Cutter

Cutter may refer to:

Tools

People with the surname

Companies

Sport

Fictional characters

Other uses

Cutter (baseball)

In baseball, a cutter, or cut fastball, is a type of fastball which breaks slightly toward the pitcher's glove side as it reaches home plate. This pitch is somewhere between a slider and a fastball, as it is usually thrown faster than a slider but with more motion than a typical fastball. Some pitchers use a cutter as a way to prevent hitters from expecting their regular fastballs. A common technique used to throw a cutter is to use a four-seam fastball grip with the baseball set slightly off center in the hand. When a batter is able to hit a cutter pitch, it often results in soft contact and an easy out, due to the pitch's movement keeping the ball away from the bat's sweet spot. The cutter is typically 2–5 mph slower than a pitcher's four-seam fastball. In 2010, the average pitch classified as a cutter by PITCHf/x thrown by a right-handed pitcher was 88.6 mph; the average four-seamer was 92.1 mph.

Professional practitioners

The New York Yankees' former closer Mariano Rivera, one of the foremost practitioners of the cutter, made the pitch famous though the pitch itself has been around since at least the 1950s.

Cutter (G.I. Joe)

Cutter is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's hovercraft pilot and debuted in 1984.

Profile

His real name is Skip A. Stone, and his rank is that of Coast Guard lieutenant junior grade O-2. Cutter was born in Kinsley, Kansas.

Cutter's primary military specialty is hovercraft captain and his secondary military specialty is special services (he coached the women's swimming team at Annapolis). After trying unsuccessfully to get into Annapolis for two years, Cutter opted for the Coast Guard Academy at New London, Connecticut instead. Although his home town is in the central United States, Cutter always wanted a life at sea. When he found out the Joe Team had no members from the Coast Guard, he pressured the Coast Guard, until they pulled strings to get him on the team and out of their hair.

Cutter wears a cap similar to the one worn by the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

Toys

Cutter was first released as an action figure in 1984, packaged with the W.H.A.L.E. hovercraft. His hat sports the Red Sox logo. A new version of Cutter was released as an action figure in 1992, as part of the D.E.F. (Drug Elimination Force) line. The figure was repainted and released as part of the Battle Corps line in 1993, packaged with the "Shark 9000".