From "The Ghost Pitch" by Will Carroll:
The pitch is like a ghost. People claim they have seen it, but like a UFO or the Loch Ness Monster, the evidence is a bit harder to come across. Jerky video from Japan hides in the depths of specialty baseball discussion boards. Breathless tales from scouts and fans discussing this ghost would be laughable...I came across an article in an Esquire a couple of months back about the gyroball, a new baseball pitch surrounded by mythical speculation as to its existence. I mention this because Daisuke Matsuzaka, ace pitcher of the Seibu Lions in Japan and reportedly the only man in the existence of the world to ever successfully throw this pitch, is set to join Major League Baseball assuming the bidding war between the Yankees and other interested teams doesn't get too out of hand next month.
Seems like some stereotypical Gung Ho kind of story comparing structured Japanese thinking versus improvised American ingenuity. Imagine a couple of Japanese physicists sitting around with their laptops thinking up a new way to throw a ball while a drunk table of baseball players in the States is fooling around with a bottle of pine tar. The Americans came up with the slider and spitballs. Now, the Japanese have the gyroball.
Some of the hoopla reminds me a bit of Hideo "The Tornado" Nomo back in the 90's. It seemed like his unorthodox wind-up baffled everyone when he debuted stateside. Whatever happened to him?
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