The Japanese gyroball mystery

[snopes]

When Japanese television analysts tried to deconstruct the mystifying slider thrown by pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, they called it a gyroball, partly because the pitch seemed to come from another world.

Is the gyroball a myth, or is it real? And if it is real, what exactly is it?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/...s/gyroball.php

[DAnnino]

Must...have...Daisuke...on...fantasy...team!!!:d

[Mr. Furious]

I'm not concerned about the gyroball. It's simply the opposite of a changeup. It'll give hitters fits until they've seen it a few times, then it will be no more effective than any of his other pitches.

[RealityChuck]

I've seen slow motion video of Matsuzaka throwing the gyroball. It seems to spin like a forward pass in football.

It certainly exists, but how effective it will be against Major League batters is still undetermined.

[Richard W]

No one understood his pitch.

I could apply that to the writer of the article, too... is this more interesting if you see it in a video, or would I still be going "Eh?"

(edit) Watched the video, and it's the latter.

[Brad from Georgia]

"Gyroball attack!"

"Pika Chuuuuuuuuu!"

[snopes]

The gyroball may exist only in the minds of some players, and that's just fine with Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs....26/1004/SPORTS