I thought the greater mass, hence more stitches and surface are what helped in the ball movement, provided the pitcher imparted enough spin and maximized the number of seams catching air. I played ball with a lefty that could throw a flat curveball that broke 12 to 15 inches. You could hear the ball hissing from the spin he was able to impart on the ball.

Ted

Consider a ball pitched without spin in a straight line. It will have linear momentum equal to its mass times its velocity moving in that straight line. If a force (such as aerodynamic forces generated by spin breaking up surface tension or creating aerodynamic "lift" so to speak on one direction or another) is to influence this straight-line momentum, it will need to generate enough force to cause a change in the direction of the flight of the ball, and it has only about 35 or so feet and .2 seconds to accomplish this. Other than allowing the pitcher to get a better grip on the ball (and hence impart more spin, etc.) the change in aerodynamic force from a little saliva has no shot.

Tom,

My point is that when a pitcher wets here fingers, it is to add moisture to the skin, not the ball. The moisture, if any at all, which may transfer to the ball will be minimal and not enough to be aborbed into the cover let alone affect the balls flight.

As has been pointed out, this is a game played in the dirt which does cause a ball and player's hands to become dusty and dry. The reason players, not just pitchers, lick their fingers is to avoid the dry, dust-covered ball from slipping out of the dry, dust-covered hands of the player. IOW, it helps the player to properly control (grip) the ball. None of my comments stated or insinuated that there was an additional, unfair or "illegal" advantage to securing a grip on the ball.