04-06 Chris Haney

4-06-06 Insider.qxd 03/31/2006 2:44 PM Page 1 Orange County Review inSIDEr, April 6, 2006 i Pitch and catch n S t sounds odd, but Chris Haney that goes the other way…for him, a wasn't really known for his pitching lefty, it moves left to the outside of a his first three years in high school. right handed batter. I It all boils down to physics, how the "I pitched but I didn't pitch a lot," he says. "I was never the best guy on the spinning seams of the ball interact I team, pitching, arguably until my sen- with the air. A four-seam fastball will D ior year in high school." move more than a two-seam fastball What he liked to do was hit, post- because the fingers snapping off four ing a .400+ average. "I really liked seams will make the ball spin more. hitting. I was never really strong A straight fastball spins backwards. enough to hit a lot of home runs. But A curveball spins forwards, "the direct E I did okay. I always hit third in the opposite of a fastball spin, so it's lineup." fighting the air to go down." Aha, says ROUNDING THIRD, It was that magical senior year the clueless reporter. A curve ball is really a ball that drops, "a ball that if when he realized he could go further r as a pitcher than as a hitter. "I don't you had a clock, the ball would start think the reason I made it was at 12 o'clock and end up at 6." Above, Haney and his catcher do a victory dance after shutting out because I was left handed but it A change-up is just that…a Oakland in Kansas City. At left, top photo, Haney demonstrates a "four certainly made the path a lit- change in speed. "Hitters seam" fastball. His index and middle fingers have contact with four seams. Left bottom, On a "two seam" fastball, his fingers have less con- EADED FOR OME tle easier," he readily identify pitches by arm H H admits. speed," explains Chris. tact with the seams; the ball does not spin as much. In the major "If they see a full- Left photos by Phil Audibert leagues, Chris effort fastball It happened sometime during the sum- Top photos, Chris says he hit "like and the ball very difficult pitch to throw and virtu- face a ball player and you can just go mer between his junior and senior year Haney looks out every other pitcher. I comes out 90 miles ally impossible to hit when it's work- after him and be aggressive and at Orange County High School. Chris an hour and you throw ing." And therein lies the problem. they're not going to handle you, and at the southwest didn't embarrass myself. Haney went from being a 130-pound skin- mountains from I could handle a bat. I the full effort on the next "Playing catch with those guys, you then there's other times where you I ny kid to a muscular 170-pound young man. the deck of the pitch and the ball comes out can't even catch them. You'll be can throw a bowling ball on the might have had four or five hits He added 10 miles per hour to his fastball, "lit- new home he's 75 miles per hour, it's tough for standing there and the ball will hit you ground and they're going to drive it in the big leagues." But on the erally overnight." And something else building on land them to handle." The trick is, in the neck, shin, it's just dancing, no over the fence." mound, it was different. happened…upstairs, in his head. He had sharper that's been in his He picks up a baseball and "You hold it such a way that it rhyme or reason." Chris makes the So, when Chris Haney faced Ken focus. He had a goal. He knew what he wanted to family since attempts to explain his vari- comes out slower." point, "The limit on those guys is the Griffey, Jr. that day he pitched a com- be…a big league baseball player. 1912. ous pitches to this clue- A slider is a rather ability of the catcher. If it's really plete game shutout, he was not par- Photos by less reporter. He had mystifying pitch. "I working, it's hard on everybody… the ticularly intimidated. "You realize that "Something just clicked. I just matured," says a Phil Audibert three: a fastball, a never threw one," umpire's getting hit; the catcher's get- they put their pants on the same way poised and articulate Haney from his living room At left, Haney curve ball, and a he says, adding, ting hit." I do, although on the other side of the couch in Barboursville. "It was fun." A faraway look pitching in a changeup. "A fast- "it's basically like Catchers are the other half of this coin you realize that their level is comes into his eyes as he remembers that "dream snow storm in ball basically is as hard throwing a football or equation, and pitchers work hard to somewhat higher than most," he says year" when he led the 1987 Hornet baseball team, a turning the radio up on a build cooperative relationships with with a shrug. "If you're competitive the Yankee Stadium as you can throw it," he bunch of kids who had played ball together since on New York's dial." But he cautions that them. "You can't go out there and be drive is there. You probably want to explains the obvious. For Little League in Gordonsville, to the state champi- opening day in the hand should not twist. on two different pages. You need to beat him more than beat the guy pre- P him that would be about 88 onships. "We lost one game. We lost the last game 1996. Chris "Kids try to do that but typically be in a rhythm and for the game to vious or behind him. Guys like Ken miles per hour, although he has we played," he says without a hint of bitterness. remembers the h thrown in the low 90s. Some pitchers wind up hurting their arms." The flow," cautions Chris. "I tended to Griffey, you know how you've got to shortstop wore a A That year is a fond memory for Haney. It was i p effect is "if they lifted up a manhole excel when I threw to certain catch- pitch them. It's almost easier some- l who throw faster than that, throw it also the last year he spent at home in Barboursville ski mask, the sec- cover up halfway, and it was at an ers, and I really struggled when I times to go with a plan with those r straight. But, Haney adds "if you're until just recently. In between time, Chris Haney ond baseman had i angle it would hit like a deflector threw to others." guys because you're more aware of A throwing 88 miles an hour, it had bet- took a wild ride around the bases in the world of gloves on both l shield and take a right…a hard pitch." Haney says studying the hitters what they can do." B ter move. It better appear to go one hands. "It snowed u Using the analogy of the clock again, and watching film is a big part of the Baseball is our national past time. Major League Baseball. 6 place and end up somewhere else." hard all day. It y , One might make the argument that baseball, as a d He feels his best pitch was a "cut- a slider starts at the center of the dial job. He doesn't watch much baseball The sound of the cracking bat is as was freezing." 2 ter," a fastball that moved in on a and suddenly dives towards 5. on TV, "but I would watch ESPN if the much a harbinger of springtime as career, would be a no-brainer for anyone named i b right-handed batter, jamming him. The hardest pitch to hit, and to team that I was going to pitch next the blooming forsythia. Haney in Barboursville. "We have it in our blood," 0 0 The strategy is, "You spend a lot of catch, is a knuckle ball. "A knuckle- was on to see who was hot and who For Chris Haney it was his life for e 6 time on the label of their bat." He also baller's hand does like a parachute wasn't, because baseball is a series 20-plus years. It still is. "I still get a r when they throw it; they're shot put- of ebbs and flows, guys are hot, guys kick just playing softball in had a sinker which is a similar pitch, t ting a baseball," explains Chris. "It is a are cold. There's times when you Charlottesville." “I look at this as the hallowed ground of my family. I don't plan on going anywhere." 4-06-06 Insider.qxd 03/31/2006 2:47 PM Page 2 Orange County Review inSIDEr, April 6, 2006 Orange County Review inSIDEr, April 6, 2006 confirms Chris. "I'm the third vote and I'm going one way or the other it seems on every issue. I've dealt with pressure my whole life so the His uncle, G.L.

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