Pat Venditte now throws sidearms from both sides and is having success in the minors and big leagues.

Henry Knight pitching sidearm in summer ball

Henry Knight started pitching sidearm only two weeks before the summer season and quickly experienced success in games. In his second game he threw 60 pitches in 6 innings and the defense got a lot of action – fielding weak grounders and pop ups. The team won 8-2 and it was fun to watch. 

In two tournaments, Henry averaged 12 pitches per inning as a sidearmer – throwing 73% strikes. He closed out a three consecutive games with a win and two saves.


Here are examples of a few successful sidearmers ...

UCLA’s David Berg Was Once An Afterthought 

By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR.Editor/Collegiate Baseball

LOS ANGELES — UCLA’s David Berg is on course to be the greatest closer in college baseball history. The 6-foot, 194-pound right-handed sidearm pitcher has put up staggering numbers since his freshman year for the Bruins.

In three years:
Berg has 132 appearances in three seasons (50 in 2012, 51 in 2013 and 31 in 2014. 
He is only 29 appearances away from the NCAA Division I record of 161 held by David Teasley of Mercer (2010-13).
He registered an NCAA record-tying 51 appearances during the 2013 season.Berg posted an NCAA record 24 saves in 2013.
In 132 appearances over his first three seasons, he only blew three saves. And all three times, he came back to post a win. 

Read more

Golden Spikes Spotlight: David Berg

Check out the career line: 21-6 with a microscopic 1.16 ERA in 257 innings over 170 appearances. He has 48 career saves and a 230-41 strikeout-walk mark.

"I think he'll go down as the best ever. I really do. I feel very strong about that," Savage said.

No walks for Pat Neshek more than two months in

By Evan Drellich | Houston Chronicle, 3 June 2015

Sometimes a reporter will ask a player about their good stretch of performance right before that stretch ends. The player then might joke the questions brought some sort of jinx.

Chad Qualls arrived at his locker to find a reporter talking to Pat Neshek this homestand and scoffed before letting out a smile. He knew where the talk was going. With Neshek, there’s only one conversation to be had lately (outside of baseball memorabilia and autograph collecting, a longtime Neshek specialty).

The sidearming righty has gone 24 consecutive appearances (20 2/3 innings) to start the season without a walk, the second longest such streak to start a season in major league history. Mark Eichhorn of the 1991 Angels owns the record of 30 appearances (40 1/3 innings).

Read more

Walter Johnson | SABR

By the time he hung up his spikes 20 years later, Walter Johnson had recorded statistics which seem beyond belief--417 wins and 279 losses, 3,509 strikeouts, 110 shutouts, 12 20-win seasons, 11 seasons with an earned run average below 2.00, and what seems almost incomprehensible a century later, 531 complete games in 666 starts.

His signature pitching motion was unique -- a short windmill-style windup followed by a sweeping sidearm delivery. During the first part of his career he relied almost exclusively on a fastball (he developed a good curve around 1913) which inspired Ring Lardner to comment, "He's got a gun concealed on his person. They can't tell me he throws them balls with his arm."

Johnson, Walter | Baseball Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame pitcher - Randy Johnson

Pitching Sidearm in Baseball by Nathan Gotch
Pitching sidearm in baseball can be a very effective tool for pitchers who wish to utilize the technique. In essence, a pitcher is considered sidearm when he throws the ball along a low, and horizontal axis.

Randy Johnson is a perfect example of a pitcher who threw from a low arm slot, but could still throw over 100 mph. Johnson was recently inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.

Sidearm Knuckler

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Henry Knight throwing a knuckleball sidearm at Lewis-Clark State 

R.A. Dickey can apparently also throw his knuckleball sidearm
Watch the video


Sidearmers in the MLB

Switch to sidearm delivery pays dividends for Smith - mlb.com 12/2/2013
Joe Smith, Angels relief pitcher, switched to throwing sidearm in college. He throws a sinking fastball 89-92 mph, plus a slider to induce ground outs.

Pitchers finding their niche with sidearm deliveries - usatoday.com 6/21/2007

Is it safe to throw sidearm? Sidearmers and submariners generally aren't any more prone to elbow and shoulder injuries than three-quarters or over-the-top pitchers, according to Glenn Fleisig, research director at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Ala. Fleisig, who has studied the mechanics of thousands of pitchers, says most of them form about a 90-degree angle between their arm and trunk when they pitch, regardless of their pitching styles, and that elbow and shoulder injuries occur when pitchers' arm angles deviate by about 10 degrees.

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