1 of 2 Japanese things to look forward to

I read two exciting things in this month's terrific Esquire, and surprisingly enough they were both penned by mental_floss contributor Doug Cantor. (Nice job, Doug!) Anyway, I figured they were too interesting not to post about, so here goes"¦

#1) Apparently, there's a new type of Baseball Pitch?
Dubbed the Gyroball, the throw is the first entirely new baseball pitch to enter the sport since the split-fingered fastball?! Developed by two Japanese scientists who are well-versed in sports mechanics, baseball writers have referred to the throw as a "Bugs Bunny pitch" because it comes straight towards a batter's kidneys on a nearly flat plane before taking a total left turn and breaking as much as three feet over the plate! And while the pitch looks better on computer simulators than on the field right now (only 2 pitchers claim they can throw one), the way the pitch is described it sounds like any contact with the ball is a lucky accident. And while I can't even imagine how the pitch works (there's some mention of "double-spin mechanics" and throwing the pitch more like a football than a baseball), I'm definitely excited to see if and how it'll affect the game. Info, via Esquire Magazine