Aei! It's The Gyroball! Run For Your Lives!

What is the gyroball? New pitch from outer space? Nothing but the Japanese version of a slider? A type of hamster wheel that runs our servers? A pitch that's contractually obligated to be the subject of an in-depth piece on every major sports Web site? The answers are shrouded in mystery. But Texas Rangers hurler C.J. Wilson is endeavoring to find out, claiming that the pitch is real, and that he will have it in his repertoire by the beginning of the regular season; becoming the first U.S. pitcher to use it in a game. From his blog Cactus Tracks:

The ball does some mysterious stuff. Ron Mahay and I were playing catch before my mound session and he said the ball actually took off just like it's supposed to. he said he can see the spin is much different than a normal fastball. it rises first, and then tails a bit into a lefty (with the 2 seam style grip) and then does the same but cuts if I throw it the other way. I successfully threw 10 of them in a row.

The pitch is supposedly used in Japan; that's Daisuke Matsuzaka — now of the Red Sox — allegedly throwing one above. Wilson says that he's developing his gyro ball with the help of a Japanese scientist, which we think is great. Because we need all the Japanese scientists we can get to counteract the effects of the rampaging, radiation-mutated Barry Bonds.

Gyro Update [Cactus Tracks] Unwinding The Mystery Of The Gyroball [The Big Empire]