Chicago White Sox batter Tadahito Iguchi (15) of Japan hits a three-run home run off of Boston Red Sox starting pitcher David Wells

The origin of the curve ball is shrouded in mystery. Some believe the claims of one William “Candy” Cummings who says he invented the pitch in the 1870’s. More likely, it was a host of pitchers who figured out early on that if the ball was gripped a certain way and released with a snap of the wrist, it would move precipitously away from or toward the batter, depending on which side of the plate the hitter is standing.

There has even been something of an ongoing controversy as to whether or not the ball curves at all. As late as 1941 Life Magazine published a series of pictures which purported to show that the curve ball is actually an optical illusion, that the ball doesn’t move.

This is silly of course, as any slow-motion camera will clearly show. But even knowing the physics of the curve ball doesn’t help Major League hitters much. All they know is that when thrown by a master, they’re in deep trouble at the plate.

For a period of time, the curve ball fell out of favor with Major League pitchers. During the 1980’s and 90’s, not only did pitchers become more enamored of the split fingered delivery as an “out” pitch but umpires were refusing to call the pitch for a strike – death to curve ballers whose pitch relied on umps not giving up too soon on the diving, slanting ball that in the hands of a master would cross the plate at both a downward and sideways angle.

Then, the wheel turned again as it is apt to do in a game that has had such longevity and the curve was back in style. It says a lot about this particular pitch that the curve ball has achieved iconic status among both hitters and pitchers to the point where it actually has numerous nicknames. It is “Uncle Charlie” or “The Yellowhammer” or “Captain Hook.” And its modern masters include some of the best pitchers in the game such as Oakland’s Barry Zito, the White Sox own Freddie Garcia, and the ageless playoff warrior for Boston, David Wells.

Wells was on the hill for Boston last night enjoying a 4-0 lead in the fifth inning thanks largely to his control of a devastating curve ball. When released, Wells’ curve starts off head high and out of the strike zone. By the time it crosses the plate, it has dropped to the knees and traveled a good 18 inches or more which usually causes the hapless batter to freeze like a side of beef in cold storage.

The pitch had puzzled White Sox hitters for 4 full innings. Then Carl Everett singled sharply to right center on a low outside fastball and Aaron Rowand got a lucky break and made contact with Wells’ “Uncle Charlie.” Rowand was fooled on the pitch and swung way too early, the ball hitting off the very end of the bat and was softly popped directly down the left field line. Bosox left fielder Manny Ramirez had been shading Rowand slightly toward center field so was out of position to field the ball and could only watch helplessly as the ball dropped inches fair for a freak double. Everett, running hard and intelligently, guessed that Ramirez wouldn’t be able to catch up to the ball and scored standing up. That made the score 4-1 and the White Sox were in business.

The next batter was catcher A.J. Pierzynski, hitting hero of game one but badly over matched by the lefty slants of Wells. The first pitch Wells threw was a real yakker of a curve, so devastating that A.J. actually flinched thinking the ball was going to hit him. Instead, it dropped gently over the outside corner of the plate for a strike. Nevertheless, A.J. battled hard, fouling off a few good pitches, until he was finally able to ground the ball softly to the right side of the diamond allowing Rowand to take third. Joe Crede then stepped up big and with the Boston infield playing back conceding the run, the White Sox third sacker lashed a ground ball “seeing eye” single to center scoring Rowand making it a 4-2 ball game. If the infield had been playing in to cut off the run at the plate, the ball may have been fielded by second baseman Bill Mueller. As it is, we’ll never know.

What followed next was painful for Red Sox fans to watch as it happened and also for White Sox fans in retrospect. Juan Uribe, badly fooled on another brilliant Wells curve ball, hit the ball off the end of the bat and sent a wildly spinning masse shot of a ground ball slowly toward second baseman Tony Graffanino. Tony “G” was a fan favorite and beloved teammate for the 3 plus years he played for the Chisox and had been a reliable second baseman for the Carmines, making only three errors since being picked up in a trade with Kansas City in July. But the angels who sat on the shoulders of the Red Sox last year during their championship run must have been on a coffee break because as Uribe’s grounder reached Graffanino, the ball scooted under his glove and into short right field. What was at least one sure out became an error that allowed Crede to take third.

Still, the Bosox were ahead 4-2 and Wells had proven himself a battler in his 28 previous playoff starts. Sure enough, he induced left handed hitting Scott Podsednik to pop up weakly to third which took the sacrifice fly off the table for the White Sox. If they were going to inch closer and get Crede home from third, it would be up to second baseman Tadahito Iguchi to hit safely.

“Da Gooch” had proven himself an unbelievable clutch hitter all year long. Not only were 11 of his 15 home runs hit to either tie or win ballgames but his batting average from the 7th inning on was a white-hot .340. Clearly, the Japanese import liked to bat with the game on the line.

Wells’ first offering was off the plate. Then he snapped off his best curve ball of the game, a real jelly roll of a pitch that started in the left hand hitter’s batters box and dropped like a brick over the inside corner of the plate for a called strike.

What happened next was not exactly “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” that Bobby Thompson’s legendary 1951 home run became known as but the noise made at U.S. Cellular field could at least be heard in Rockford.

Iguchi watched as Wells threw another great curve, not quite as good as the previous pitch but still a real biter, burrowing toward the inside part of the plate like a scared mole when Iguchi stepped slightly “in the bucket,” moving his left foot backward just enough so that his hips flew open and allowed the bat to move through the hitting zone with lightening speed. Ball met bat and Iguchi met history. The ball sailed on a line drive over the fence for a shocking three run homer and the White Sox had surged ahead 5-4.

After the game, Wells allowed that he had “hung” the ball. This is clearly not the case as replays show that it was a good pitch, well located and that Iguchi simply won the battle. Pitchers hate hitters (and vice versa) and usually refuse to give them any credit for winning the most lovely of one-on-one competitions in sport – the eternal struggle between the hurler and the hitter.

The game was far from over at that point what with White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle getting slapped around by the top of the Red Sox lineup with alarming regularity. The dangerous duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez had come through in the first and third innings accounting for 3 of the 4 runs scored by the Bosox and Jason Veritek owned the Sox hurler going 2 for 2 and an RBI.

But Buehrle hung on grimly for two more innings as Red Sox hitters hit cannon shot after cannon shot only to have their efforts thwarted when the ball ended up being hit almost directly at White Sox fielders. Buehrle left at the end of the seventh to be replaced by the Chisox newly minted closer, Bobby Jenks.

I profiled Jenks here, saying that he had “the heart of a lion and the soul of a serial killer.” Bobby didn’t disappoint as he mowed down the Red Sox allowing only an 8th inning walk to Trot Nixon and a solid double by Tony Graffanino in the 9th. Tony G’s hit with one out could have redeemed him in the eyes of history and Boston fans but alas, Jenks threw a perfect cut fastball that Johnny Damon popped up weakly to Pierzynski in foul territory for the second out and then induced shortstop Edgar Renteria to ground out to his counterpart Uribe to end the game and send the White Sox to Boston with a 2-0 series lead.

Boston has been a magical franchise through the years and has proven that it can come back from the brink of disaster time and time again. In the last two years, they are a spectacular 8-1 in elimination games. And they’ve come back twice since 1999 when down 2-0 in the Division Series. Clearly, with the Red Sox nation behind them, the Carmines feel capable of any miracle.

But this time, it may be different. The Red Sox are putting knuckleballer Tim Wakefield out on the mound for game 3, a pitcher the White Sox have hit well. And with Freddie Garcia going for the Chisox – a proven big game pitcher who has been throwing the ball well recently – the White Sox have an excellent chance to sweep the World Champs.

All depends on Wakefield and the vagaries of the knuckleball – a pitch that even the pitcher doesn’t know exactly what route it will take to the plate. If the wind is wrong or if Wakefield’s release is just a bit off, it could be a very short stint for the veteran hurler.

One thing is certain; all the White Sox have to do to advance to the League Championship Series is win one of the next three games. Given the depth and talent on the Chisox pitching staff, it seems inevitable that the current champs will go down to defeat while thinking bitterly about both the Graffanino error and the thunder that shook northern Illinois as Iguchi’s blast disappeared into the night.

UPDATE

Laurence Simon has locked up his kitties for a while to blog about bloggers rooting for their respective teams in the Division Series.

Go here and sign up to be recognized. And if you’re a White Sox fan, please go as we are horribly outnumbered by both Bosox blogs and Bronx Scum Bag fans.