Clayton Kershaw’s curveball is one of the nastiest pitches in baseball, and even comes with its own Vin Scully-crafted nickname: “Public Enemy No. 1.”
How good is Kershaw’s hook? Entering play Sunday, he had thrown it over 2,000 times[1] in big-league games and it had never been hit for a home run, according to PitchF/X.
Giants infielder Brandon Hicks turned on Kershaw’s curve[2] and crushed it an estimated 414 feet into the left-field bullpen at Dodger Stadium.
The homer was the first ever on a pitch that registered as a curveball by the pitch-tracking system. But as it turns out, a couple of Kershaw’s lesser curves showed up as sliders on PitchF/X.
Kershaw took a no-decision in the Giants’ 7-4 extra-innings win. But besides Hicks’ historic homer, the Dodgers’ ace was his typical excellent self, striking out nine and walking none while allowing three runs over seven innings.
References
- ^ he had thrown it over 2,000 times (www.fangraphs.com)
- ^ Brandon Hicks turned on Kershaw’s curve (m.mlb.com)
