ALCS

I watch most of my Angel games on MLB.com The archives are great, over the winter I'll be able to comfort myself with the best games, like Jered Weaver's debut.

I didn't realize until recently just how cool the site is, like the MLB gameday feature. It gives pitch by pitch results with velocity and break. There are 2 velocity numbers, looks like the speed leaving the pitcher's hand and the pitch crossing the plate. The second number is generally a little over 10 mph slower than the first.

I'm not so sure about the break, though. Looking at a pitch by Verlander, I see 100.5 for velocity and 15.5" for break. The next pitch is 81.5 and 8.3" for break.

So his fastball is breaking more than his curve? I think not. I'm not sure what's going on here.

I'm glad to find out that I threw harder in my prime than I originally thought. I probably could have hit 85 on a major league gun. The radar guns I've been clocked on were pointing at the target, not at my release. I was in the low to mid 70's. The radar gun you see on TV is reporting speed at pitcher's release.

So I could have thrown as hard as Jamie Moyer. Now if only I had his control...