One Outs: Episode 17: The Deceiving Knuckleball (English Sub)
0Link playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAnJxzbuoWGi4KeJSSIbQYXUHOQsUncVo&feature=shared
0:03
As mentioned before, Lycaons once led 9-2, but BlueMars managed to tie in 8th inning. Then, Williams came in. Williams threw the pitch, and the ball swayed a lot. Some of Lycaons' players even praised it. Then, he threw the pitch again, making Tomioka strike out. He also managed to strike out Imai and Kojima, eventhough Kojima already noticed it. But we'll find out that Williams pitched fake knuckleball.
5:43
Now it's time for BlueMars to attack. The last few batters include Suminori, Sawamura, and Sakamoto. They managed to hit the ball Hasegawa pitched, and even worse, Suminori managed to run home, and that ended the match. Lycaons lost 9-10.
8:29
Look at them, they faced down, except Tokuchi. Tokuchi asked if there's someone who managed to hit Williams' pitch, then the coach answered it's Takami, with three hits, but there's reason for that which is Williams didn't pitch any knuckleballs to Takami. Imai said that in the end, no one can hit that knuckleball, even Fujita confirmed it, but then, Tokuchi said: How useless! Tokuchi can't hit it, but he can pitch it, even anyone can pitch it: The Deceiving Knuckleball, or fake knuckleball.
9:54
Tokuchi told them to go outside because he'll let them see the truth behind the devilish pitch. Tokuchi threw the pitch, but if you notice, there's something on the ball. Ideguchi felt surprised that Tokuchi can pitch it, but Tokuchi laughed, and said that Ideguchi and others have been deceived.
When Tokuchi asked why the motion of knuckleball was so hard to predict, Ideguchi answered: Because knuckleball almost has no spin. The seam on the ball surface creates air resistance (causing the ball to sway) and affects the pitch. But, because the knuckleball almost has no spin, the air resistance won't be created.
However, the ball surface is uneven, even 1mm high of the seam will affect the course of pitch. And when the ball spins for about 15 degrees, the air flow behind the ball completely changes. The knuckleball will slowly spin, about 180 degrees from the start of pitch until it reaches the batter, or 15 degrees magnified by 12, if you imagine. That's the reason for the swaying, but, the swaying will disappear if the ball spins more than once.
11:48
Unbelievable! Williams' pitches spin more than once, around 5 to 6 times, plus, Williams didn't pitch any knuckleballs to Takami. But, it sways, which means Williams was making it sway by different method than principles of knuckleball. So, we came to the conclusion, it's the fake knuckleball!
13:40
Fujita took the ball, and he saw nails! What? Nails? Yes, that's the trick behind the swaying ball. Because of the nails implanted, the COG moved towards tip of nails, and when the ball is pitched, the ball spins with its centre as its axis, but, the axis will slowly move to the side, causing the ball to sway. However, if the COG is in the front and the ball spins in spiral motion, like in American Football, it won't sway.
15:06
There're a lot of ways to move COG of the ball, and the fastest way is to inject water into one side of ball. Well, BlueMars have prepared the balls with moved COG beforehand, then switch them during the game.
The umpire won't touch the ball if the catcher doesn't request for the ball change, and if the attacking side doesn't foul to the dugout area near third base, they won't touch it. That's the devilish pitch.
16:20
Ideguchi was very cross, even wanted to go where Williams and others are, and forced them to admit. Fujita and Imai wanted too but Tokuchi held Imai. Even if Tokuchi was angered, he'd be angry with them, who let BlueMars cheat, cause of their stupidity.
18:07
Time for Lycaons to wake up! BlueMars don't cheat in every one of their plays, even no knuckleballs were pitched to Takami, but different for Lycaons, BlueMars kept pitching it without any hesitation.
18:59
They contemplated, then Ideguchi asked if it's impossible for Lycaons to win. Tokuchi said that the important thing is not to lose, and be more cautious to prevent from getting deceived. Tokuchi even will help Lycaons to deceive BlueMars.
So let the second match between BlueMars vs Lycaons begin in the next episode!