The hardest-throwing Olympic softball pitchers consistently are in the mid to high 60s and can touch 70 mph. They are throwing from 43 feet away.
In baseball, the mound is 60 feet, 6 inches away. Punch a few numbers into the calculator and, voila, the 70 mph softball pitch is the equivalent of a 981/2 mph fastball. It's even faster when considering the release point of the pitch is several feet closer to the plate than the 43-foot rubber.
In other words, the ball is on top of the hitter in a blink. Jennie Finch is equivalent to Eric Gagne. Except that most softball pitchers have a greater repertoire than the customary one- or two-pitch major league closer.
Therefore, it's not a stretch to suggest that the softball pitcher is the most important player in team sports. She is the football quarterback, baseball pitcher, basketball point guard and hockey goaltender rolled into one.
For example, at the 2000 Olympics, the U.S. team played seven games in the preliminaries. Four were shutout wins and the other three were extra-inning losses that were 0-0 in regulation. In the three wins in the medal round, two were 0-0 entering extra innings. Pitching dominated so much that the distance to home plate has been increased from 40 feet to 43.
Michele Smith, a 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic gold medalist pitcher, lives in Treasure Island. She pitched 13 scoreless innings in a 2000 game against China, striking out 19 before losing in the 14th on a throwing error.
Smith said five pitches is the standard in softball: riseball, drop, curve, screwball and changeup. A 37-year-old lefthander, Smith plays professionally in Japan and opted to remain focused on her pro career instead of taking another crack at the Olympics. She broke down the five pitches in the softball arsenal for the Times and commented on the four members of the U.S. pitching staff: Finch, Lisa Fernandez, Lori Harrigan and Cat Osterman.
RISEBALL: Smith's specialty and the staple for power pitchers.
"It can be very dominating when thrown correctly and also get you in trouble if it's flat, because it's up in the zone, right in the wheelhouse," Smith said. "It should be explosive, moving from the mid-thigh up through the (strike) zone to the belt or even higher."
Smith uses a two-seam grip, while most pitchers opt for four.
"For me it works better with the two-seam. Those two seams kick-in for late, sharp movement."
Smith has her thumb and middle finger on opposite sides of the ball, with the middle finger laid down on the "smile" or "horseshoe" of the seams. The index finger is tucked under, and the ball is in her fingers, not the palm.
"The movement of the ball is like turning a doorknob, from palm down to palm up."
On the U.S. staff, all will use riseballs, with Finch perhaps relying on it the most.
DROP: Smith compares it to an over-the-top curveball or sinker in baseball.
"You want to bring it in a little above the knees, make it look like a sweet pitch to the batter, then hopefully move below the knee.
"Lay the middle and index fingers right across the horseshoe to get a downward, four-seam rotation. You basically want to get this to spin over the top in a 12-6 rotation."
Osterman emphasizes the drop the most, and Fernandez also uses it. Finch and Lori Harrigan use it less often.
CURVE: Smith compared the softball curve to the baseball slider, cutting into or away from the hitter, depending on the lefty-righty matchup. "I like to use the riseball grip for my curveball, but I rotate it a little bit in my hand. I move my hand around so I'm on the curve of the horseshoe of the ball instead of the middle of it.
"Some pitchers will throw curves but they won't tuck a finger. When tucking it, your nail is kind of pushed into the ball, it's dug into the ball, helping to push even a little bit more."
Smith said the entire staff has pretty good curveballs. Lefthanders Osterman and Harrigan will throw them to both lefties and righties, while righthanders Fernandez and Finch will throw mostly down and away to righthanded hitters but use the pitch infrequently against lefties.
SCREWBALL: The opposite of the curve, it will move away from the glove arm as it approaches the plate.
"I like the riseball grip, I'm just changing the way I hold it on the ball. Instead of at the bottom of the horseshoe where two seams are together, on the side. The middle finger is on the U or smile of the ball, the index is laid flat (as shown in picture) or tucked again.
"On the release, try to get the hips out of the way and release it inside to outside. The corkscrew rotation will get it to tumble away."
Smith said she has increased her screwball usage recently as her riseball has become less dominating.
"Every year I try to add a new look."
Smith said Finch and Harrigan have the best screwballs on the staff.
CHANGEUP: Smith said that virtually every pitcher has a different changeup technique. "There's a hundred different ways to throw changeups. Ask 10 pitchers, you'll get 10 ideas."
Smith usually uses her riseball grip (as shown in picture) so as not to tip the batter, and then takes the velocity and underspin off of it. But there are many other options, some of which she also uses.
"One of the most popular ways is the flip change. It spins tight and spins backward. The back of hand and knuckles are facing the hitter, the palm is facing away and then flips down at release."
Smith said the batter might be able to recognize the release as a changeup, "but by then it's usually too late. It uses all of the arm speed and action but you can't throw it as hard."
