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Gretzky's Mullet

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In his prime, that curveball was basically unhittable, yet he could throw it consistently for strikes. The year Zito went 23-5 and won the Cy Young, for instance, he was able to use a curveball and get guys to strike out looking. That's a rare gift. His problems recently have been a. locating the curve, and b. throwing his fastball hard enough that the hitters' timing is off.

You might as well say that a good cut fastball and nothing else will only get you so far until the hitters figure it out, but Mariano Rivera has been going strong for years. And where do you think Johan Santana would be without his changeup?

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Johan Santana's changeup is effective because hitters have to respect his fastball. Zito's fastball no longer has enough steam so hitters don't have to cheat to get to it and thus they can wait ( a micro split second) longer to recognize the curve (one of the best 12-6 in his prime) but still hit the fastball. Rivera has essentially made a career out of one pitch but he's a freak, he locates the cutter like no one else.
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My point was that not only has he lost velocity on his fastball, but he's not got the same curve he used to have. You had said that an average fastball and good curve would only get him so far. I mostly took exception to the "good curve" part: his curve was far more than just "good". That was a pitch that guys would know was coming (eg: 1-2 counts), and still not be able to hit it. Similar to Tim Wakefield's knuckler, Rivera's cutter, etc. Even with the fastball Zito has now, if the curve was what it used to be he'd still probably be effective, but the curve has flattened out on Barry a little bit.
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Aaron Hill left twins and blue jays game because http://tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=290305

TORONTO - Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill left Monday's game versus the Minnesota Twins after his wife went into labour.

The all-star came out after the third inning, when he was stranded at second base.

Hill left to join wife Elizabeth at their home in Palm Harbor, Fla..

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