Fastball

The Bad News Bears In Breaking Training is the comic and poignant second-in-the-series of adventures with the pint-sized sandlot ballplayers initiated with the smash success, The Bad News Bears. The picture picks up the Bears' career a year after their infamous second-place finish in the North Valley League. Faced with a chance to play the Houston Toros for a shot at the Hapenese champs, they devise a way to get Texas to play at the famed Astrodome. On their pilgrimage to Houston, the Bears gain a new coach, dump that coach, add a new pitcher who can't get his fastball over the plate, find another coach who shows him how it's done, and go on to a come-back victory with all eyes on Japan.

A Randy Johnson fastball brings the heat especially when a speeding truck is involved.

Ever wonder why certain people root for certain ball clubs, or why a baseball fan's sex drive fluctuates with the ups and downs of his favorite team? As the quest to hit all 30 ballparks in one season continues, our basecrawlers use their stop at Petco Park to take a look at the physiology and psychology of fan behavior. The San Diego Padres are playing Daren's beloved Mets, and our native New Yorker sees his mood swing like a batter taking a hack at a Jake Peavy fastball.

It's time for the MLB playoffs at the GOOMF. Baseball reporter Jim Ridgeway joins the guys to get yelled at and explain that Tim Wakefield's knuckleball is just a hoax.

ESPN Video: Why do hitters hit slow pitches so much farther than a fastball?

ESPN Video: Buster Olney blogs about the impact of the cut fastball on offense

ESPN Video: Buster Olney blogs about the impact of the cut fastball on offense

ESPN Video: Is it possible for a batter to see a 90 mph fastball?

MLB Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. shares the experience of going up against a fastball like that of Jimmy Morris, the real life pitcher who inspired the film The Rookie.

You might not remember major leaguer Mark Littell (most likely because he s primarily known for being a mediocre Kansas City Royals pitcher back in the late 70 s), but this commercial for his athletic support product The Nutty Buddy , is pretty unforgettable. In less than two minutes, Littell sexually harasses a sweet-looking high school girl named Lacey, randomly tells us he s not a transvestite, repeatedly refers to his cajonies , hoists himself atop two Igloo water coolers wearing tight spandex shorts and a backwards batting helmet, and voluntarily takes a 100-mph fastball right in the junk, all to demonstrate the effectiveness of what is ostensibly an average athletic cup, and all under the watchful gaze of Masa Koyanagi, the Asian trainer whose purpose is never clearly explained. The Nutty Buddy comes in three sizes: The Boss , The Hog , and El Jefe . I don t know what it means, but some reason I feel like I should purchase the Spanish one.

Jamaican born Justin Masterson talks about being the 'King of the Fastball'.

Superman sure has a great fastball.