"And that guy's tough on Zo right there, that sinkerball down and away," said manager Joe Maddon, whose team is 50-36.

Interestingly, notwithstanding Harrelson's contributions on defense, only Seaver's Mets in the NL turned fewer double plays than the Padres (144 to 135); on both coasts, the pitcher was forsaken by his proverbial "best friend." For a control pitcher like Dave Roberts who relied on his sinkerball and had only 135 strikeouts (as compared to Seaver's 289, tops in the NL), the erratic fielding surely had a devastating effect.

Being a sinkerball pitcher, you kind of live off whether or not they hit the hole or hit it at your infielders, and they were able to string together a few of those in the holes.

An instructive case from the 1930s was that of the veteran sinkerball pitcher, Elon Chester Hogsett, a reliever for the 1935 World Champion Detroit Tigers.

BALTIMORE - The momentum the Boston Red Sox brought with them from the West Coast was no match for a rookie with a wicked sinkerball and a torrid fastball.

Javy Lopez said he doesn't like playing at the Trop because he's a sinkerball pitcher and the ball squirts through the infield.

"It's humbling and I feel a little honored, like I don't know if I should be there," said Masterson, a 22-year-old sinkerball specialist with an engaging personality.