Wait until they get a load of my Scienceball...

From today's NY Times, the story of the gyroball has crossed from the sports page to the science page. Parum-pum.

A quick recap of events. This past off season there was a major pursuit of a hot new pitching star from Japan by the name of Daisuke Matsuzaka, who ultimately went to the Boston Red Sox, who showered him with a cement truck full of money. Of the scrubble to percolate around his arrival was his ability to throw the gyroball, an alleged new kind of pitch that has been thrown in Japan for the last ten years or so.

Last week sports writer Jeff Passan wrote about his encounter with the creator of the gyroball, Kazushi Tezuka, and was...not so convinced. After being told he threw a perfect gyroball without much awareness, he seems to suggest the pitch's real strength is in its mystique, not any (no pun intended) revolutionary innovation.

There's also the suggestion it breaks down a pitcher's arm less, though I imagine the jury's out on that for a while. Maybe Joel Zumaya could continue to play Guitar Hero if he only threw gyroballs instead of flamethower heaters...