For this list, we took into account the strikeout rates of players whose toughest baseball pitch was their biggest weapon.
While some pitchers in baseball’s history have had success with several potent pitches in their arsenal, it’s often those who’ve mastered one of the toughest baseball pitches who’ve pitched their way to the Hall of Fame.
Any batter who has stood opposite Nolan Ryan will tell you that he was worried about one specific pitch. Likewise, Phil Niekro may have thrown a few pitches effectively, but there was one specific pitch that accounted for most of his 3,342 strikeouts.
Here's a list of best 10 toughest baseball pitches of all time.
10. Bruce Sutter (Split-Finger Fastball)
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| (Bruce Sutter) |
One of the top relievers in history, Bruce Sutter called his split-finger pitch “The Jewel,” and for good reason. Sutter saved 300 games and had a career E.R.A. of 2.83, thanks to his mastery of one of the toughest baseball pitches to hit. Bruce Sutter learned the pitch because it doesn’t put a lot of stress on the throwing arm: Tossed by placing the ball between one’s spread index and middle fingers, an effective splitter approaches the plate looking like a fastball, but drops quickly on its approach.
9. Greg Maddux (Shuuto)
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| (Greg Maddux) |
Though mastered by Japanese pitchers such as Masaji Hiramatsu, whose shuuto appeared to knife through the air, this pitch has been known to be thrown by MLB players — Greg Maddux, for instance. The shuuto first appears as a fastball, but loses speed and rolls toward the batter. It is effective when thrown outside a batter, as it will drift back and catch the outside of the plate for a strike. It is essentially the opposite of a slider, which breaks away from the batter. The shuuto has lots of variations; Greg Maddux threw his on the edge of the plate against left-handed batters.
8. Trevor Hoffman (Changeup)
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| (Trevor Hoffman) |
The mother of all off-speed pitches, the changeup is delivered with the same throwing motion as a fastball, but because of the pitcher’s grip on the ball, it’s slower in getting to the plate. When a batter misses a changeup, it’s because he’s fooled into swinging too early. Closer Trevor Hoffman threw a tricky changeup throughout his career, and though his fastball rarely hit 90 mph by the end of his career, his changeup was still effective. Hoffman threw the pitch by palming the ball, rather than relying on his fingers, and struck out more than 1,000 batters.
7. Daisuke Matsuzaka (Gyroball)
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| (Daisuke Matsuzaka) |
Though this mysterious pitch is popular among Japanese players, it became a household word in North America when Daisuke Matsuzaka began his MLB career with Boston. The gyroball’s key is the pitcher’s arm movement, not the placement of his fingers on the ball. As he releases the ball, instead of swinging his arm back toward his body, a gyroball thrower will rotate his arm away, giving the ball an unexpected axis of rotation. Though Daisuke Matsuzaka denies throwing the gyroball intentionally, there’s no doubt that his oddly spinning pitch fooled many a batter. Early in his career, his strikeouts-to-innings-pitched ratio was nearly 1:1.
6. Christy Mathewson (Screwball)
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| (Christy Mathewson) |
Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson was one of the first prominent screwball throwers. He used this tough baseball pitch during his 17-year career, which included an impressive 373 wins, 2,502 strikeouts and an E.R.A. of just 2.13. If thrown by a righty, the pitch makes an unorthodox break from left to right, moving in on a right-handed hitter and away from a left-handed one. Finger position when throwing the screwball is of no consequence; the effective delivery lies in the thrower’s arm motion.
5. Bob Feller (Curveball)
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| (Bob Feller) |
One of the most effective and toughest baseball pitches in a hurler’s repertoire, the curveball has a forward spin, and drops when it gets to the plate. Though there are a handful of pitchers in MLB history who have mastered the curve (Sandy Koufax, Bert Blyleven, Dwight Gooden) Bob Feller’s pitch helped him to 266 wins and 2,581 strikeouts. Curveballs are effective not only due to their deceptive nature, but also because they can drop from 12 to six o’clock (an overhead curve) or from one to seven o’clock (a slider-curve or slurve). Because of the arm movement in the pitch’s release, those who throw this pitch with regularity often have elbow troubles, but an effective curve like Bob Feller’s will also help its thrower to the Hall of Fame.
4. Rip Sewell (Eephus)
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| (Rip Sewell) |
A slow-motion pitch that was likely invented by Rip Sewell in the 1930s, the eephus pitch is thrown with a high, lob-like arc at just 50 or 60 mph. Because of its lack of speed and the fact that it looks so appetizing, batters often swing early and miss. Sewell, who struck out 636 batters in a 13-year career, threw this pitch 25 feet in the air, and only gave up one home run off it — a 1946 All Star Game blast by Ted Williams. Its toughness lies in the fact that it’s so unlike other pitches that it confounds batters.
3. Gaylord Perry (Spitball)
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| (Gaylord Perry) |
Exactly what it sounds like, a spitball is a pitch that requires the ball to be doctored with saliva or mucus. It’s tough to hit because the ball is no longer perfectly spherical, making the wind resistance greater on one area of its surface. No one threw this now-illegal pitch better than Gaylord Perry, who named his autobiography Me and the Spitter. A five-time All-Star and a Cy Young Award winner in both leagues, Perry used the not-so-secret weapon en route to fanning 3,534 batters and wining more than 300 games. The right-hander was so dedicated to throwing this slippery ball that he often sniffed hot peppers before his starts to ensure his nose would run.
2. Phil Niekro (Knuckleball)
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| (Phil Niekro) |
The confounding knuckler is a nightmare to hit, making it a pitcher’s best friend. It doesn’t wear down the pitcher’s arm as other pitches do, so knuckleballers can often enjoy long careers. No hurler used this pitch to his advantage as much as Phil Niekro, who holds the record for most wins after turning 40 with 121. Because a correctly thrown knuckleball rotates very little in flight, it can change direction with no notice. Though it has a low velocity, often arriving to the plate around 70 mph, it is one of the toughest balls to hit. A five-time All-Star, Phil Niekro won 318 contests and struck out 3,342 infuriated batters.
1. Nolan Ryan (Fastball)
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| (Nolan Ryan) |
The best to ever set foot on a mound, Nolan Ryan’s money pitch was the fan-favorite fastball, which he threw at better than 100 mph, even well into his 40s. On top of being thrown hard, the fastball is tossed with a backspin, causing it to fall very little — and giving batters the illusion that the ball is rising. It has both two- and four-seam variations. Nolan Ryan is the all-time strikeout king, with 5,714, and threw seven no-hitters in his career. Though other power pitchers such as Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson have made the fastball their big pitch, no one used it as well as Nolan Ryan.