Forkball

The forkball is a type of pitch in baseball. Related to the split-finger fastball, the forkball is held between the first two fingers and thrown hard, snapping the wrist.

The forkball differs from the split-fingered fastball, however, in that the ball is jammed deeper between the first two fingers. The result is that the forkball is generally thrown slightly slower than the splitter, but has more of a "tumbling" action akin to the movement of a 12–6 curveball, as it will drop off the plate before it gets to the catcher's mitt.

The forkball has been favored by several current and former major league pitchers, including Kevin Appier, Hideo Nomo, José Valverde, José Arredondo, Ken Hill, Justin Speier, Kazuhiro Sasaki, José Contreras, Chien-Ming Wang, Junichi Tazawa, and Edwar Ramírez. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum uses a changeup with forkball movement as his strike-out pitch. Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, winner of the Cy Young Award in both leagues, was arguably the greatest practitioner of the forkball. In addition, a number of NPB players throw forkballs, including Kazumi Saito of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, who has ridden his forkball to two Eiji Sawamura Awards. In actuality, the forkball is more popular than the splitter in Japan, and the majority of the best pitchers in Japan have one in their arsenal. Former Major League pitchers Dave Stewart and Mélido Pérez were two of the most highly regarded forkball pitchers in the late 1980s. Late in his career, the forkball was also used by Sandy Koufax. Jack Morris used a forkball as his primary strikeout pitch while winning more games than any other pitcher in the 1980s. Roy Face and Lindy McDaniel were relief pitchers who pitched for 16 and 21 years, respectively, in the Major Leagues and were forkballers. Face started his career in 1953 and McDaniel in 1955.

...
Wikipedia