pitchometer

English

Etymology

From pitch +‎ -o- +‎ -meter.

Noun

pitchometer (plural pitchometers)

1. (nautical) A pitchmeter, especially on a ship.
   • 2001 January, Dudley Dawson, “Spin Control: When damage needs repair, place your props in good hands”, in Yachting, volume 189, number 1, page 38:

     For years, repairing a prop has involved the use of pitch blocks, similar to specially shaped anvils, and pitchometers. Placed under propeller blades, pitch blocks give the prop repairman a surface against which to restore the blade to factory shape and angle. The repaired blade is then checked with a pitchometer to determine how close to specification it is.

2. (baseball) A device used in baseball to measure the speed of a pitch or the time a pitcher spends between pitches thrown.
   • 1983, David Quentin Voigt, American Baseball, volume III: From Postwar Expansion to the Electronic Age, University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, published 1992, →ISBN, page 71:

     A batter's best hope for hitting one of these 90 mile-per-hour missiles that reached the plate in just less than a second was his 200 mph swing. Speeds were then measured by electronic “pitchometers”; in 1946 Bob Feller's fastball could be timed at 98.6 mph.

   • 2003, John E. Peterson, The Kansas City Athletics: A Baseball History: 1954–1967, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 210:

     A “pitchometer” was installed on the scoreboard to time the pitchers. According the baseball rules a pitcher had to throw a pitch within 20 seconds after he received the ball from the catcher when there was nobody on base.