curveball

Or curve ball

[kurv-bawl]

noun

Baseball.

1. a pitch with a downward spin that causes the ball to drop and veer as it approaches home plate, away from the side from which it was thrown.

   He started perfecting his curveball during his junior year in high school.

Word History and Origins

Origin of curveball¹

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

Example Sentences

Then, after an intentional one-out walk to Andrew McCutchen, Nick Yorke went after a first-pitch curveball for a two-run double down the line.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead of leaning predominantly on fastballs and sweepers as he did earlier this year, Ohtani threw the kitchen sink at the Reds; using his curveball a career-high 23 times and his splitter a season-high 11 times.

From Los Angeles Times

It was the latest example of the 37-year-old left-hander’s newfound recipe for success: Hitting both sides of the plate with his fastball, leaning heavily on a slider that generated five whiffs and four outs, and mixing in his trademark curveball and newfangled splitter to keep an entirely right-handed Reds lineup off-balance in a 72-pitch outing.

From Los Angeles Times

With Ramón Laureano on second with two outs, Snell thought he had struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. on a curveball in the dirt.

From Los Angeles Times

After a one-out sacrifice fly from Teoscar Hernández, Cease reloaded the bases with another free pass to Andy Pages, and followed that with a hanging curveball to Michael Conforto in a 3-and-0 count that had run full.

From Los Angeles Times

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