Steve Hamilton and the "folly floater"

The Eephus pitch, which may have been invented by Pirates pitcher Rip Sewell, is a slow, high-looping toss, the ultimate junk pitch that's sometimes traveling less than 50 mph when it crosses home plate.

I've never seen one thrown -- at least, I can't recall ever having seen one -- but I was probably watching when Bill Lee threw his "space ball" against the Reds in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series.  Other's who've thrown a variation of the pitch include Bob Tewksbury, Orlando Hernandez, and even Mark Buehrle of the White Sox, who tried to fool Ichiro with the pitch in a 2004 game. Casey Fossum of the Devil Rays also throws one; he's got a fastball that averages 90 mph, but his Eephus has been timed at 43 mph.

After watching Fossum throw a 46 mph strike to Mike Sweeney in a July 2005 contest, Scott Kazmir said, "I'll leave it to Fossum. It's hard to throw. I've tried throwing it in the bullpen. You have to keep the same motion."

Steve Hamilton, who had a 12-year major league career, pitched for the Yankees from 1963 to 1970. Hamilton was 6-feet-7-inches tall, so it's easy to imagine him being an intimidating figure when staring down batters from the mound. But he frequently used his "folly floater" with great effectiveness.

Here's the New York Times Leonard Koppett describing a Hamilton outing in the first game of a June 24, 1970 twin bill against the Indians:

In the first game, Sam McDowell pitched a five-hitter and had a 6-0 lead by the middle of the fifth inning, but his performance was completely overshadowed by Steve Hamilton's comedy act. Pitching the ninth for the Yankees, Hamilton unleashed his "folly floater," his stop-action, high-arc slow pitch, twice in a row on Tony Horton, who fouled out on it.

The crowd roared, both benches got hysterical, Horton acted appropriately disgusted, and the whole thing was praised by everyone as good, colorful baseball fun--since it really was an effective pitch, not just a stunt."

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology and a quirky little promotional film entitled "The Bullpen," we can watch the Hamilton-Horton sequence today (and get to hear narrator Lindsey Nelson call a famous Yankee announcer "Bill Rizzuto").

 

Hamilton was very effective with the pitch. About a week after the game against the Indians, he used the folly floater against the Senators in Yankee Stadium, trying it against Frank Howard, who nailed the pitch to left for a single. According to George Minot Jr. of the Washington Post, "it was only the fourth safe hit off the pitch in the two years since the left-hander has been throwing it."

The other three batters to hit Hamilton's floater were Tommie Agee, who succeeded against it in the old Mayor's Trophy exhibition game between the Yankees and Mets; Horton, who managed to single off the pitch, and Tony Conigliaro, who laid down a bunt that baffled both Hamilton and Thurman Munson, who both charged the ball and ended up knocking each other over as Tony C. ambled safely to first. Conigliaro hadn't been fond of the pitch, leaving the batter's box while Hamilton's first lob was on its way (it bounced before reaching the plate), and then getting fooled by a fastball on Hamilton's second pitch.

Comments

[Steve Meyer]

This is amazing!! I have been fascinated with Tony Horton since I was very young, actually rooting for Willie Horton as a Tiger fan. Tony was the ultimate 'what if?', a budding star felled at the start of his prime by depression. Plus he never allowed Topps to make a baseball card of him. He just disappeared, and years later, I wondered if my memory of him was childhood whimsy. But to see this is absolutely amazing! Thanks for the post!!

Steve Meyer