My Son is a SideWinder!

There's nothing's wrong with his arm!  Then why is everyone looking at him that way when he's pitching?

 

I didn't understand at first but then I learnt that there are not many 'sidewinders' at his age!  The first time I heard it, our conversation went something like this:

Aaron: "Mom, I am a sidewinder."

Me: "A what?"

Aaron: "A sidewinder."

Me: "What the heck is a sidewinder?"

Aaron: "Well you know how I throw the ball sideways, that's called a sidewinder."

Me: "Oh ok, is that a bad thing?"

Aaron: "No."

Me: "Ok, does it hurt your arm?"

Aaron: "No."

So what is a 'sidewinder'?

"Sidearm pitchers, also known as sidewinders, are uncommon at all levels of baseball (except in Japan, where sidearm pitchers are widely popular).  Few find sidearm a natural delivery, and those who do are often discouraged by coaches who know little about sidearm mechanics, and who believe that overhand pitching affords greater velocity.  This is generally true, since a high release point uses gravity to accelerate the ball, even as air resistance works to slow it.  With a low sidearm release the ball is slowed threefold: by gravity (as it ascends), increased distance (because of its higher arc), and air resitance.  But what a sidearm pitcher loses in velocity, he gains in ball movement and usual release point.

 

The various spins pitchers commonly employ...fastballs, curveballs, sliders, cutters...cause the ball to diverge from a normal trajectory.  This is caused by the Magnus effects, which makes the ball move in the direction of its rotation.  Batters learn these spins and their likely trajectories, but predominantly from high-axis pitchers whose pitches rotate around a mostly horizontal axis.  Sidearm pitchers rotate similarly, but around an approximately vertical axis.  This causes common pitches to behave uncommonly.  For example, the four-seam fastball, when thrown by overhand power pitchers, seems to hop or rise on its way to the plate.  This is because the ball is rotating backwards, lowering the air pressure above the ball.  The same pitch thrown by the sidearm pitcher causes a horizontal rotation, and consequent sideways movement.  Sidearm pitchers whose deliveries are below the horizontal will throw a fastball that rotates nearly forward, so the ball will sink rather than rise.

 

Sidewinders unusual release points make it difficult for the batter to see the ball, because hitters are so accustomed to seeing the release from near the pitcher's head.  Further, because the ball is released from alongside the rubber (and some sidearm pitchers step a little toward their pitching arm side when they deliver the ball) it can appear to a same-side batter that the ball has been thrown at him."

 

Ok, so I Googled that definition and it all sounds like 'Greek' to me! 



Aaron (Rexdale # 4) pitching at the All-Star game [Leaside-July 2013].

We are often asked - "Aren't you worried of an injury in the future?" or "Do you know that the way he pitches will limit his career?"

 

It is most common to hear that sidearm pitching places less stress on the elbow and shoulder, thus reducing a pitcher's risk of injury.  It is also not uncommon to hear the opposite.  Analyses of pitchers' deliveries shows that arms slot are a function of shoulder tilt, not elbow angle, and this suggests that no one arm slot poses a greater threat to the elbow than another.

 

We always talk to Aaron before and after every game...if your arm hurts, you have to let us know, and he knows he has to ice his arm after pitching.  As long as he has the strength and the ability, there is nothing stopping him from pitching whichever way he is comfortable (at least not me).  This is most likely God's gift to him, so why take it away!

Some of the greatest starting sidearm pitchers in baseball history are Walter Johnson, Satchel Paige, Don Drysdale, Carl Mays and Dizzy Dean.  Other prominent major league sidewinders include Madison Bumgarner, Scott Feldman, Pat Neshek, Scott Sauerbeck, Dennis Eckersley, Mark Eichhorn, Javier Lopez, Jake Peavy, Vinne Pestano, Ted Abernathy, Dave Baldwin and Bob Locker.  Others such as Jered Weaver, David Cone and Tom Henke would sometimes drop down to a sidearm delivery to fool a batter for a strikeout.

I honestly do not recognize any of those names but maybe...just maybe Aaron's name will be on that list one day!

A Baseball Mom could only dream!