Can You Have A Great Pitcher at 5'9" or Under?

[billybud]

The Big Unit originally made waves when he came on the scene at 6'5"...he was almost a freak. Pitchers going 6'4", 6'5" aren't that uncommon today.

Are there any dominating pitchers who are short?

In my boyhood, I loved the Yankees...Mantle, Maris, Kubek, Howard...but their great HOF pitcher, Whitey Ford, was only 5'10".

The great pitchers Koufax and Drysdale were biggish for their times...6'2" and 6'5" respectively.

It seems that this year, watching good teams play, there were a lot of 6'4 and up pitchers and few under 6'.

[billybud]

I took a peak at the 2008 WSU roster...most pitchers ranged between 6'1" and 6'6 (two big uns)...

Tyson and Remington were listed as the shortest at an even 6'0".

[1972Shocker]

Billy Wagner is 5'11". Of course, his is a closer and a max effort guy who rarely pitches more than one inning.

The interesting thing about Wagner is that he is a natural rigth hander who switched to lefty after he broke his right arm twice as a youth.

He taught himself to throw left handed by throwin nothing but fastballs against a barn wall.

[newshock1234]

Tim Lincecum is 5'11" and he is doing pretty good

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=453311

[vbird53]

Billy Wagner is 5'11". Of course, his is a closer and a max effort guy who rarely pitches more than one inning.

The interesting thing about Wagner is that he is a natural rigth hander who switched to lefty after he broke his right arm twice as a youth.

He taught himself to throw left handed by throwin nothing but fastballs against a barn wall.

I remember hearing that about Wagner. Pretty cool.

[Ta town]

Re: Can You Have A Great Pitcher at 5'9" or Under?

The Big Unit originally made waves when he came on the scene at 6'5"...he was almost a freak. Pitchers going 6'4", 6'5" aren't that uncommon today.

Are there any dominating pitchers who are short?

In my boyhood, I loved the Yankees...Mantle, Maris, Kubek, Howard...but their great HOF pitcher, Whitey Ford, was only 5'10".

The great pitchers Koufax and Drysdale were biggish for their times...6'2" and 6'5" respectively.

It seems that this year, watching good teams play, there were a lot of 6'4 and up pitchers and few under 6'.

what the crap are you talking about? He is 6'10".

[billybud]

Beg your pardon...my fingers had Drysdale on their minds...

[billybud]

Ambidextrous pitcher meets switch hitter in the minors...hilarious but a little long...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/media/player/mp_tpl.jsp?w=http%3A//mfile.akamai.com/14668/wmv/milb.download.akamai.com/14668/2008/ss/sta/video/061908_stabro_b9_switch_pitcher.wmv&type=v_free&_mp=1

[1979Shocker]

Ambidextrous pitcher meets switch hitter in the minors...hilarious but a little long...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/m...e=v_free&_mp=1

That was talked about in this thread:

http://www.shockernet.net/sn/viewtopic.php?t=11568

[7hottamales]

Tim Lincecum is 5'11" and he is doing pretty good

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/t...ayer_id=453311

Lincecum is probably more like 5'10" with shoes.

[KC Shox]

The Braves' Tim Hudson is listed at 6'0", but that was noted when he was wearing cleats and stretching out his neck IMO. Hudson can deal though. But yeah, it is very rare for pitchers under 6 feet to be successful.

Is Pedro Martinez really 6'0"? I remember when he first came to the majors he was listed at 5'11".

[Aargh]

I hope I get some of these names right, but the mention of Whitey Ford reminded me of some stories.

I don't think this name is right, but Ryne Duren was a reliever for the Yankees when Ford pitched for them.

Let's start with stories about Berra and Ford. Berra sharpened the the buckle tongues on his shin guards. The Yankee stadium crew turned the batters boxes into mud when Ford pitched. Berra would either rub the ball against his shin guards (creating a huge cut in the ball) or rub one side in the mud before he threw it back to Ford.

Duren was 5'8", threw hard and wore glasses, which was unheard of for pitchers in the '50's. Duren's first warmup pitch was always right through the heart of the batter's box. Berra would yell, "A little more right (or left)". The next pitch was through the heart of the opposite batter's box.

Duren could probably hit 90 - there weren't any radar guns, but everybody thought he had major heat. Maybe he only hit 80, but the combination of perceived blindness, wildness and some heat made him a successful reliever.

Then there was Stu Miller with the Giants. I don't recall how tall he was, but his fastball was probably in the 60 range. His fastball had arc between the mound and home plate. Plus, he could actually throw a breaking ball that was slower than his fastball.

[billybud]

Ahh..yes..mentioning Ryne brings back memories. Thank you.

It was a different America then...before Vietnam, before Bull Connor and MLK, watching the Yankees on a B&W TV with my dad as Dizzy Dean called the play.

Ryne wore coke bottle lenses and brought heat. Dizzy made a big deal out of a batter having to face a blind pitcher who threw hard.

It was a good time for baseball...the New York teams had three of the greatest center fielders of all time all roaming the outfield in the same era...Mantle, Mays, and Duke Snider. Catchers like Roy Camponella and Yogi.

Of course I loved the Yankees and Mantle was my guy (as he was for most 10-12 year olds). I am now 62 and my dad passed 10 years ago. But I still can close my eyes and see Mantle running the bases in baggy pants in low definition black and white and hear my dad's whoop of joy.

As someone has said...Football is what we are, baseball is what we were.

[hiboy]

if there was a great 5'9'' pitcher in kansas, would wsu recruit them?

[Hill Sitter]

If we're going far back- Bobby Shantz was an all-star for a few years in the 1950s and was listed as 5' 6".

And I agree KC- Pedro seems to have grown the years in some media guides.