스크류볼, Screwball

스크류볼은 '회전을 줘서 역회전을 만드는' 구종이다. 쉽게 말해, 슬라이더 혹은 커브가 반대 방향(역회전)으로 휘게 만든다고 보면 된다. 예를 들어, 우완 투수라면 커브는 우타자의 몸쪽에서 바깥으로 변한다면, 스크류볼은 우타자의 바깥에서 몸쪽으로 변한다.

구사하는 방법은 선수마다 그립에 차이가 있지만, 공통적으로는 중지를 공의 실밥에 걸쳐 잡고 손날이 위로 향하도록 손목을 비틀어 역회전을 만들어 던진다.

인체 구조상 진짜로 반대 손이 던지는 커브만큼 꺾이게 만들 수는 없지만 생소함을 무기로 하는 구종이다. 타자가 공이 홈플레이트에 도착했을 때 스윙을 시작하면 타격을 할 수 없기 때문에, 일단 초반의 궤적만 눈으로 본 다음에 경험과 훈련을 통해 구축한 기억창고 속에서 저 공이 무슨 구종인지, 얼마나 빠르게 들어올 것인지 자료를 꺼내와서 스윙을 할지, 한다면 어디로 할지 미리 판단하고 스윙을 시작해야 한다. 그런데 스크류볼처럼 구사자가 극히 드문 구종의 경우, 기억창고에 충분한 정보가 저장되어 있지 않아 제대로 된 판단을 내리기 어려울 확률이 높아지므로 타자들이 대응하기 어려워지는 것이다

그래서 스크류볼로 유명한 투수들은 크리스티 매튜슨 정도를 제외하면 대부분 좌완투수였는데, 세상에는 이 궤적에 더 잘 속을 우타자가 더 많기 때문. 물론 수십 년에 걸쳐 좌타자가 계속 늘어나면서 이런 효과는 점점 상쇄되고 있긴 하다.

 

 

 

Screwball is a type of pitch that 'makes a reverse rotation by giving it a rotation'. Simply put, it is a slider or curve that bends in the opposite direction (reverse rotation). For example, if a right-handed pitcher changes the curve from the body of the right-handed batter to the outside, the screwball changes from the body of the right-handed batter to the body of the right-handed batter.

The method of use varies from player to player, but in common, the middle finger is held over the thread of the ball and the wrist is twisted so that the blade of the hand faces upward to create a reverse rotation.

Due to the structure of the human body, it cannot be made to bend as much as the curve thrown by the opposite hand, but it is a pitch type that uses unfamiliarity as a weapon. Since the batter cannot hit if he starts swinging when the ball arrives at home plate, he must first look at the initial trajectory with his eyes, then take out data on what kind of pitch that ball is going to be, how fast it will come in, and if so, determine in advance what kind of pitch it will swing, and if so, start swinging. However, in the case of pitches where the player is extremely rare, such as screw balls, the probability of making a proper judgment increases due to insufficient information in the memory storage, making it difficult for batters to respond

So, except for Christie Mathewson, most of the famous screwball pitchers were left-handed pitchers, because there are more right-handed hitters in the world who are more likely to be deceived by this trajectory. Of course, as the number of left-handed hitters continues to increase over the years, these effects are gradually offset.