At 19, I was still figuring out how to throw a fastball.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I was 22, I was having a ball!
Obviously I'm not 21 anymore, but I think I can still throw with anybody.
I consciously memorized the speed at which every pitcher in the league threw his fastball, curve, and slider. Then, I'd pick up the speed of the ball in the first 30 feet of its flight and knew how it would move once it has crossed the plate.
I started playing ball when I was a kid. My dad was a pro ball player and he passed on his knowledge to me.
My dad taught me really early so I could take a lot of pressure off my elbow. Because the way I throw it, it doesn't crank up my elbow like everyone else's curveballs.
I looked for the same pitch my whole career, a breaking ball. All of the time. I never worried about the fastball. They couldn't throw it past me, none of them.
But I was so wrapped up in sports growing up as a kid, that I think I was going to grow to be a pro ball player. But I found out real quick that was not going to happen.
The three most important pitches I threw in my life were all fastballs.
I was 11 years old and have the same curveball I have now. So I was literally striking everybody out. I always threw hard, and I was bigger than all the kids, so I would throw hard and throw that curveball, and no one could hit me.
I got into pro ball at 18 and played until I was almost 39, non-stop.