Crisco; Bardol; Vagisil. Any one of them will give you another 2-3 inches drop on your curveball. True though that sage wisdom from the legendary Eddie Harris may be, the preference these days trends away vegetable shortening and feminine itch products.
Pitchers are always seeking any little advantage to improve performance and it’s an open secret that the use of various sticky substances is rampant throughout Major League Baseball. Trevor Bauer, who waged a public war against the Astros and former UCLA teammate Gerrit Cole for their use of pine tar-adjacent goo, has openly tested the results of doctored balls and was probably using something to juice his spin rates during his Cy Young campaign.