , nicknamed "Knucksie" because of his usage and skill level with the knuckleball, is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997....
; Orlando Hernández
Orlando Hernández
Orlando Hernández Pedroso , nicknamed "El Duque", is a former Cuban right-handed baseball pitcher....
; Dave LaRoche
Dave LaRoche
David Eugene LaRoche is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. LaRoche is currently the pitching coach for the Toronto Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s....
(LaLob); Vicente Padilla
Vicente Padilla
Vicente de la Cruz Padilla is a Major League Baseball pitcher, who is a free agent. Padilla previously pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers...
(dubbed the soap bubble by Vin Scully
Vin Scully
Vincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...
); Pascual Perez
Pascual Pérez (baseball)
Pascual Gross Perez was a right-handed baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, Montreal Expos, and New York Yankees....
(the Pascual Pitch); Dave Stieb
Dave Stieb
David Andrew Stieb [STEEB] is a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.-Playing career:Born in Santa Ana, California, Stieb played varsity baseball at Southern Illinois University as an outfielder...
(the Dead Fish); Kazuhito Tadano
Kazuhito Tadano
is a right-handed pitcher for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League. He had previously pitched in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians.-Biography:...
; and Bob Tewksbury
Bob Tewksbury
Robert Alan Tewksbury is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.Tewksbury's talent was initially discovered by Andy Michael in Concord. Michael contacted the New York Yankees and Tewksbury was drafted by them out of Saint Leo University in the 19th round of the 1981 draft...
.
Other nicknames for the Eephus pitch include the bloop curve, gravity curve, and Bugs Bunny curve (a reference to the Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
cartoon
Baseball Bugs
Baseball Bugs is a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released on February 2, 1946 starring Bugs Bunny. It had a similar theme to MGM's 1944 Batty Baseball, which was directed by former WB cartoon director Tex Avery.-Overview:...
where batters swing three times at a pitch before the ball reaches the plate).