"The Pitch of an Island"--Wall St. Journal

"If there's an official pitch of the Dominican revolution, it's the change-up -- which is baseball's equivalent of a card trick. To throw it, a pitcher uses the same arm motion for a fastball -- but by gripping the ball differently, causes it to slow down by 10 to 15 mph and throw off a hitter's timing.

Mario Soto, a former major league pitcher who is director of Dominican operations for the Reds,

• says throwing change-ups has been a mandatory rule at baseball academies on the island for about six years. One of the main reasons, he says,

• is risk management: It's easier on a young pitcher's arm than sliders and curveballs,

• which tend to place more strain on the elbow."...

From Wall Street Journal, wsj.com article by James Wagner, 7/11/08, "The Pitch of an Island" referenced by Tim McCarver on the All Star game

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