Surprise Success in Baseball: Hideki Okajima Revives Classic Pitch

Hideki Okajima has been one of the biggest surprises for the Boston Red Sox this season. Expected to be a complementary reliever, Okajima has posted an ERA of 1.27 in 26 games, including a streak of 19 appearances in which he did not allow a run. He has quickly established himself as the go-to set-up man for closer Jonathan Papelbon, and has also been called on to record four saves when Papelbon was not available. Lacking a dominating fastball, left-handed Okajima relies on great control and breaking balls. His out pitch is an odd changeup that breaks in on right-handed batters and away from left-handed batters. Sox bullpen coach Gary Tuck calls this pitch the "Okie-Dokie." It's really a kind of screwball.

The full screwball, also known as the fadeaway, is a difficult pitch to throw and even more difficult to hit. Breaking the opposite the direction of the curveball and slider, the screwball was used effectively as an out-pitch by the great Christy Mathewson at the beginning of the 20th century. He claimed that "it is a very hard ball to deliver. Pitching it ten or twelve times a game kills my arm, so I save it for the pinches" (Schoenfield). Carl Hubbell used the pitch extensively with the New York Giants between 1928 and 1943. In fact, he threw the pitch so often that his arm became seriously deformed--his palm faced away from his body when he let his left arm hang limp at his side. Despite its difficulty and physical toll, both Mathewson and Hubbell built hall-of-fame careers around the screwball.

In the second-half of the 20th century, the screwball declined in popularity. Notable exceptions were Mike Cuellar, Fernando Valenzuela and Mike Marshall, all three of whom used the screwball to help them win Cy Young awards. Right-handed reliever Jim Mecir, who retired in 2005, may have been the last MLB pitcher to use a pure screwball. Born with two clubfeet, Mecir's unorthodox delivery allowed him to throw a sharp screwball. He was not as dominant as other screwball pitchers, compiling a lifetime ERA of 3.77. Still, the pitch helped make him an effective relief pitcher (ESPN.com),