Tumblin' Daisuke
Here's an interesting article on the so-called gyroball, a new pitch invented by Japanese scientists. It is the stuff of legend, with a miracle break and drive-killing spin. Better still, it was conceived with ideal pitching mechanics in mind, making it much easier on the arm than a slider or split finger fastball. If ever perfected, it could revolutionize the game. From the Yahoo article:
The concept of the gyroball was perfected in a supercomputer by two Japanese scientists named Ryutaro Himeno and Kazushi Tezuka. In simulations, they showed how a pitcher with good mechanics could throw the baseball in a way that it spun like a bullet – or, in sporting sense, like a perfect football spiral – and broke like nothing anyone has ever seen.
Roughly translated, the title of their book is "The Secret of the Miracle Pitch," and it's loaded with anime cartoons and mathematical formulas that attempt to explain how to throw a gyroball.
Here is a somewhat disputed video of Daisuke Matsuzaka letting go of what appears to be a gyroball.
posted by Matthew Thompson @ 1:13 PM
2 Comments:
Perhaps I'm that guy that doesn't get the joke, but what's the difference between this gyro ball and the so called "slider?" Is this a forkball/splitter nuanced (to some) division? By the way, baseball in slow motion rocks.
I think it has to do with the rotation. As I understand it, a slider doesn't have a strict sideways rotation but also tubmles forward a bit, thus giving it that biting quality. A forkball/splitter has less rotation on it. I think the video is only a slider, but I included it because it is cool and it was rumored to be evidence of the existence of the gyroball. If you look at the way his hand comes off the ball, it is a slider. A nasty one, at that.
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