It was a pure baseball moment.
The 42-year-old veteran, Rich Hill, grabbing a baseball in the middle of Tuesday night's Red Sox vs. Yankees game at Fenway Park and showing a pitcher 19 years younger than him, Brayan Bello, how to throw a curveball.
The image - which was caught on camera by the NESN broadcast - of the duo hit home, so much so that it was one of the topics broached to Bello Wednesday night after his outing against the Yankees.
"I’ve been practicing my curveball the past few days and I was able to throw it today twice against lefties so that’s a pitch I’m going to add to my repertoire in the future," noted Bello after he gave up three runs over five innings in the Sox' 5-3 loss to New York.
Hill, who throws his curveball more than any other pitch (with the offering's spin rate residing in the 74th percentile in all of MLB pitchers), told WEEI.com the get-together with Bello came from the rookie's own curiousity.
"We just grabbed a ball and I asked him, ‘What are you thinking when you are going to throw it?’ We had talked before about other stuff. Mentality. Committing to a pitch before you throw no matter how you feel," Hill explained. "Being tired physically is OK, but mentally you can’t be tired. So I think that’s a huge step for him to take as a player. It’s important to understand the mentality of pitching out here. It’s not going to be any easier. But you have to understand what it takes."
Hill emphasized to Bello how perfect a big-league pitcher had to be due to the makeup of the balls, using the analogy of thinner golf clubs (blades) when trying to make his point.
"I talked to him about the grip and other certain things you have to do to throw it correctly, especially with major league baseballs," Hill said. "They aren’t like big-seamed baseballs, so it’s not like you can get away with things. Throwing these baseballs is like playing golf with blades.
Minor league baseballs are historically easier to throw and you can get away with things. Major league baseballs you can’t. A major league baseball is like playing golf with blades. Anybody who has hit blades before knows you have to be pretty damn good. ... It should be interesting."
So far, Bello - who throws a fastball, changeup and slider with almost equal frequency - seems to be pretty damn good. That's a step in the right direction when going down this new path to a new pitch.
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