04/25/24
January 29, 2007
Matsuzaka order's the gyroball sandwhich or does he?: - The $51.1 million pitch is broken down on SI.com
posted by gradys_kitchen to baseball at 09:03 AM - 18 comments
See also this old thread on the gyroball for a bunch of good links.
posted by tieguy at 11:50 AM on January 29, 2007
i've played in japan before and this pitch sounds like a "shuto". this is a pitch that pretty much every japanese pitcher throws regularly. they actually talk about the pitch in "Mr. Baseball." from what i remember, it is a pitch that resembles a two-seamer but seems to have a little more sink and movement than a regular two-seam fastball. this gyroball stuff sounds like more hype to me than anything. the alleged extraordinary movement and drop can come from a variety of factors like release point, arm angle, arm speed, and wrist pronation. these factors vary from pitcher to pitcher. that is why one can hold the ball exactly in the same grip as kevin brown, derek lowe, or greg maddux and not get near the same amount of movement as those guys
posted by erkno11 at 12:08 PM on January 29, 2007
tieguy thanks for link, I missed rcade's original post. Good stuff.
posted by gradys_kitchen at 12:13 PM on January 29, 2007
thanks for info erkno. and a bit off-topic, are you playing anywhere these days?
posted by goddam at 12:18 PM on January 29, 2007
erkno, I was wondering the same thing when I came across one of your comments last week.
posted by hawkguy at 01:17 PM on January 29, 2007
NYM-AAA contract
posted by erkno11 at 01:27 PM on January 29, 2007
That's great. Does that put you in New Orleans?
posted by bperk at 01:31 PM on January 29, 2007
Thanks erkno - all the best on the upcoming season. This reminds me a bit of the lore surrounding Pedro Martinez's exceptionally long and flexible fingers. While he holds the ball as others, the flexibility and length of his fingers, coupled with his control and varying arm angles produces cut-fastballs and sliders that might as well be named something else - other guys might say they throw the same pitches, but it sure as shit doesn't look like it. I am really looking forward to watching Dice-K (or whatever super lameism the Boston media will stick with). I am anxious to find out if this rotation is as good as it could be. Also because it looks to me like it's either going to be awesome or total shit - not much in between: It will be interesting to see whether Schilling has anything left; whether Beckett can find a clue to go along with that electric arm; whether Dice-K is as advertised, what Papelbon will look like the second and third time through an order (which will also be applied in the "closer as overrated" discussion we've been having for years) and whether Wakefield will continue to just be dependable, forgetable and consistently good. By the way - JD Drew? Um - hello? Do you have a right-fielder or not? And the Todd Helton rumors are pretty nifty too. It's going to be tight in the East this year. Wow.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:47 PM on January 29, 2007
nice. good luck. if you make it up to queens i think a little spofi outing is in order.
posted by goddam at 01:50 PM on January 29, 2007
They signed Drew late last week, announced it Saturday at Fenway. It's a voidable contract if he gets hurt or goes on the DL for X amount of time during certain durations of his contract, blah blah.
posted by jerseygirl at 01:51 PM on January 29, 2007
they actually talk about the pitch in "Mr. Baseball." /doesn't know what to say here
posted by yerfatma at 02:16 PM on January 29, 2007
nice. good luck. if you make it up to queens i think a little spofi outing is in order. Yes! Yes! Yes yes yes! And a new round of SpoFi t-shirts! And banners! We'll embarrass the hell outta him! And, and then we'll all go to the US Open!!! (wait, that was another trip)
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:17 PM on January 29, 2007
and hopefully a world series share for you, eric!
posted by ajaffe at 03:06 PM on January 29, 2007
Inspired by Weedy's Pedro comments, I had to post this: 
posted by gradys_kitchen at 03:48 PM on January 29, 2007
I wonder if Dice-K might use the myster of the "gyroball" as a way of keeping batters off balance. Throw something that MIGHT look like a gyroball and suddenly batters are going to be flumoxed by the idea that the next pitch COULD be the gyroball. This is much like how Gaylord Perry used to imply every pitch he threw was a scuffball, but in reality it was never as often as the batters believed. Side note to erkno11: Even if you career doesn't go any further than it already has, you will have the pleasure of knowing you dominated (future hall of famer) Miguel Cabrera.
posted by grum@work at 04:39 PM on January 29, 2007
wonder if Dice-K might use the myster of the "gyroball" as a way of keeping batters off balance. Throw something that MIGHT look like a gyroball and suddenly batters are going to be flumoxed by the idea that the next pitch COULD be the gyroball. How many gyro-less starts do you think it will take before the league picks up on the fact he doesn't throw the pitch? From what I've read, I don't believe he throws it, and frankly it shouldn't matter. The guy has established himself as a very good pitcher with or without the gyro. He's getting some extra press out of this, which is nice for him right now, but the unfortunate potential fallout from this is, if he starts out 1-4 with no gyro in sight, the Boston media is going to be calling this whole deal the $100 million Scam of the Century, and they'll bury him for lying about the pitch. Maybe then the Sox will deal him to the Mets for erkno, and I can see him pitch in TWO nearby stadiums.
posted by BullpenPro at 08:10 PM on January 29, 2007
I'm just glad we didn't ruin erkno's career after this incident.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:08 PM on January 30, 2007
Nice piece, thanks for the link. The evidence that the pitch exists is so sketchy, the guys in the article all seem to admit that it's not much different from a forkball or slider depending on delivery. I guess we'll find out in Fenway soon enough!