However, Sewell then announced that he was going to throw the pitch again, and Williams clobbered it for a home run. Sewell obliged, and Williams fouled off the pitch. Williams challenged Sewell to throw the eephus. Īfter appearing in over 300 major-league games, Rip Sewell gave up only one career home run off the eephus, to Ted Williams in the 1946 MLB All-Star Game. Sewell went on to win 20 games with the pitch in 1943. ![]() Sewell's earliest recorded use of the pitch came in a game against the Boston Braves at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh on June 1, 1943, although as early as the spring training season of 1942 Sewell may have been experimenting with the pitch. 1 Development and use in Major League Baseballĭevelopment and use in Major League Baseball.When asked what it meant, Van Robays replied, "'Eephus ain't nothing, and that's a nothing pitch." Although the origin is not known for certain, "eephus" may come from the Hebrew word אפס (pronounced EF-ess), meaning " zero". According to manager Frankie Frisch, the pitch was named by outfielder Maurice Van Robays. The practice then lay dormant for nearly 40 years until Sewell resurrected it. Its invention is attributed to Rip Sewell of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1940s, although according to historians John Thorn and John Holway, the first pitcher to throw a big blooper pitch was Bill Phillips, who played in the National League on and off from 1890 through 1903. It is considered a trick pitch because, in comparison to normal baseball pitches, which run from 70 to 100 miles per hour (110 to 160 km/h), an eephus pitch appears to move in slow motion at 55 mph (89 km/h) or less, sometimes as low as 35 mph (56 km/h). The corresponding slow velocity bears more resemblance to a slow-pitch softball delivery than to a traditional baseball pitch. The eephus pitch is thrown overhand like most pitches, but is characterized by an unusual, high-arcing trajectory. The delivery from the pitcher has very low velocity and often catches the hitter off-guard. This image depicts the path of an eephus pitch thrown by pitcher Rip Sewell in the 1946 MLB All-Star Game, which was hit for a home run by Ted Williams.Īn eephus pitch (also spelled ephus) in baseball is a very high-arcing off-speed pitch.
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