Evolution, Global Warming, and the Gyroball

Watching a little bit of the Rangers game yesterday afternoon, the announcers spent about 5 minutes talking about the gyroball. I hope to spend less.

One announcer, at the very end of his one-sided conversation said, in effect, If you're a baseball fan who enjoys talking the technical jargon, you don't mind discussing the gyroball. If, however, you're a traditionalist and don't believe it exists, you do mind.

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle.

I understand the basic signals: one finger for a fastball, two for a curve, three for a slider, and the middle one for a brush-back.

I have no idea how to signal for a gyroball. But I do happen to think Sidd Finch threw the first gyroball; and the first knuckle-curve.

In the late Eighties, it was said that the difference between a pitcher who threw a forkball and a pitcher who threw a split-fingered fastball was salary. I'm not sure what this decade will say regarding the difference between a gyroball and a back-door slider.