1. #1
    BennyBigNuts
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    Best curveballs in baseball?

    Adam Wayneright still has one of the prettiest curves in MLB. Will throw it at any count and any situation. One of the nastiest in baseball when he's on. It really is beautiful.

    I guess Kershaw has one of the best currently also. But I'll take Wayneright's.

    I think the 2 best I ever saw in my time were Dwight Gooden in his prime and Dave Mlicki.
    Gooden's was an absolute work of art when he came into the big leagues. 98 mph high heater and a 12 to 6 deuce that just froze you and broke your ankles.
    Mlicki was a guy who never seemed to put it together but had the sickest deuce. Guy should have had a way better career with the curveball he had.

    I never saw Koufax pitch, but heard his was the best.

    Other mentionables off the top of my head:
    Bert "be home" Blyleven
    Zito (For about 2 years he had a curveball that was unhittable)




    Who else??
    Last edited by BennyBigNuts; 05-16-13 at 01:37 PM.

  2. #2
    PaperTrail07
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    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

  3. #3
    freeVICK
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    Kershaw no doubt

  4. #4
    BennyBigNuts
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    Quote Originally Posted by PaperTrail07 View Post
    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.

  5. #5
    Hustle4256
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    Bert Blyleven & Nolan Ryan. Ryan's curveball was grosssss.

  6. #6
    tto827
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    Zito's when he was good was the best I've ever seen, but I never saw any of the old guys pitch

  7. #7
    tatddy
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    Gio is pretty sick.

  8. #8
    PaperTrail07
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    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

    Quote Originally Posted by BennyBigNuts View Post
    Definitely considered mentioning him.
    Top 5 for current pitchers for sure.

  9. #9
    leetreaper
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    Old school Zito hands down.

  10. #10
    tto827
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    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.

  11. #11
    BennyBigNuts
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    Quote Originally Posted by tatddy View Post
    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.

  12. #12
    greenhippo
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    Wandy Rodriguez back in 09.

  13. #13
    str
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    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.
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  14. #14
    Dollars2Donuts
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    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....

  15. #15
    BennyBigNuts
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    Quote Originally Posted by str View Post
    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.

  16. #16
    konck
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    Kershaw if you watched him the other night it was really bustin down unreal

  17. #17
    LowRollin
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    Kershaw

  18. #18
    konck
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    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

  19. #19
    konck
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    Quote Originally Posted by LowRollin View Post
    Kershaw
    You see that shit the other night

  20. #20
    str
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    Quote Originally Posted by BennyBigNuts View Post
    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.

  21. #21

  22. #22
    turtlejc
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    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 ******

  23. #23
    I/O
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    Quote Originally Posted by turtlejc View Post
    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.

  24. #24
    broadway6
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    Wainy!!!!!!!!!

  25. #25
    InTheDrink
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    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

  26. #26
    El Nino
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    Bert Blyleven



    /Thread

  27. #27
    BennyBigNuts
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    Quote Originally Posted by InTheDrink View Post
    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.

  28. #28
    InTheDrink
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    Quote Originally Posted by BennyBigNuts View Post
    Guess you didn't read my actual post.
    no youre right...usually dont

    my bad

  29. #29
    Double Bogey
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    Kerry Wood before the cubs ruined his arm

  30. #30
    EaglesPhan36
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    Gooden had a nasty deuce.

  31. #31
    Big Bear
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    Yu Darvish if we count the slider.


    Jeff Locke pretty nasty deuce.


    Felix Hernandez ... its pretty nasty

  32. #32
    Monitor-Tan
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    Off topic but for Slider, easily John Smoltz

  33. #33
    NYSportsGuy210
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    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.

  34. #34
    keyboarding
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  35. #35
    Marigold HD
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    Young zito.

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