A gyroball is a type of baseball pitch that may or may not actually exist, as no one has ever been able to say with full assurance that he has seen one thrown in a baseball game. This is because the gyroball was created by two Japanese men with the assistance of computers. Coaches, scouts, baseball players and executives all have diverging opinions of the gyroball, which supposedly sinks soon after it reaches home plate.
History
Baseball instructor Kazushi Tezuka and Japanese scientist Ryuutarou Himeno collaborated to create the gyroball. Tezuka had the original idea to create this ball in 1995 by watching a child's toy in a store depend on a peculiar movement to fly as much as 500 feet at a time when thrown. With the assistance of computer simulations, they created the new pitch with a delivery that was intended to make it able to be thrown without causing much stress on the pitcher's arm.
Function
According to its inventors, the gyroball is supposed to be thrown so that as the pitcher lets go of the baseball, his arm is not moving toward the body (as in most pitches), but away from it. A right-handed hurler would be turning his arm toward third base when using a gyroball. This type of delivery is intended to create a spin that is like that of a bullet exiting a rifle barrel, and it makes the ball drop as it gets closer to the batter.
Theories/Speculation
The gyroball created a lot of controversy when the Boston Red Sox signed Daisuke Matsuzaka, a Japanese star pitcher, to a contract in 2006. Matsuzaka supposedly had the gyroball in his pitch repertoire. American fans waited to see this new pitch, but Matsuzaka never actually revealed it in a way that satisfied all those involved. It is thought that he wanted to play mind games with the hitters, who couldn't be certain the pitch does not exist and must be prepared for it.
Expert Insight
During Matsuzaka's early training with the Red Sox, everyone was eager to see what the gyroball would do. Catcher Jason Varitek informed reporters that it was not something he had seen before and called the pitch form a change-up, a pitch that is thrown to appear like a fastball, but is much slower, which fools the batter and spoils his swing timing. Matsuzaka has yet to prove that the gyroball even exists or is actually as remarkable as its inventors claim it is.
Misconceptions
Baseball writer Will Carroll wrote an article about the gyroball, confusing it with another Japanese pitch called a shuuto. This mistake further confused what the gyroball is.
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