He never cared about social media. Spin rate has been a widely accepted concept in baseball for about five years. Likely preparing to throw a screwball. I just dont., Poseys clubhouse locker faced the corner where many of the teams pitchers dress, including Tim Hudson. But Ive never sat in a hitters meeting and heard, This guys got a screwball. It doesnt come up. Within two months in 2011, he went from Class A to Class AA to the majors. This book is delightful. The next issue of HI/O: Montreal's Road to the Cup will soon be in your inbox. At one point, Major League Baseball gave the center a grant to research why so many pitchers were being injured. In the Dodgers only victory, he picked off Oaklands Herb Washington, their world-class sprinter, when Washington, representing the potential tying run, was taking a lead off first base in what became the Dodgers 3-2 victory in Game 2. Oct 5 2008. The screwball was working well, but nearly everything else was problematic: his delivery, his pitch placement, his hyperintensity. He was preceded in death by first wife Nancy, who died April 30 in Minnesota at age 78. In fact, the only player to throw one in the majors this season is related to Marshall. He didnt know what to do. Too hard on the shoulder, insisted Arizonas manager, Kirk Gibson. Marshall was 24 years old when he broke into the big leagues on May 31, 1967, with the Detroit Tigers. and out of baseball. He allowed three hits over eight and two-thirds innings, beat the Expos, 2-1, and lifted the Dodgers to the World Series, which they won over the Yankees. Most of all, it lives on in the game, this broad and beautiful universe in which he carved out his own little fiefdom that nobody wanted to visit but everyone knows about, even if they don't realize it. He had seen Mathewson master the pitch no worse for wearWhen Matty was pitching it, they called it a fadeaway and it never hurt his arm. The genius of Mike Marshall lives on in that backyard, now free of nets and balls and the detritus of his $10-a-day academy. Its breaking out! Sethi shouted. When play-by-play guys start dropping words like cagy, crafty or moxy. Eighteen years later, the concept Marshall introduced -- now being referred to as seam-shifted wake -- has invigorated a baseball physics community that believes it is perhaps the most important breakthrough in decades for understanding how pitches move. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Scroll up a ways and you can see him throwing a screwball (from the batters perspective). He finished second in National League Cy Young Award voting that season. did." In 1974, after setting the big league single-season records for. Marshall, an Adrian, Michigan, native, who held three degrees from Michigan State, died Tuesday at his Florida home, the Dodgers announced. His tremendous success came at a cost. What makes a screwball unique is the pronation of the arm as its thrown. Old screwballer. , Jerry Dipoto, the Angels general manager, told me that Carl Hubbell used to visit the Giants training camp after his retirement. Youths are warned away from it because of a vague notion that it ruins arms. But listen, theres no documentation on that. Hed heard someone was throwing it and come to see. Brent Honeywell remains a hopeful to carry the torch and feature the pitch, but after two separate elbow surgeries, the likelihood of his return and a long MLB career continues to slip. But it was difficult to find a screwballer willing to come to Farmington and get all calipered up. Marshall earned his degree in kinesiology in 1978 while still pitching. Pitchers represent a considerable investment $500,000 to $215 million in guaranteed salary, plus the costs of training and coaching and injury is an ongoing concern. This video shows some really good behind-the-plate shots of current Tampa Bay Rays prospect Brent Honeywell throwing screwballs in the minors. Today, by contrast, big-league lineups are packed with players who can hit home runs, and nearly every pitcher looks to deny them with strikeouts. In his A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, Kepner also names: There are undoubtedly many others like Byrd who have dabbled with the screwball but never featured it. Even more remarkably, he did so by featuring the screwball, the pitch considered one of the most damaging . Put that guy on ice, man. Biography. In Byrds case the screwball was never a go-to. Tug McGraw used it to get to three World Series as a reliever with the Mets and Phillies. Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Mike Marshall, who made history as the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award while leading the Dodgers to the 1974 National League pennant, died Tuesday in . The Ballad of Bryan Wayne Galentine: How one man's dream led to creation of Lou Gehrig Day across MLB . Most of its worthy practitioners are long dead. Read more about cookies here. Its kinesiology, and all you have to understand is what the latissimus dorsi muscle can do for you. When was Mike Marshall drafted? Santiago was thrilled that his new manager had a connection to Valenzuela, the screwballs patron saint. . Former Expos reliever Mike Marshall dies at 78 With an electric screwball, Marshall became a workhorse for the Expos before a trade to the L.A. Dodgers, where he won the 1974 Cy Young Award.. Unfortunately Honeywell is doing no favors for anyone out there hoping to defend the screwball against the critics who stress its danger to pitchers elbows. Mike Marshall, who set a major league standard for endurance during an iconoclastic but award-winning career, died Tuesday, the team said. The wonderful Oliver Drake turned some heads with this delivery: This pitch might have broken physics. He worked out with weights and ran long distances instead of wind sprints. 1 2 The cause of the death was not yet known, but Marshall was under hospice care. Because it looks and feels so thats gotta hurt, confirmation bias clouds the conversation and muddies the waters. The screwball occupies some middle ground between breaking ball and off-speed pitch. As the season passed the midway point at the beginning of July, the Angels were at the top of the wild-card standings. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. He was 78. . In an era in which athletes routinely punish their bodies, legally and illegally, to gain competitive advantage, here is an apparently safe, permissible weapon in plain sight. to just above four runs a game, however, Santiago had hardly been a major contributor. Mike Marshall pitched in 106 games in 1974, all in relief, and won the National League Cy Young Award. James and Neyer collaborate for this handy historical compendium on baseball pitches and their practitioners. Gomez swung mightily and missed. And then, when they were done with that, they picked up baseballs and threw them in a fashion no one ever had seen, because that's what Dr. Mike Marshall taught them to do. This book exhibits true joy for the game, featuring memorable anecdotes and quotes from some of the games best. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. Are games too long? He liked the idea of contributing to their cause. Look at that!, Nissen narrated a pitch, start to finish. Hurts your shoulder, Tim Lincecum, a two-time Cy Young winner, said as he grabbed his glove and walked off. Associated Press June 1, 2021, 10:17 PM. Hector Santiago of the Los Angeles Angels demonstrating the screwball grip. Dear Abby: When my husbands brother marries, I should be in the wedding, Jose Abreu on life with the Astros and leaving the White Sox, who werent a family in 2022, Founding fathers didnt own AR-15s or large capacity magazines, Pritzker and Raoul argue in defense of ban, Dear Abby: With boyfriends fussy father living here, I feel trapped, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and wife to invest $250 million in new Chicago research lab, Fire find enough offense to salvage 1-1 draw with NYCFC, Police issue alert after restaurant burglaries on Near North Side, Nazareth beats Lincoln to win Class 3A state title. Ironman pitcher Mike Marshall, the first reliever in baseball history to win a Cy Young Award, has died at the age of 78. He also finished third in National League MVP voting in 1974 behind teammate Steve Garvey and St. Louis Cardinals legend Lou Brock. In another video, taken in the mid-2000s, a Marshall student is throwing weighted trash can lids to understand how "to get the right spin axis" on a pitch. Thats just about what a screwball does. Even Santiago acknowledged the possibility: They told me its bad for my wrist. He keeps throwing the pitch, he said, because you dont hear much about pitchers hurting their wrists.. The mysterious screwball was no mystery to a league full of batters left shaking their heads in the wake of his brilliance. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The screwball approached the plate at 76. He would join the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974. Details of death: Died in Zephyrhills, Florida at the. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Marshall's durability gave him the nickname "Iron Mike" and he baffled MLB hitters with a screwball. Santiagos career was languishing when he started throwing the screwball. Mike Marshall, who became the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award when he set a major league record by pitching 106 games in a season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has died. In addition to his single-season record for most games pitched, Marshall, a right-hander, pitched in 13 consecutive games in 1974, threw 208 relief innings and finished 83 games major league records as well. LOS ANGELES (AP) Mike Marshall, who became the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award when he set a major league record by pitching 106 games in a season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has. He formed a circle with his thumb and forefinger, then spread his remaining fingers around the fruit with half an inch between each one. The elbow, said the former Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda. Known for his aloofness, mutton-chop sideburns and wearing short sleeves even in cool weather, Marshall had a brief stint with the Winnipeg Whips, the Expos Triple-A farm team, before he was called up to the parent club. Prominent screwballers run the gamut from hall-of-famers to journeymen big leaguers to obscurities and footnotes. See Warren Corbetts piece entitled. In winning the National League Cy Young Award. General Comments About Mike Marshall Won Cy Young in 1974. Unsurprisingly there is no real consensus. He was 78. Marshall was an average pitcher for Montreal in 1970-71, but he turned a few heads in 1972 and 73. However, baseball historians typically name an all-time great as the originator of what we know as the screwball. Then Mecir threw one, and it broke like a curve in reverse. Youd expect a little less velocity from a screwball. LOS ANGELES Mike Marshall, who became the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award when he set a major league record by pitching 106 games in a season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has died. 1 He believed in pitching more, not less. We dig into the topics that will shape the game far beyond this season. Still, it seemed clear to me that the pitch has been abandoned by baseball without cause. Also, Santiago started poorly. Here's how WBC offenses stack up with MLB's best, Las Vegas prepared to give A's 'better opportunity', Female minor league manager shadows Lovullo, Paxton (hamstring) unlikely for start of season, Jays' Guerrero to miss WBC with inflamed knee, Rangers, LHP Smith agree to 1-year, $1.5M deal, 7 Cubs combine for 1st spring no-no since 2017, Scherzer tries to test pitch clock limits, gets balk. Christy would be in the middle of them, trying to show them how to pitch successfully in the major leagues.8. Never mind all those pitchers who kept using it into their late 30s and 40s, or that Valenzuela, at 53, maintains he can throw it today. When Santiago asked how, Miranda showed him the screwball. He was 78. This is Brent Honeywells grip (approximately, I think he has bigger hands). Ill irresponsibly speak beyond my paygrade: its like any pitching motion. Comments About Mike Marshall's Pitching Motion And Mechanics Very early pronator. Bruce Schoenfeld, The Mystery of the Vanishing Screwball, The New York Times Magazine. Working on some mechanics, he texted me. A superb combination of encyclopedic comprehensiveness with the conversational feel like shooting the breeze over a couple beers. Hes going to win a lot of games.. Countries of the World. 3. In addition to his daughter Rebekah, his survivors include his second wife, Erica, and his daughters Kerry and Deborah. A pitchers typical menu includes a fastball, a curveball and a changeup as the meat and potatoes, with perhaps a slider, cut fastball or sinker as a side. The late 60s and early 70s, when half the teams in baseball might have had a screwballer on their staffs, was the era of squeeze bunts, of hit-and-runs, of lollipop curves meant to entice ground balls. 1. Lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. I couldnt believe it. A coach summoned Santiago away for a discussion. The following year, he led the NL in both saves and games pitched. More often than not the screwball was never anything more for a pitcher. I cant remember the last time I saw one, says Tim McCarver, the former catcher and a longtime announcer. In 179 innings, he was 14-11 with a 2.66 ERA and 31 saves, earning him the nod as Expos MVP. Born Michael Grant Marshall on Jan. 15, 1943, in Adrian, Michigan, he began his big league career with the Detroit Tigers in 1967. The Associated Press reported Marshall . Its actually good for the game, Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. You could say the screwball afflicted Carl Hubbell with an unforgettable Hall of Fame career were still fondly remembering nearly 80 years past its end. Why pitching as we know it today wouldn't exist without Mike Marshall, The greatest lineups ever? Sportswriter Jim Murray remarked The screwball was not really a pitch, it was an affliction.14 Perhaps. Depending on the pitchers arm angle, the ball could also have a sinking action. Heres how Christy Mathewson describes a fallaway: which many really smart baseball people believe is his name for what we know as a screwball: The fallaway, which I have used, if I may be pardoned for saying so, with greater effectiveness than any other pitcher, is an exceptionally slow ball, and calculated to deceive the greatest batter. Luis Arroyo. Despite some strong performances recently that dropped his E.R.A. In 1972, he had a 14-8 record, 18 saves and a glittering 1.78 ERA in 116 innings of work. Mike Marshall, who became the first relief pitcher to win the Cy Young Award when he appeared in a major league season-record 106 games for the 1974 Los Angeles Dodgers, died on Tuesday at his home in Zephyrhills, Fla., near Tampa. Mathewson defined his own pitches with language you dont hear in 2019: slow ball, drop curve, out curve, rise ball, spit balland fallaway.10 You could easily read his description of the fallaway as a changeup. Indeed, there was no disputing Marshalls impact on his fellow Dodger pitchers. If he can throw it like that, he said, thats definitely what we call a plus pitch. Put that in the mix now hes compelling.. 7 Cubs pitchers combine for no-hitter vs Machado, Padres, Jays 'playing it safe' after Guerrero tweaks knee, Top moments from Brady, Manning, Jordan and other athletes hosting 'Saturday Night Live', Fantasy baseball rankings, projections, strategy and cheat sheets, PitchCom-tipping: Loud device leaks Twins calls, Eflin's first start after $40M deal impresses Rays, Rangers' Leclerc to miss WBC with neck injury, Rockies' Rodgers may need surgery, '23 at risk, Rojas to withdraw from WBC, stay with Dodgers, Mike Marshall, 1st reliever to win Cy Young, dies, The Ballad of Bryan Wayne Galentine: How one man's dream led to creation of Lou Gehrig Day across MLB, This Month in Baseball: The amazing Ohtani, Tatis' shot at a 50/50 season and Lindor's struggles. The couple had daughters Deborah, Rebekah and Kerry. This is pretty close to Hector Santiagos screwball grip. When Tug found it, he found gold.. Unfortunately Mathewson never said something like and then I pronated my arm upon release in a really screwed up kind of way. It was one of my best games.. Santiago is still kicking it in the big leagues as a reliever with the White Sox as this is written towards the end of the 2019 season. So just because he got away with it he teaches guys to throw it. He was known for throwing the screwball, an elusive pitch that breaks in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. I said: Hey, its simple. She did not give a cause of death. However, Drakes extreme over-the-top delivery on top of apparent pronation upon release screams screwball. He was the first player to hit a grand slam in a league championship game, and remains the only pitcher to hit a grand slam in a league championship game. Recently the evolution of major league baseball quietly started abandoning the junkballer. Alsoensure 1) your shelf brackets are mounted on studs or 2) you place the book in a ground storage unit. Marshall pitched in 724 games, all but 24 in relief, in his 14 major league seasons. The screwball is another dish entirely. He threw a screwball, which breaks the wrong way from a curve. Honeywell may be the screwballs last hope. All rights reserved. 1 2 Shoulders about to start rotating. Youll find yourself regularly plucking it off the shelf. On May 21, he was optioned to Salt Lake City. For all of Doc's brilliance -- he earned his doctorate in exercise physiology from Michigan State in 1978 after spending his offseasons in school -- his eccentricities were also a great impediment. A native of Adrian, Michigan, Marshall passed away Monday night while. Marshall moved to the Atlanta Braves from 1976-77 before switching to the American League with the Texas Rangers in 1977. He probably couldnt have done it without the screwball. We encountered an issue signing you up. He threw 300+ innings apiece, totaled a 2.38 ERA overall and picked up two MVP awards (1933, 1936). To them, he was a savant, a theorist whose understanding of pitching was so far ahead of his time that nobody in organized baseball was going to give him an opportunity because they couldn't fathom what he was talking about. Fantasy baseball: Which prospects have fantasy value in 2023? Marshall won the NL Cy Young Award in 1974, going 15-12 with a 2.42 ERA and 21 saves. Mike Marshall, 1st reliever to win Cy Young, dies. But I needed something to get me over that hump., The screwball has a history of helping pitchers do just that. Yet the list of master practitioners includes some of baseballs greats: Christy Mathewson, Carl Hubbell, Warren Spahn, Juan Marichal. She did not give a cause of death. Tyler Kepner calls Carl Hubbell at once the best and worst advertisement the screwball ever had.11 Hubbells long and storied career is both highlighted and blemished by the awkward twisted appendage that hung from his left shoulder after his pitching days. Hubbell would become one of the best pitchers of all time for McGraws New York Giants, amassing a record of 253-154 over 16 seasons with an ERA of 2.98. It would be just over a decade after Mathewsons retirement when the next Hall of Famer would feature the screwball and spend a career baffling hitters with it. His best pitch was a screwball, which breaks in the opposite direction from that of a curveball. The Seattle Pilots obtained him in baseballs expansion draft as they stocked their inaugural team of 1969, after he had returned to the minors for one season. With two lost seasons after back-to-back elbow surgeries, the 24-year old has a long way back to start knocking on the big league door again. He saved the Dodgers lone win, preserving a 3-2 victory in Game 2 by picking off speedy pinch-runner Herb Washington at first base in the ninth inning. It was working, so I threw it over and over, he told me. No Gavin Lux -- big problem. A welcome email is on its way. In the four seasons covering 1933-1936, his age 30 through 33 seasons, Hubbell put together a remarkable stretch highlighting his Hall of Fame career. There is always a mini-era in progress and its difficult to pinpoint it in the moment. Because he also throws a changeup with similar break and speed its hard to tell whats a screwball and whats a changeup. LOS ANGELES (AP) Mike Marshall, who became the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award when he set a major league record by pitching 106 games in a season for the Los . But it ended up being my best pitch. That season he won his first eight decisions and ultimately became the only rookie to win a Cy Young Award. In 1973, he appeared in a major league-leading 92 games and recorded a 2.66 ERA with 124 strikeouts and 31 saves. . Getty Images After months of canvassing orthopedists, I was convinced that no existing research could settle the question of whether throwing a screwball hurt the arm. Over time, the word itself has taken on the characteristics of both the pitch and those who throw it: erratic, irrational or illogical, unexpected. Marshall developed extraordinary endurance through his knowledge of kinesiology, the mechanics of bodily movement, long before pitchers used high-tech equipment in hopes of improving their performance and warding off arm injuries. Getty Images. Dr. Mike Marshall pitched for nine teams over his 14-year career, leading the league in games pitched four times, saves three times. The rare exception is Brent Honeywell. It looks funny and wrong and amazing, and for the next 10 minutes, Sparks illustrates Marshall's particular vernacular -- like the Maxline Pronation Curve -- with Doc's monotonous narration. Four months into the season, its safe to say that Santiago is the only pitcher who has thrown the screwball in a game this year. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. Screwball, Wikipedia. But looking at the data compared to the normative data kind of makes me tingly, Sethi said. He later pitched for the Houston Astros and the Expos, who traded him to the Dodgers for outfielder Willie Davis. In each incident, the suspect forced his way inside restaurants, sometimes shattering glass, taking items and fleeing on foot, police said. (Doc was never shy about naming things after himself.) After junior college in Florida, he signed with the White Sox. Struck out. Affeldt reached for his phone to search for a video of the pitch. At the bottom of the page is his EarthLink email address. When the four seams of baseballs spin as the four seam Effect describes, about one-eighth of their leading surface contain seams. This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Warren Spahn began using the pitch in 1956, at 34, with a career that appeared to be winding down. There was an error, please provide a valid email address. Byrd was willing to take any edge he could get when he needed it, remarking, Al Nipper taught me how to throw a screwball when I lost my changeup in two games; he got up on the mound and showed me how to do it.18. Legendary manager John McGraw had the unique pleasure of managing both Christy Mathewson and Carl Hubbell. A wholesome Christian gentlemen would never use such foul language. He was 78. These kids are now injury-proof., I was dismissed as a physical freak, he said. The Christian Gentlemen was regarded as the perfect hero for his age and Connie Mack called him the greatest pitcher who ever lived.6 Recollections of Mathewsons nobility are borderline cartoonish. Between 1971 and 1974 he documented every pitch he threw: 39% screwballs, 34% fastballs and 25% sliders.19 Marshall concocted a full-blown methodology for pitching mechanics.20 Heres a guy who isnt concerned about the potential health risk of throwing the screwball as long as you do it the right way. Michael Grant Marshall was born on Jan. 15, 1943, in Adrian, Mich., about 70 miles southwest of Detroit. He had been receiving hospice care at his home in Zephyrhills, Fla., his daughter Rebekah told the Dodgers. The twirler. But like many religious icons, Valenzuela proved evanescent. And then as he swings, hes straddling in two directions at once.9. He throws a curve that he holds like a football, and a knuckle curve that his coach wants all his pitchers to learn. I had good numbers, nobody was knocking me around. For someone who wanted the world to acknowledge his genius, he didn't work very hard at inviting it into his universe. Mike Marshall Major league baseball pitcher dead at age 78 Mike Marshall Major league baseball pitcher. Strikeout pitchers usually get the scholarship offers and wind up in pro ball. Affeldt recalled him coming in with the bases loaded and the Phillies massive Ryan Howard at bat. If anyone actually could do it, theyd only last about three pitches, he said. The mysterious screwball was no mystery to a league full of batters left shaking their heads in the wake of his brilliance. Theyre typically handled as delicately as racehorses, especially with the current epidemic of arm and shoulder injuries. We had shied away from true breaking balls for fear of injury. You get a lot of easy, ugly outs, says Mark Gubicza, who spent 13 seasons throwing sliders for the Royals. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Mike Marshall, the 1974 National League Cy Young Award winner, died on Tuesday. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Im going to throw mostly screwballs tomorrow, Valenzuela told the coach Manny Mota over dinner. Screwballs like Marshalls have fallen out of favor with big league pitchers in recent generations. Consequently, it missed everything Doc was getting right. His right leg flies forward, and he lands perpendicular to the mound. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Given its fallaway movement away from right-handers, you might think Herrera would show some reverse splits, but not soright handed batters OPSd .949 vs. Herrera vs. a .588 clip from lefties over the course of his career. You can contact Mike at . Join us for four nights and four days of playing, learning, jamming and hanging out with - Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg, two of the most versatile mandolin players of our time. He offered his opinions to teammates bluntly and without compromise. In his only postseason appearances, Marshall pitched in two National League Championship Series games against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1974 and in every game of the World Series, when the Dodgers lost to the Oakland As, 4 games to 1. I was looking for it. It helped that Mike Scioscia, the Angels manager, was the catcher for much of Valenzuelas tenure with the Dodgers. The leash on a curiosity is short, and the leash on a superathlete who lights up a radar gun is long. He became the first relief pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. He was purchased by Detroit Tigers the following year. More likely it had to do with the fastball, curve and changeup he mastered while carving up hitters and an unusual screwball he might have been the first to throw.4, Neyer names Charlie Sweeney as a possible early screwball wielder, who is regarded as the father of the fadeaway.5. Mike Marshall, Dodgers Cy Young Award winner, dies at age 78 Former Dodgers reliever passed away Tuesday in Florida By Eric Stephen @ericstephen Jun 1, 2021, 7:19pm PDT Mike Marshall, who. Eight relief pitchers from both leagues have since won the award. Marshall thought many pitchers arm rotations led to ulnar collateral ligament injuries that required Tommy John surgery, named after Marshalls former Dodgers teammate. He was an All-Star with the Dodgers in 1974 and 75. Mike Marshall was one of those wonderful curmudgeons who steadfastly marched to the beat of his own drummer. Those who serve one have typically been looked upon as oddities, custodians of a quirky art beyond the realm of conventional pitching. Marshall won the National League Cy Young Award in 1974 as a Los Angeles Dodger and was a two-time All-Star selection. Shoulder stresses were similar. Nevertheless, Dipoto traded his starting first baseman in 2013, Mark Trumbo, for Santiago. or redistributed. If anyone could twirl a screwball offhand it would be Oliver Drake simply because of his natural throwing motion. CARDS PLACE FLAHERTY ON IL WITH 'SIGNIFICANT' OBLIQUE INJURY. Known to the world as the winner of the 1974 National League Cy Young Award for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Marshall went by a different name to the students at his pitching academy: Doc. Modern baseball favors velocity, spin rate, clean mechanics and specialty. In winning the National League Cy Young Award, the major leagues most coveted prize for a pitcher, Marshall beat out Messersmith for the honor, collecting 17 of 24 possible first place votes. It lives on in the words that pepper his website, in the videos that remind you the most brilliant people still get plenty wrong, in the iconoclast bingo card he filled. This resulted in Marshall becoming a leading practitioner of the screwball, which breaks in the opposite direction of a curveball or slider. But why does every player always wear a hat? Nearly every entry ends with what amounted to Doc's version of a sales pitch: "To prevent pitching injuries, pitchers of all ages need to master the Marshall Pitching Motion." Nazareth won its fourth state trophy since 2019, and more importantly the programs first state title. Many others noted the discomfort of throwing a screwball and how they could only throw it so many times per game. 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