Red Fazio - Ambidextrous Pitcher

Thomas "Red" Fazio
Massachusetts

Clinton High School, 1936
Clinton, MA

Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 175

Throws: Both
Glove: none used while switch pitching

Red Fazio was an ambidextrous pitcher for Clinton High School in Massachusetts.

Clinton Mass. High has Ambidextrous Pitcher in Red Fazio; Reported Good
The Lewiston Daily Sun - April 11, 1936

Clinton, Mass., April 12 - (AP)
Everyone snickered when Thomas "Red" Fazio said "Where'll I go?" after Coach Joseph McCaffrey
of Clinton high school squad at first practice told left-handed pitchers to "stand here" and the right-handers to "stand there."

"Don't you know your left hand from your right hand?" the coach demanded.

"Sure, but I pitch with both of 'em." replied the young "Red."

Is A Natural

Today the coach admitted he didn't take this assertion too seriously at first. But, he added, "I've found the boy is a natural pitcher and can actually throw curves with both hands."

Clinton's two-handed twirler, the coach told the Associated Press, "is no Rube Marquard but he is coming along fine and I expect big things of him."

McCaffrey said he was coaching the 17 year old candidate along to be a southpaw, inasmuch as the team has none. But "Red" has been given full authority, the coach added, to shift from one hand to the other at will. He will wear no glove, the coach said, and will hold the ball in such a manner that the batter will not know, until the last moment, where the ball is coming from the right or the left.

...

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 ...

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 recor...

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 smal...

Switch Pitching 101

Search This Blog