The pitch,
struck as a specimen.

Every pitch has a file; every grip has a history. Study the hold and carry it forward.

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Four-seam00

A looping close-up of Austin's four-seam grip: two fingertips laid across the seam, the ball held out toward the camera.

Austin video

Fingertips cross the seam path

Source: Pitcher's own words

Open specimen

02The Refraction

One seam. Two media.

This flat diagram and the tilting 3D specimen are two draws of a single function. The 3D specimen, the 2D schematic, and the no-WebGL fallback all read the same seam geometry, so the model and the diagram can never quietly disagree.

It is a seam-informed schematic, not a measured cover. That label stays attached to the diagram wherever it appears.

The filed set.

3 shown · 12 filed. Flip a card for its sources.

One specimen per family: grip first, source attached. The rest of the set lives in the Pitch Index.

Four-seam00

Reference schematic

Fingers cross the outward-facing horseshoe seam, pads resting where the two seams run closest together.

Source: Reputable analysis

Open specimen

Four-seamNo. 00 · Fastball

RidesMagnus · direction only

Grip cueFingers cross the outward-facing horseshoe seam, pads resting where the two seams run closest together.Reputable analysis

ShapeRides through the top of the zone. Backspin fights the fall the whole way, so it drops less than a spinless ball and looks like it holds its line. It carries; it never literally rises.Reputable analysis

Grip: Wikipedia, Four-seam fastball Shape: MLB.com Statcast Glossary, vertical movement context

Open the full file

12-6 curve03

Reference schematic

Driveline's standard curve grip leverages the middle finger on the seam with the index on the leather and the thumb on a seam underneath. Topspin comes from getting the fingers in front of the ball and pulling down, the cue being to yank it down with the middle finger.

Source: Reputable analysis

Open specimen

12-6 curveNo. 03 · Breaking

Drops · glove-sideMagnus, down · direction only

Grip cueDriveline's standard curve grip leverages the middle finger on the seam with the index on the leather and the thumb on a seam underneath. Topspin comes from getting the fingers in front of the ball and pulling down, the cue being to yank it down with the middle finger.Reputable analysis

ShapeA heavy, late, straight-down drop. Topspin and gravity pull the same way, so the floor falls out far harder than a spinless ball would, with little sideways run. The cleanest ones drop almost straight; tilt the axis glove-side and it sweeps into a diagonal power curve.Official data

Grip: Driveline Baseball, How to Throw a Curveball Shape: MLB.com Statcast Glossary, vertical movement context

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Circle change02

Reference schematic

MLB.com calls the circle change the most common changeup grip: thumb and index in a circle on the inner side, the other three fingers over the rest of the ball. Held farther back in the hand, sometimes toward the palm, which is what takes the speed off.

Source: Official data

Open specimen

Circle changeNo. 02 · Offspeed

Holds plane · arm-side runMagnus, arm-side · direction only

Grip cueMLB.com calls the circle change the most common changeup grip: thumb and index in a circle on the inner side, the other three fingers over the rest of the ball. Held farther back in the hand, sometimes toward the palm, which is what takes the speed off.Official data

ShapeIt runs toward the throwing hand and tumbles under the barrel, late and on the arm-side. The fade is real and the drop is real; how wide it runs depends on how hard the arm turns the axis over.Official data

Grip: MLB.com Statcast Glossary, Changeup (CH) Shape: Baseball Savant (Statcast), Logan Webb

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The other doors.

More doors open off the same atlas, each a different angle on the one craft.

The Craftsmen

The arms that owned a pitch. Every quote in here is real and carries its source.

Step into the hall

Lost Pitches of the Negro Leagues

The statistics are being recovered; the technique mostly never will be. Every entry wears the tier its record can actually support.

Enter the archive

SoftballThe fastpitch & slowpitch wingOpen The Grip LibraryEvery grip, in the handOpen Why it existsThe case for a living archiveOpen

Preserve the pitches baseball almost forgot.

Start at the Pitch Index, open a specimen, and carry a piece of the record forward.

Open the Pitch Index The lost pitches

Every grip filed before the arm forgets it. Every claim still wearing its source.

Sourced, not corrected. No fabricated spin, velocity, or break; no scraped imagery; no copied prose. 298 sources in the citation registry, last checked July 5, 2026. How a claim is filed

The pitch, struck as a specimen.

One seam. Two media.

The filed set.

The other doors.

Preserve the pitches baseball almost forgot.

The pitch,
struck as a specimen.