Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK Und.) a person who passes counterfeit coins or other fraudulent items.

1851		Bell’s New Wkly Messenger 9 Mar. 6/2: The several descriptions of London thieves are [...] pitchers, or those who do so by passing off one thing for another; .
1873		Sl. Dict. 255: Pitch to utter base coin. [...] The confederacy is divided into makers, buyers, holders, and pitchers. The maker probably never sees the actual passers of base money, [...] while the pitcher, often a woman ? indeed, more often than not ? runs the actual risk.
1887		J.W. Horsley Jottings from Jail 31: London for sharpers, Brummagem for thieves, Paris for flymen, Sheffield for pitchers of snyde.
1895		J. Caminada Twenty-Five Years of Detective Life I 450: These passers of base coin worked in couples – one holding the ‘swag,’ or bag containing the stock, whilst the ‘smasher,’ or ‘pitcher,’ took one at a time, so that in case of detection no more than one could be found upon him.

2. a street vendor.

1886		W. Newton Secrets of Tramp Life Revealed 13: They are called ‘Pitchers.’ They have a mode of living by standing at street corners [...] and will have for sale what they call ‘Brummagem Balls’.
1934		P. Allingham Cheapjack 210: I wanted to make a lot of money and I wanted to become a pitcher.
1939		Yorks. Post 23 May 6/5: The Pitcher’s Jargon [...] The modern ‘pitcher’ must have a good apperance, a clear and resonant voice, and a considerable knowledge of crowd psychology.

3. (drugs) a drug dealer, esp. when working on the street and actually handing over the drugs to the buyer.

1992		T. Williams Crackhouse 14: When they walk through ‘drug-copping zones’ (drug-selling locations) and see [...] ‘pitchers,’ or street dealers, openly beckoning passersby to purchase their wares.
2001		G. Pelecanos Right As Rain 230: You see those boys out there on that street? All of ’em got a separate function. You got the steerers leading the customers to the pitchers, making the hand-to-hand transactions. And then there’s the lookouts, and the moneymen, who handle the cash.
2003		A.N. LeBlanc Random Family 41: The position of pitcher, which involved handing out glassines.