Softball in JAPAN informative read

[Gambler Bob]

AHHHHHHHHH!!!! I know exactly what you mean. Mike Piecknik. That video was taken by Lori Baird Cook (or Cook Baird??) while they were playing catch. Peaches (his nickname) is from Victoria BC Canada and is in every HoF imaginable and one incredible human being. I love the guy. He is a lefty and they some how flipped the video around making it look like he did both hands but, I can assure you they didn't. They did that to show it from both sides for visual learners. It can be hard for a lefty to learn from a RHP, and vice versa. So, when she posted the video she flipped it somehow.

In his day, and I pitched against him more towards the end of his career, he was not only one of the fastest in the game but also one of the most dominant. And, he didn't have a major crow hop like most today. There's a few games on YouTube of him pitching. One game was him vs. Mike White for the World title final, it was broken into 5 separate videos for the entire game, with announcers and replays. To see Peaches vs. White look up "I992 ISC Final NHCD vs. Payless" you'll find it. That year, Peaches' team lost their first game and went through the losers bracket of a 48 team tournament and made the final, losing to Sioux City and Mike White in the final. Sioux City could best be described as the Oklahoma team of men's fastpitch. There's not enough words to say how good they were, pitching and hitting. Peaches pitched the team all the way through the loser's bracket, including a 1-0 win over yours truly on a passed ball. That was 1992, my first World tournament at 20 yrs old, and truth be told... we could STILL be playing that game and wouldn't have won. I think we had 1 or 2 hits. We weren't scoring off him. There's another game on YouTube: NHCD (Sioux City again) vs. Payless where the 2 teams met earlier in the year in Vancouver. I won't spoil the results for you if you wanna watch them.

Pretty sure that must be the video that I remember. I had no idea the video was flipped, nor that the guy was a legendary pitcher.

Thanks for sharing your stories about the history of men's fastpitch. I find your stories to be interesting.