With their recent bullpen addition, the Rays can bring a little thunder from down under.

No, we’re not talking about the Australian fireballer Grant Balfour.

We’re talking about relief specialist Chad Bradford, who was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles with a little bit of waiver wire maneuvering for a Rays player yet to be determined.

Bradford is part of a rare breed of pitchers who utilizes an unusual arm slot to be an effective hurler. We’re not talking Jeff Nelson-Bronson Arroyo type of sidearmers here. To call moundsmen of Bradford’s ilk a sidearm pitcher is to shortchange the artisanship involved in their delivery. 

Bradford is a submariner; a true body-contorting, knuckle-dragging, releasing-from-the-top-of-the-cleats, spinning-like-a-frisbee sort of sidearmer.

The submarine pitcher, despite a fastball that rarely breaks 85 mph, can be effective against both right- and left-handed hitters because of the pure deception in their delivery and the movement on both their fastball and breaking pitches makes it nearly impossible to square the pitch up on the barrel of the bat. Right-handed submariners such as Bradford are especially devastating on right-handed batters since the hitter is often unaccustomed to seeing pitches that appear to be coming from the infield sprinkler head halfway from third base.

In honor of those that know how to bring it from down under, here are five of the game’s most notable submarine pitchers:

Brad Zeigler 2008-present

No pitcher has had as much success to begin a career as the Oakland Athletics’ Brad Zeigler. In his first 35 innings in the big leagues Zeigler has yet to surrender an earned run, setting an all-time major-league rookie record.

Ted Abernathy 1955-1972
After a shoulder injury nearly ended his career, a change in his mechanics enabled Abernathy to have a long and productive career as a relief pitcher. Considered one of the pioneers of the submarine style, Abernathy led the National League in saves in 1965 and 1967.

Byung-Hyun Kim 1999-2007

This South Korean slinger had a rather enigmatic career in the major leagues after bouncing between starting and relief duties for seven different teams. Kim was a surprisingly hard thrower that tallied 36 saves for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2002 but will probably be best known in history as the pitcher who gave up Barry Bonds’ 715th home run.

Kent Tekulve 1974-1989
A stalwart of the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen during the disco era, Tekulve made a major-league record 1,050 relief appearances without making a start. During that span he finished with 184 saves and a career 2.85 ERA.

Dan Quisenberry 1979-1990

Perhaps the best known shoe-topper in baseball was a pitcher whose personality was almost as quirky as his delivery. When Dan Quisenberry wasn’t writing poetry in the Kansas City Royals bullpen, he was the most dominating closer of the early eighties.

Armed with a devastating slider and a porn ‘stache that even Jason Giambi would envy, Quiz collected 244 career saves - including a then-major league record 45 in 1983.