by Roger D. Bernier

Created on: July 28, 2008

It's the bread and butter of every serious baseball player. It's the the first pitch that every Little Leaguer learns to throw. It gets it's name from the 216 red stitches that hold the white leather around a center of cork and yarn, and form a horseshoe shape on the ball. It's the four-seam fastball, also known as the "four-seamer".

To properly grip the four-seam fastball, hold the ball in front of you with the stitches running horizontal, or laterally. Place your index and middle finger over the top of the ball in a natural position, nearly together. The hard part of your thumb should rest on the bottom of the ball, and your ring and pinky fingers curl naturally on the outside portion. Your index and middle fingers should be "off-center" to provide a little movement when the ball is finally released. Upon throwing the ball, the red seams roll one-over-the-other, in a backward, 1-2-3-4 motion.

Practice tossing the ball in the air and catching it with your fingers positioned properly and ready-to-throw. With a little practice, you will find that your fingers naturally gravitate to the correct grip. The four-seam pitch flies straight and true, and is the perfect throw to use when fielding the ball, particularly from the infield. A player never wants the ball to sink when throwing to another base. A chest-high four-seamer is ideal when you want to throw out a player on the base paths. As with any throw, the ball will lose some elevation, but with a clean, straight throw, the ball will end up somewhere between the chest and the knees of the receiving player, and will be an easy catch.

The four-seam fastball can be an effective pitch when thrown with high velocity and a little movement right or left, depending on which side of the ball you lay your index and middle fingers. This is known as a "cut-fastball". However, a fastball down the middle can end-up "jacked" out of the park if it flies to slowly and straight down the middle of the plate. The expert batter learns to discriminate pitches and looks for more "red" on the ball in flight. The four red stitches going end-over-end can be a dead giveaway that a fastball is coming. Conversely, a batter in-the-know will also look for more "white" as the tell-tale signal that a sinker is coming down the pike.

Whether you are in the field or at the plate, you must learn to grip, throw and hit the staple pitch of baseball, the four-seam fastball.

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