Charles Radbourn - "Old Hoss"

Charles Gardner Radbourn

nicknamed "Old Hoss"
(December 11, 1854 – February 5, 1897)

Teams: Grays/Beaneaters/Reds/Bisons 1880-1891
Win-loss record: 309-194
ERA: 2.68 Strikeouts: 1,830

At least one Hall of Famer also pursued the elusive goal of ambidextrous pitching.

Charles Radbourn, at 5’9” and 168 pounds, entered baseball during the underhand pitching era. There is some evidence that he threw overhand at least occasionally.

Was Charles Radbourn ambidextrous?

Old Hoss - Boston

A Washington Post article in 1883 claimed that, “Radbourn, pitcher of the Providence nine, can pitch either right or left handed.” There doesn’t seem to be much supplementary evidence to support the claim, but it seems like something such a resourceful pitcher might try. In the era of no gloves, the batter wouldn’t know which hand the delivery was coming from until the pitcher went into his windup.

A former infielder and outfielder, Rad was known as one of the top fielding pitchers of his era. He also controlled the pitch selection and gave his own signals throughout his career, even after it was common for catchers to give most of the signs. Typically, he only signaled for outside pitches, mainly the curve.

Arm conditioning using a weighted ball and long toss

Rad practiced with an iron ball, throwing it underhand to develop arm strength. He also long tossed to get his arm in shape before taking the mound. He babied his arm, soothing it with hot towels and getting frequent messages. As a result and despite racking up more innings than most, he was one of the few major league pitchers prior to Cy Young to attain a good amount of success after age thirty.

Radbourn appeared in 83 games for Providence in 1882, 54 of them on the mound totaling 474 innings.

In 1884, he tallied a 59-12 record with a 1.38 ERA in 678.2 innings! He threw 488 complete games over 11 years.

source: Old Hoss Radbourn, by Brian McKenna, SABR Biography Project

Old Hoss Radbourn Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com

A Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the Innovations That Shaped Baseball

Fifty-Nine in ’84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had
.

Comments

Pitchers Glove Rules - Size and Color

What are the rules on a pitchers glove? According to the official baseball rules, a pitchers glove can be up to 12 inches in size , of any weight , and any color except white or gray as long as it is not distracting. The Akadema ABX-00 glove, pictured above, is 12 inches, solid black and is not distracting according to local umpires. Little League Rules Gray glove is not allowed for pitching White glove is not allowed for pitching Little League Rule 1.14: Each fielder, other than the first baseman and the catcher may wear a glove not more than 12 inches long nor more than 7 3/4 inches wide, measured from the base of the thumb crotch to the outer edge of the glove. The glove may be of any weight. Little League Rule 1.15 (a) : The pitcher's glove may not, exclusive of the piping, be white or light gray, nor, in the judgment of an umpire, distracting in any manner. (source: Little League Baseball Rules Regarding Bats and Gloves ) Off

Fastball Velocity - How fast do kids throw?

How fast does a Little League pitcher throw? The average fastball is between 50-60 mph for a pitcher in the Majors division of Little League (11-13 yo). Pitchers in the Little League World Series throw fastballs 60-70+ mph. Only a few pitchers touched 70+ mph in 2015 and 2016. One man-child hit 81 mph on the radar. This velocity is almost unhittable from 46 feet and extremely rare for a 13 year old. #18 RHP Carlos Gonzalez - Panama 79-81 mph fastball 105 mph MLB equivalent reaction time #18 RHP Jaekyeong Kim - South Korea 75-76 mph fastball #19 RHP Ryan Harlost - Mid-Atlantic, Endwell, NY 71-74 mph fastball Threw a complete game to win the 2016 Little League World Series Loreto Siniscalchi , a 6'1" pitcher from Canada, threw in the mid 70s and completely dominated the hitters from Japan. He led Team Canada to its first victory over Japan in 18 years. Big right-hander Isaiah Head from Kentucky threw 70-73 mph fastballs. His record was 3-0, 12 I

Baseball Glove Options for Switch Pitchers

Custom made Mizuno ambidextrous glove Looking for a glove for a switch pitcher? Before spending hundreds of dollars on a custom glove, please think about age of the player and how much time they will spend pitching. Here are glove options for ambidextrous pitchers, based on age: Age 3-5 Kids don't pitch at this age. They should be learning the proper way to throw. Young kids should try catching the ball with two hands. Use tennis balls or foam balls for throwing. Forget about the low quality plastic glove - it's in the landfill within a year. Gloves are awkward for young kids. If they learn two hand catch when they are young and continue with the skill, they will do well fielding balls when they are older. Learning to throw with both arms is easy at this stage. If a child can throw with either hand when they are three-years-old, it doesn't mean that they are talented or ambidextrous - it just means that they are a typical kid. Gloves: Buy a small leath

Switch Pitching 101

Search This Blog