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This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Brushback pitch" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In baseball, a brushback pitch is one thrown in such a way that the batter must move back to avoid it. It differs from the beanball in that the intent is not to hit the batter, but to force him to back off the plate, and be wary for the rest of the at bat. It is most commonly thrown as a fastball, although sometimes as a curveball. Play-by-play announcers will sometimes call a high brushback pitch as being "high and tight." Some announcers also call it "chin music"

Hitters will often crowd the plate in order to have a better swing at pitches on the outside half of the plate. The hitters hope that the pitcher will be scared to throw inside because they might hit the batter. The brushback helps a pitcher to "reclaim" the corners of the strike zone by forcing the batter to stand farther away.

While controversial, many people knowledgeable about baseball acknowledge that the brushback is an important part of pitching, and a part of baseball. Most pitchers who make extensive use of brushback are not trying to hit the players, or cause bad feeling; they feel that it is their right to throw balls inside, even off the plate inside. However, there have always been some headhunters who attempt to hit the other player, thus giving a general bad name to the inside pitch.

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