Ted Williams asked Sparky,
“Do you know what the best pitch in baseball is?”
Sparky said:
“Yes I do! It’s a change up.”
Williams Replied:
“WRONG! It’s the Slider!!!!!! Because the Slider was the only pitch that I couldn’t when I knew it was coming!”
Williams then explained to Lyle how the Left Handed Slider breaks. Teddy Ball Game left Sparky with one piece of advice:
"...if you can get the Slider working for you, you’ll go straight the BIG LEAGUES!”
When the last man to bat .400 in the Major Leagues tells a pitcher how to expose a weakness in hitters, including himself, you take immediate Action, RIGHT???
So Sparky got work on the Slider, laying in bed every night tossing a baseball up trying to figure out how to throw the Slider…The night that he got it, he went outside in the middle of darkness. Under a lone streetlight, he started throwing the Slider off a brick wall in a parking lot. He got it!!!!! It finally clicked!!!! One day, he didn’t have a Slider, the next day he did!!!!
The first time he threw the Slider against a hitter, he recalled the hitter missing the Dominant pitch by 3 feet!!!!!
"The 1st time he threw the Slider against a hitter, Sparky recalled the hitter missing the Dominant pitch by 3 Feet!!!"
He finished his 16 year Major League Career with a record of 99-76 with a 2.88 ERA and 238 Saves (The All Time Leader when he retired in 1982) in 899 Games Pitched.
The Left Handed Slider Didn't Stop there in the Yankees Lore
Sparky taught the Left Handed Slider to his young Yankee teammate, Ron Guidry. At the time, Guidry did have a Slider, just not an effective one, as he was trying to throw both a Slider and a curveball. Having very little success with either. Under Sparky's mentorship, Guidry dropped his curveball and was getting more sharp, downward break on his Slider.
"...Guidry dropped his curveball and was getting more sharp, downward break on his Slider."
The Left Handed Slider Kept Going in the Pinstripes
I remember the first day I came up to the big leagues [Yankees Manager] Billy Martin turned to me and said, 'Go talk to [Ron] Guidry and have him teach you his Slider.' That was a pitch that Sparky Lyle taught him, and then I went on to teach it a few years later to [Al] Leiter when he came up. Guidry showed me a different grip that would allow the ball to go down a little farther than what I was throwing. When Billy said that to me, I said to myself 'What the hell! Why not learn the pitch from the reigning Cy Young Award Winner!"
- Dave Righetti Excerpt from the book, CLOSER: Major League Players Reveal the Inside Pitch on Saving the Game By: Kevin Neary
The Next in Line to be Fortunate Enough to be Taught this Dominant Pitch
As mentioned in the quote above, Al Leiter learned the Slider from Righetti when he broke in with the Yankees in the mid 1980s. Leiter's career accolades include 2 World Series rings (Blue Jays & Marlins) and a No Hitter.
Later on in Leiter's career, he developed a hard cutter that he used effectively to run in on right handed hitters. The dynamic combination of the cutter coming in on the hands and the Slider darting down towards the back foot of a right handed hitter made the guessing game very frustrating. It's extremely difficult to protect both up and down in the strike zone.
These 4 Southpaws learned how to throw a Left Handed Slider early on as Major Leaguers, which propelled them to successful careers.
The Final Tally
Post Pitching Career
...regardless of of what team you may play for some day
Because Baseball is a very rewarding game for those who fully dedicate themselves. When the Slider collects hardware like this from the highest level of baseball in world, just imagine what it can do for your pitching career???
Keep Dominating!!!
Brad Kirsch
Brad Kirsch is the Owner/Creator of Slider Domination. He is a former professional pitcher who blogs about all things Pitching. Brad has also authored the AudioBook, 7 Reasons Why YOU Should Throw a Slider. If you haven’t done so already, you can Download the AudioBook Here
