Daisuke Matsuzaka does not, I repeat, does not throw the famed gyroball. It's a fallacy. It's a myth. It simply, utterly does not exist. That is what Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated is telling us today.Here's the truth: Matsuzaka's changeup is so wicked, so unlike most every changeup anyone has seen, that people don't know what to make of it. Matsuzaka has told me he does not throw the gyroball. Every Red Sox staff member and official I've talked with said he does not throw it.So, the dude just has a really good changeup. I was anxious to see the pitch in action at some point, to marvel at its odd rotation and see hitters flat out mystified at the plate. I guess I'll still see that, in the form of Dice-K's changeup.
"What the Marlins thought was the gyro was the changeup," one of the Boston sources said. "That's what people think is the gyro. It's his best pitch."
Said another Red Sox insider, "Japan is famous for copious scouting reports. If you throw a pitch once in your life the scout will include it in the report. Dice-K enjoys letting people think he throws it. There's no harm in it. Why not just give them one more thing to think about?"
Either way though, I feel cheated, used and abused.
Don't you?
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Verducci is also the same guy that told us baseball was totally clean after Game of Shadows came out, and that fans could enjoy the game as they once did - guilt free. Needless to say, I'm reserving judgment.
Isn't the Gyro ball just a modified change up anyway? They are kind of the dame pitch...
Hey Tom get a life. You feel cheated and aboused. Are you a moron ? Just wait like the rest of us and see what happenes during the season.
i saw a special on the so called "gyro ball" by the man who invented it.
a curveball curves because the rotation of the ball is reversed.different ways of presenting it makes it break different ways. the gyro ball also has a reversed rotation, but it doesnt curve, its straight like a fastball. thats all,, no myths, sorry. no new fancy pitch for baseball this year.
He throws it....no doubt. Hes trying to catch hitters off guard and throw it when they least expect it.
Ya know, somehow this gyro ball sounds a lot like the old fashend screwball.
I see Dice ending the year at maybe 13-13
The reports I've heard compare the pitch to a screwball. Not many pitchers throw that pitch. Actually, I don't know of any that throw it anymore. Basically a right handed pitcher throwing to a right handed batter..the pitch would break inside and catch the batter on the fists.
The gyroball should not be likened to a curveball (which has forespin) or a fastball (which has backspin). It is a straight pitch that has rolling, lateral enlish, like a plane doing a barrel roll, or a bullet from a rifled gun barrel. What makes it hard to get a base hit is that hitters are confused by the look of the spin, and the the spin does not "jump" off the bat like a curveball might. I've seen footage of Dice K throwing this pitch.
Everyone is a freakin expert at everything!! I swear I read these comments for the humor it gives me to see goofballs like you decipher and analyze every detail so that you can prove that your theory is right and everyone else is a loser!! You guys are something else keep up the good work know it all's it makes my lunch break a blast!!
I been working on the Gyroball. If it spins counter-clockwise it's a Screwball. If it spins clockwise it's a Back Up Slider. This Screwball pitch will have new names in the future & the Gyroball will fadeaway very soon. There's only a handfull of Screwball Pitchers out there. I've talk with a bunch of little leaque coaches & they hate the pitch. Nobody in little leaque will pitch this Gyroball. Your looking at a bunch of young injured players in the future.
Hey Chas (comment #8), if the curveball has forespin does that make a fastball jewish?
Matsuzaka throws his changeup with a screwball action to it, including a bigger break than most such offspeed pitches. He also throws a harder two-seamer pitch with some sinking action and a slight left-to-right break -- the shuuto, which essentially is Japan's improved version of that two-seam fastball Greg Maddux starts at the hip of left-handed hitters and runs back over the inside corner.