Gyroball
The gyroball is the name given to a breaking baseball pitch purported to be used by players in Japan, although if it were invented in the United States it would probably be called a sinker. The pitch was developed by two Japanese scientists, Ryutaro Himeno and Kazushi Tezuka, who used computer simulations to create a new style of delivery intended to reduce stress on the pitcher. They published their work in a book, currently available only in Japan, whose title is roughly translated as, "The Secret of the Miracle Pitch". According to Himeno and Tezuka, a gyroball is thrown so that, at the point of release, instead of having the pitcher's arm move inwards towards the body (the standard method used in the United States), the pitcher rotates his arm so that it moves away from his body, towards 3rd base (for a right-handed pitcher). The unusual method of delivery creates a bullet-like spin on the ball, like a bicycle tire spins when facing the spokes or a perfectly thrown football. When thrown by a right hander, the pitch moves sharply down and away from right handed batters and towards left handed batters. In baseball, most pitches are thrown with backspin, like the fastball, or with a more forward spinning motion, like the curveball and the slider. Batters use the arm speed of the pitcher and the spin on a baseball, highlighted by the seams, to judge the speed of the ball. The gyroball is thrown with the arm speed of a fastball but goes much slower, and since it has a bullet-like spinning motion, on occasion (perhaps when the seams are hidden from view of the batter) it will make experienced batters swing wildly ahead or behind the ball.
The gyroball pitch is a source of considerable controversy; despite Himeno and Tezuka's simulations, it is not clear whether the pitch is actually usable at the professional level. Will Carroll, a writer for Baseball Prospectus, convinced the high school pitcher Joey Niezer to learn the pitch, and reported that he'd "seen Joey's [gyroball] break 3 feet. It takes a left turn and heads to the dugout." In an interview, Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox said that he is trying to learn how to throw the gyroball, and has "done it in a game [in Japan]. But not too much. Sometimes accidentally." Some viewers report that video clips purportedly of Matsuzaka's gyroball actually show a slider. [1]
The gyroball is also often confused with a completely different Japanese pitch called the shuuto, due to an error in a well-known article by baseball writer Will Carroll (see external link). Although Carroll later corrected himself, the confusion still persists.
[edit] External links
- robneyer.com
- Video, possibly of Gyroballs
- Video of Daisuke Matsuzaka Possibly Throwing the Gyroball
- "Explainer" on the gyroball. from Slate.
- Searching for Baseball's Bigfoot, an Yahoo! Sports article by Jeff Passan.
