With Patrick Reusse’s urging, I’ve been voting for Pascual, but I must admit that I knew little about the Cuban righthander’s career this summer, when we were putting together stories for Bert Blyleven’s Hall of Fame induction. I started interviewing folks about Blyleven’s legendary curve ball, and the ones who remembered, were quick to mention his predecessor.
“The best curve ball in history, and a guy who gets overlooked, is Camilo Pascual,” White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone said.
Hawk Harrelson heard us talking and launched into a story:
“We had a rainy day at the old Met, and Camilo did something I’d never seen somebody do: He struck out three guys all sitting on their butt. Rocky Colavito was hitting third, I was hitting fourth, and Jim Gentile was hitting fifth. The ground was wet, and we got out there so far—wham! Right down on our butt.”
“and Camilo did something I’d never seen somebody do”...and you still haven’t, because it nevah happened™. (™: Tracer Meth-a-done)
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1. The Long Arm of Rudy Law Posted: November 11, 2011 at 03:18 PM (#3991123)I'm too young for the era, but it's a line I've seen and read repeated many times. Don Zimmer, of all people, has said that Pascual had the greatest curve ball he'd ever seen.
However, even if those claims are a bit hyperbolic, he belongs in the Twins Hall of Fame. They recently put Aguilera and Gagne in; it's probably time to remember the Twins existed before '87.
it was quite a pitch--a pure 12 to 6 curveball. When the centerfield cameras first became used in the early-mid 60s, his ball looked like it fell off a table when it reached the plate
Of course a week later we played the same team in an American Legion "rematch" game, and this time they knew what to look for, and scored 8 runs in the first 9 batters. I can still see balls flying over my head in that Washington Ellipse high sky.
But yeah, that Pascual curve was about the purest 12-to-6 drop you could ever see. His career went downhill in his early 30's, probably due to an injury brought about by overuse, but from about 1958 through 1963 he was among the very best pitchers in the AL.
I remember that line, and I got the book as a kid when it came out.
The only game that I found with these three playing against Pascual at the Met was July 21, 1964. The batting order was Colavito 3rd, Gentile 4th and Hawk 5th. Rocky went 3-5 with no K's, Gentile went 2-4 with 2 K's and Hawk went 1-3 with no K's in a 5-4 A's win over Camilo.
Other than these differences, it's a great story, Ken!
He did say it was raining. I'm over 9000% sure it's BS, and I don't like to defend Hawk, but it's possible the game was stopped before it became official.
EDIT.....How did I miss 10? Darn.
A perusal of the 1964 game logs suggests Pascual didn't miss any starts;
a perusal of the schedule suggests the Twins didn't get any rain outs vs. the As (no obvious gaps in an As series);
Pascual started in an official game in every As series which is unlikely if he'd started a rained out game earlier in the series.
It's not impossible. And of course it might have been Gentile, Hawk and somebody else or some other close variant.
the 1964 game logs show that Pasqual started 6 games against the A's that year and didn't strike out the side in any inning, or get 3 consecutive K's at any time. But still, good story, Hawk...
He was throwing so hard (comparatively) that my dad was convinced he still threw in winter ball.
High Temp: 93F
Low Temp: 70F
Average Temp: 80F
Dewpoint: 68F
Wind Speed: 8.3 Knots
Precipitation Amount: 0.31 Inches
Snow Depth: n/a
Observations: Rain/Drizzle, Thunder
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