Any pitchers still use a spitball?

[vaze...@my-deja.com]

I know Kev Gross was the last I recall getting caught scuffing a ball.

I'd like to see this practice benevolently tolerated as a sort of
pitchers revenge on the steroid revolution that has given the batters
such a mean advantage.

Besides, can u just imagine how a scuffed ball would curve in the
hands of a Pedro Martinez? It'd be a real site to see.

As a Montrealer, I'm getting sick of every other team blasting 10 runs a
game off the good guys, I'd like to know if there's any chance of the
ancient art of the spitball returning.

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Before you buy.

[Comish4lif]

>From: vaze...@my-deja.com

There's a big difference between cutting or scuffing a baseball and throwing
the spitter.

The cut or scuff serves to increase the aerodynamic effects of a thrown
baseball - that is, if the scuff and the movement of the baseball are properly
coordinated, you can get a more wicked cuve or a fastball with great movement.

The spiiter is different. It was outlawed because it was then and still is a
dangerous pitch because you cannot control it. The spitter is thrown with wet
fingers so that the ball "squirts" out of your hand, kind of like a watermelon
seed. (Not exactly, but that's the idea). Anyway, when thrown with little to no
rotation it acts like a knuckleball and eventually catches a wind current and
changes direction, the later the better. But unlike a knuckleball, it is thrown
with a fastball velocity.

--------------------------------
Mark Wolven ----comis...@aol.com
Beloved Commissioner-for-Life

[vaze...@my-deja.com]

Thanks Commish.

What's your feeling, did Gaylord Perry, the all time modern day spitter
king, have more hit batsmen than others?

Is it a legitimate worry that guys'll get beaned by spitballs?