GIFs: Looking at Verlander’s (Curve) Balls

It’s with some hesitation that the author has given the present post its entirely sophomoric title. The achievement that is Justin Verlander’s curveball deserves heroic couplets, not thinly veiled references to the male anatomy (itself consisting of couplets that are, generally speaking, considerably less heroic).

However, it’s also the case that (a) more people will click on articles with thinly veiled references to the male anatomy and (b) Verlander’s curveball ought to be viewed by as large an audience as possible. Furthermore, much like Walt Whitman and our country’s worst public schools, NotGraphs is large and contains multitudes.

Regarding the three GIFs here, the attentive reader will note that these are not three random offerings by Justin Verlander, but, in fact, three offerings from Monday night’s ALDS game against the Yankees. More than that, they are all called strike threes. And more than that, even, the three strikeouts occurred over a period of four batters in the fourth and fifth innings.

Among the sorts of called strikes that can occur, the called-strike-three-via-curveball makes for particularly rich viewing. For, almost soon as the pitch is thrown, the batter dismisses it as too high — and, in so doing, relaxes. Of course, it’s at this point that the ball begins its downward trajectory into the strike zone. Owing to the human body’s physical limits, the batter is unable to offer at the pitch and so must watch helplessly as said pitch crosses the plate. It’s a lot like in the movie Ghost when Carl sees that giant pane of glass falling towards him momentarily before it stabs him in the chest part of his body. It’s probably like Ghost in a whole bunch of other ways that I don’t even know about.

So far as the specific victims here are concerned, that is Nick Swisher up above, striking out to end the fourth inning.

And this is Jorge Posada, totally not-swinging:

And, finally, Brett Gardner: