But to your question. Vaseline on a baseball will allow the ball to come out of a pitcher's hand without friction from the fingers. Thus enabling a pitcher to throw a knuckle ball without a knuckle ball wind up. Most knuckle balls are thrown at about 70-75 MPH. A spitball (or Vaseline ball if you will) can be thrown at 90+ MPH but with the radical movement.
Lester didn't throw many of them last night but I can guarantee you he won't throw any next game he pitches.
Vaseline helps make the ball slippery and makes breaking pitches break more. However, think about it. It's cold in Boston and it was a night game. When it's cold, pitchers tend to have less grip on the ball. The last thing Lester wants is less grip. So he used bullfrog sunscreen and resin. Sunscreen alone makes the ball slippery but when a pitcher mixes both the sunscreen and resin, it adds more grip to the ball.
Adam Wainwright admitted to using sunscreen and resin and the Cardinals most likely declined to comment (Except a minor leaguer) because they do it too.
Wainwright acknowledges at times using a mix of resin and sunscreen to enhance his grip. Just as significant, the combo applied to his pitching arm helps prevent sweat rolling onto his hand.
"There's a difference in pine tar from oil and grease, things that make the ball sink, cut or do different stuff," he said. "That's different than doctoring a ball. If one of our pitchers gets a scuff on the side of a ball he can do all kinds of things with it. An emery board or something like that is totally different.''
Manager Mike Matheny declined comment on the matter but the team is among those believing the use of substance mixed with resin to better grip the ball is widespread if not universal.
It really doesn't.. to affect the actual path of a ball you have to almost tear it to pieces.. the real reason they got rid of the spitball had nothing to do with an unfair advantage but rather for safety reasons.. the fact that dirt, spit, sweat etc. made a ball hard to see towards evening (remember no night games) and the bad publicity related to the death of ray chapman spurred the pitch to be outlawed. You're not going to all of a sudden throw an unhittable pitch using anything like that.. in fact I would think it would make pitching and fielding harder because the ball might slip out of your hands..
Successful pitching depends on deception.... deception is achieved by subtle changes in the ball's speed or movement from one plane to another.
Movement is achieved by imparting spin on the ball with the fingertips..The reason gus like Greg Maddux and Mariano Rivera were so successful for so long was because they were able to get the ball to spin differently while using the exact same arm motion..
A "spit ball" or any ball that is "lubricated" will slip off the fingertips and spin a lot less than a regularly thrown ball. In short, a ball with rapid, tight backspin will travel along a straighter path than a spit ball...which appears to "flop" out of the pitcher's hand and drop significantly.
people say vaseline will help put a little more break and movement on his pitches but give him less control. With the weather it was hard enough to have decent control of pitches last night. Using vasoline would of completly thrown him off.
My guess, and I'm just guessing is if there was something on his glove I think there is a better chance it was something like pine tar. Colder night at the ballpark he might have had a little tar in there just to put the slightest bit of stick to his finger tips to give him a sure grip on the ball.
My thoughts exactly. Someone said you can make the ball do "magical" things by doctoring it. Sounds a little silly to me.
It'll help him throw a good sinker.
It can put more spin on the ball
Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester was accused on social media of using vaseline in his pitching glove.
The topic of my question is not about whether or not he cheated, but: How does vaseline help a baseball pitcher if it is used?
