Readers think of the glamor of covering World Series and Super Bowls and the like. True, but the day-to-day enjoyment of plying the craft comes from the kinds of experiences and the people you meet as represented in a column about Steve Hamilton's blooper pitch. June 18: Hamilton's Blooper Is an Old Tickler Steve Hamilton is spreading a few tickles around the Yankees these days. He's throwing a version of the old blooper pitch that almost made Rip Sewell famous 20 years ago. Hamilton has thrown a lob pitch seven times so far and is still alive to tell some tales. Hamilton goes into his regular motion and then, just as his right foot hits the dirt, he hesitates and lets go the softy which makes a high arc before plopping into the catcher's glove. You might say he throws the ball into the air and where it falls he even knows where.
"I've always liked to mess around with various motions, things like double-pumping and the like," Hamilton says. "Over the winter I thought about doing something that might make me more effective. I watched Luis Tiant throwing his hesitation pitch and I thought I might be able to do something like it." Hamilton worked with the pitch in spring training and found he could get the ball over the plate for strikes. "I threw it in batting practice, telling the guys it was coming, and they still didn't hit it. I tried it twice in exhibition games and the batters hit little grounders so I waited for a chance to use it during the season." Hamilton threw it first to Detroit's Don Wert. Surprise. Wert took the pitch for a strike and Hamilton grinned his good guy, sheepish grin. So far so good. He then threw the tickler to Andy Etchebarren of Baltimore. The pitch looped the loop and came down on Etchebarren's toe. Etchebarren was so surprised, he didn't move out of the way. The umpire refused to allow him to take first base because the batter must try to get out of the way. Sal Bando of Oakland was next. He was so surprised he made a half-lunge and pulled back. The pitch was called a ball. Things picked up with Wayer Comer of Seattle. He took a terrific swing, fouled the ball in the air and fell down on home plate. He sprawled on the ground watching the ball being caught in foul territory. The tickler was beginning to get an identity. Next came Harmon Killebrew, he of the massive arms who might kill a pitcher if he caught hold of a pitch and sent it screaming back through the mound. With a count of two balls and two strikes, Fearless Steve went into his motion, hesitated and let the tickler go. Killebrew, a quick thinker, watched the ball go by. It was a called third strike. The tickler had almost come into its own. As Killebrew walked by Hamilton, he said, "Where did you come up with that pitch?" Opposing pitcher Jim Kaat said,"Will you teach it to me?" Hamilton says, "A free swinger like Killebrew is the best kind of hitter to throw it to. You don't want to throw it to a fellow who waits on a pitch or a punch hitter. It's best when you throw it low and outside; it's easiest to hit when it comes in high and inside." The sixth target was California's Jim Fregosi, a smart hitter. "I shouldn't throw it to somebody like him," Hamilton said, "but I did." Fregosi took it for a ball. The most recent episode came against Lou Piniella of Kansas City last week. By this time the Yankee fans have become accustomed to it, almost to the point of looking for it. Piniella tried to wait on the pitch. "He double-clutched, then swung mightily," Hamilton said, "and ticked it off." The pitch was greeted with laughs by the Stadium crowd. Hamilton says, "A kid outside told me, 'I like that pitch. I could hit it a mile myself.' Of course, it is the hesitation and the element of surprise that makes it effective." The pitch is making a bit of a stir, and Hamilton, a loosey-goosey guy, is enjoying himself with it. He sits around now and plots when he will use it next. Before last night's doublehader at the Stadium he thought about throwing it to Willie Horton, the Tigers' slugger, if the appropriate situation presented itself. "I think I might throw it to him on the second pitch," Hamilton said with a wink. The situation didn't come up last night because Hamilton wasn't called on, but there are still two more games with Detroit. He has no plans to throw the tickler in a big bases-loaded situation or anything like that. An umpire told him the hesitation in the delivery would bring about a balk call. Hamilton says, "I do have this wild idea of throwing it to Frank Howard and then running to the back of the mound and ducking down with my hands over my eyes." That ought to tickle people.
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Crosetti's Old No. 2 Comes Back to Play 
