Best curveballs in baseball?

**PaperTrail07** · 05-16-13, 01:48 PM

Verlander when pitching well....throws 98 98 98 then drops a 12 to 6'er and makes people look like fools....not the best....but maybe appears the best mixed in with his other pitches

**freeVICK** · 05-16-13, 01:50 PM

Kershaw no doubt

**BennyBigNuts** · 05-16-13, 01:51 PM

Originally posted by PaperTrail07

Verlander when pitching well....throws 98 98 98 then drops a 12 to 6'er and makes people look like fools....not the best....but maybe appears the best mixed in with his other pitches

Definitely considered mentioning him.
Top 5 for current pitchers for sure.

**Hustle4256** · 05-16-13, 01:52 PM

Bert Blyleven & Nolan Ryan. Ryan's curveball was grosssss.

**tto827** · 05-16-13, 01:54 PM

Zito's when he was good was the best I've ever seen, but I never saw any of the old guys pitch

**tatddy** · 05-16-13, 01:56 PM

Gio is pretty sick.

**PaperTrail07** · 05-16-13, 01:57 PM

For sure....can you tell I lost on his last start LOL....."when pitching well".....guy is the MAN....even if he loses a few

Originally posted by BennyBigNuts

Definitely considered mentioning him.
Top 5 for current pitchers for sure.

**leetreaper** · 05-16-13, 01:58 PM

Old school Zito hands down.

**tto827** · 05-16-13, 02:02 PM

Also depends if we are looking for the hard snapper that falls of the table, or the bigger loopy one that Zito tosses.

There are a couple of relievers who snap off some pretty frikkin nasty ones that only fall a couple inches, but the things look like freakin' fastballs until they disappear.

**BennyBigNuts** · 05-16-13, 02:02 PM

Originally posted by tatddy

Gio is pretty sick.

Gio top 5 easily. He's my boyyyyyyy. I faded him his first couple years coming into the league and we made a killing, but always knew the guy was gonna be good.

**greenhippo** · 05-16-13, 02:02 PM

Wandy Rodriguez back in 09.

**str** · 05-16-13, 02:02 PM

There were some great left handed curve ball throwers back in the day. You mentioned Koufax, obviously one of the best ever and for my money, the best left hander of all time and probably the best ever period. I watched him as a kid and he was from another planet.

Other lefties in that great curve ball range that I saw were Jerry Koosman and Mike Cuellar. Those two I saw first hand multiple times.

The best right hander I ever saw first hand was Bert Blyleven as you mentioned, maybe the best curve baller of them all. Another great right handed curve baller that I saw was Camilo Pasqual. He too was one of the best ever IMO. You mentioned Gooden. Only saw him on TV but we all know he was dominant with the duece.

Nice thread. Thanks.

**Dollars2Donuts** · 05-16-13, 02:06 PM

Roy Halladay until the last few years when he started throwing the cutter.....his curveball became very underutilized....before that he could throw his curve and he could freeze me and buckle my knees while on the way to the couch with a sandwich in my hands....

**BennyBigNuts** · 05-16-13, 02:07 PM

Originally posted by str

There were some great left handed curve ball throwers back in the day. You mentioned Koufax, obviously one of the best ever and for my money, the best left hander of all time and probably the best ever period. I watched him as a kid and he was from another planet.

Other lefties in that great curve ball range that I saw were Jerry Koosman and Mike Cuellar. Those two I saw first hand multiple times.

The best right hander I ever saw first hand was Bert Blyleven as you mentioned, maybe the best curve baller of them all. Another great right handed curve baller that I saw was Camilo Pasqual. He too was one of the best ever IMO. You mentioned Gooden. Only saw him on TV but we all know he was dominant with the duece.

Nice thread. Thanks.

Great post obviously coming from an old school guy. I never got to see the guys you mentioned. I heard Cuellar's was pretty nasty.
Honestly, I'm an avid MLB fan and I've never even heard of Camilo Pasqual. Had to look him up.

**konck** · 05-16-13, 02:15 PM

Kershaw if you watched him the other night it was really bustin down unreal

**LowRollin** · 05-16-13, 02:17 PM

Kershaw

**konck** · 05-16-13, 02:19 PM

Mets have a kid in the farm system they got for Dickey(Syndergaard) he was the throw in 96 mph fastball with what may be the best curve in the system. Mets are 2/3 yrs away from an unreal staff. I was listening to the Cards color guys talking about them teams know Mets have the stock on pitchers in the minors

**konck** · 05-16-13, 02:20 PM

Originally posted by LowRollin

Kershaw

You see that shit the other night

**str** · 05-16-13, 03:58 PM

Originally posted by BennyBigNuts

Great post obviously coming from an old school guy. I never got to see the guys you mentioned. I heard Cuellar's was pretty nasty.
Honestly, I'm an avid MLB fan and I've never even heard of Camilo Pasqual. Had to look him up.

Hey Benny,

This is an excerpt I just found .

You got me thinking of Camilo so I Goggled him and this was written last year.

Again, great post. Thanks.

Thought you might like it.

Despite his age, Pascual still throws curveballs. When the Dodgers conduct tryout camps in Venezuela, he throws batting practice.
"Sometimes those young kids hear that I used to have a good curve, and they challenge me to see it," he said. "I still have a pretty good break to it. I have a lot of fun with those kids."
Two years ago, at age 76, Pascual pitched an inning at a Twins fantasy camp in Fort Myers, Fla., and struck out two batters.
"They couldn't believe it," he said.
Pascual loved Blyleven's curveball.
"It was great," he said. "He had the perfect break. Remember (late Dodgers general manager) Al Campanis? He always said (Baseball Hall of Famer and former Dodger) Sandy Koufax had a great curve but Camilo had the best. He told me that."
Pascual pitched in baseball's Golden Era. The hitter he respected most was the New York Yankees' Mickey Mantle.
"But the greatest hitter I faced, no question about it, was (the Boston Red Sox's) Ted Williams," he said.
Pascual continues to scout for the Dodgers and has no plans to retire.

**I/O** · 05-16-13, 04:42 PM

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13081949&topic_id=7417714&c_id=mlb&tcid=vpp_copy_13081949&v=3

**turtlejc** · 05-16-13, 05:39 PM

Gavin Floyd on the white sox has a pretty good curve but it's the only pitch he has and if it's off he's ******

**I/O** · 05-16-13, 06:11 PM

Originally posted by turtlejc

Gavin Floyd on the white sox has a pretty good curve but it's the only pitch he has and if it's off he's ******

I completely agree. Great stuff but gutless. Best stuff with the worst pitcher.

**broadway6** · 05-16-13, 06:33 PM

Wainy!!!!!!!!!

**InTheDrink** · 05-16-13, 07:35 PM

Bunch of met fans here and no one mentions the doctor

Unreal

If he didnt have his drug problems he'd have been one of the greatest ever. 300 wins 3000 k's etc.

Instead we saw him on celebrity rehab.

Unreal

**El Nino** · 05-16-13, 07:42 PM

Bert Blyleven

/Thread

**BennyBigNuts** · 05-16-13, 07:54 PM

Originally posted by InTheDrink

Bunch of met fans here and no one mentions the doctor

Unreal

If he didnt have his drug problems he'd have been one of the greatest ever. 300 wins 3000 k's etc.

Instead we saw him on celebrity rehab.

Unreal

Guess you didn't read my actual post.

**InTheDrink** · 05-16-13, 08:08 PM

Originally posted by BennyBigNuts

Guess you didn't read my actual post.

no youre right...usually dont

my bad

**Double Bogey** · 05-16-13, 08:15 PM

Kerry Wood before the cubs ruined his arm

**EaglesPhan36** · 05-16-13, 08:31 PM

Gooden had a nasty deuce.

**Big Bear** · 05-16-13, 09:06 PM

Yu Darvish if we count the slider.

Jeff Locke pretty nasty deuce.

Felix Hernandez ... its pretty nasty

**Monitor-Tan** · 05-16-13, 10:10 PM

Off topic but for Slider, easily John Smoltz

**NYSportsGuy210** · 05-17-13, 12:56 AM

Kershaw, Yu Darvish, El Duque Orlando Hernandez and Gooden were just sick. Ben Sheets and Greinke when he is on were pretty darn impressive too.

**keyboarding** · 05-17-13, 12:56 AM

**Marigold HD** · 05-17-13, 01:22 AM

Young zito.