PARTICIPATION IN SCORING ASPECT IS STRICTLY OPTIONAL SO FEEL FREE TO FIND THE CACHE AND WATCH ALL THE ACTION FROM THE GRANDSTAND. GAME ON!
Welcome to the 2021 Home Run Derby! Every Saturday morning a new cache will be released. After it is published you will have roughly a week to find it and select a slugger to represent you in that week's edition of the home run derby. Select one player and include his name in your log. The number of home runs he hits the following week (starting the Friday after cache publication) is your score; don't worry, we will handle all the scoring.
The series will be cumulative points from April through September with a week off over the All Star break. The "catch" is every player must be unique, so FTF has choice of any player, second to find will have second pick and so on. The cache hiders will also be playing so the cache owner will select fifth each week.
This is week 15 of the series (15 of 24). All scoring will take place Friday, July 23rd through Thurday, July 29th.
Curveballs
A curveball is a breaking pitch that has more movement than just about any other pitch. It is thrown slower and with more overall break than a slider, and it is used to keep hitters off-balance. When executed correctly by a pitcher, a batter expecting a fastball will swing too early and over the top of the curveball.
A curveball can be thrown with a number of different grips. Some pitchers possess curveballs with a sweeping, sideways trajectory, while other curveballs break straight downward. (These are known as 12-to-6 curveballs.)
The slider and the curveball are sometimes confused because they generally have the same purpose -- to deceive the hitter with spin and movement away from a pitcher's arm-side. (When a pitch seems to toe the line between the two, it is referred to in slang as a "slurve.")
A curveball is thrown by a pitcher with a wrist snap and spin.
A curveball that doesn't break as much as a pitcher hopes is referred to as a "hanging curve" or a "hanger" and is much easier for the batter to hit because of its straight trajectory and sub-fastball velocity.