circle change n.— «That finger, which McBeth cannot straighten, bends perfectly around the ball when he throws what in baseball parlance is called a “circle change” or an “OK change.” The trick to throwing the pitch is to put as little...
shuto n.— «He also throws a pitch known in Japan as a “shuto” that essentially is a screwball—though he didn’t use it Wednesday.» —“Against Pirates, Matsuzaka Is ‘as Good as Advertised’” by Dave Sheinin in...
gyroball n.— «When Japanese television analysts tried to deconstruct the mystifying slider thrown by Daisuke Matsuzaka, they called it a gyroball, partly because the pitch seemed to come from another world.» —“The Japanese Gyroball...
chicken head n.— «While cleaning the nut Mutt[0] had placed where the climb goes back into the corner, I’m thinking “Man, I’m glad I didn’t lead that pitch, very airy and a nasty fall onto plate sized chicken heads.”…We...
pitch n.— «I went over there with $100, naively thinking we could make it. We had no idea what we were doing. Nyles and Jen had been there, but we were completely clueless. It was rainy; we had no place to stay. But the first pitch—that’s...
painting n.— «Lidle’s career ended with a 82-72 record and 4.57 ERA in 1,322 2/3 innings for seven teams. He made his living by “painting,” as it’s called, or pitching to the outside corners of the strike zone as a way to...