screwball

American Heritage Dictionary:

screw·ball

(skrū'bôl') pronunciation

Baseball. A pitched ball that curves in the direction opposite to that of a normal curve ball.
Slang. An eccentric, impulsively whimsical, or irrational person.

adj. Slang
Impulsively whimsical; eccentric: That screwball proposal won't work.

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screwball

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noun

Informal

Slang

See

adjective

Slang

British Slang

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Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang:

screwball

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noun
noun, jazz

1: Someone eccentric or crazy; a fool. (1933 —) .
P. G. Wodehouse You are going to Blandings Castle now, no doubt, to inspect some well-connected screwball (1939).

2: Fast improvisation or unrestrained swing; often attrib. (1936 — 47).
R. P. Dodge When inspiration leaves the player...he becomes what is known as a screw-ball player. I must say that I prefer the jump style to the screw-ball style (1947). adjective

3: Eccentric; mad, crazy. (1936 —) .

[From the earlier US sense, a baseball pitched with reverse spin against the natural curve.]

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Random House Word Menu:

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier

For a list of words related to screwball, see:

Baseball - screwball: a pitch gripped as if a curve ball and thrown as if a fastball which has an action opposite to that of a curve ball
Behavior or Personality

Rhymes:

screwball

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See words rhyming with "screwball."

Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Screwball

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This article is about the baseball pitch. For other uses, see Screwball (disambiguation).

A screwball (also known as the screwgie), is a baseball pitch that is thrown so as to break in the opposite direction of a slider or curveball. Depending on the pitcher's arm angle, the ball may also have a sinking action.

Carl Hubbell was one of the most renowned screwball pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball.^[1] Hubbell was known as the "scroogie king" for his mastery of the pitch and the frequency for which he threw it. Other famous screwball artists included Cy Young Award winners Mike Cuellar, Fernando Valenzuela and Mike Marshall.

Effects

When thrown by a right-handed pitcher, a screwball breaks from left to right from the point of view of the pitcher; the pitch therefore moves down and in on a right-handed batter and down and away from a left-handed batter. When thrown by a left-handed pitcher, a screwball breaks from right to left, moving down and in on a left-handed batter and down and away from a right-handed batter. Due to this left-to-right movement of the ball (when thrown by a right-handed pitcher), right-handed pitchers use a screwball against left-handed batters in the same way that they use a slider against right-handed batters.

Screwball pitchers

One of the first great screwball pitchers was Christy Mathewson (1900–1916), whose pitch was then labeled as the 'fadeaway'. Other major league pitchers who have thrown the screwball during their careers include:

Carl Hubbell^[2]
Cy Blanton^[3]
Luis Arroyo^[4]
Jack Baldschun^[5]
Bobby Castillo (taught the pitch to Valenzuela^[6])
Mike Cuellar^[7]
Warren Spahn (in the second half of his career)
Jim Brewer
Mike Norris
Juan Marichal
Mike Marshall
Fernando Valenzuela
Tug McGraw
John Franco
Willie Hernandez
Jim Mecir
Pedro Martinez^[8]
Jeff Sparks
Daniel Ray Herrera ^[9]
Dallas Braden^[10]
Yoshinori Tateyama

References

^ "Carl Hubbell". Sports Reference LLC.. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hubbeca01.shtml. Retrieved 2000-2010.
^ Hubbell Out For Season, New York Times, August 24, 1938, pg. 26.
^ Blanton, Pirates, Stops Dodgers, 8-2, New York Times, May 19, 1935, pg. S5.
^ Arroyo:Artist of Yankee Bullpen, New York Times, August 21, 1960, pg. S2.
^ Orioles Get Baldschun of Phillies, New York Times, December 7, 1965, pg. 61.
^ http://www.baseballreliquary.org/InductionDay2006_review.htm
^ Roundup: Cuellar Holds Showing of Old Art Form, New York Times, June 12, 1970, pg. 43.
^ http://espn.go.com/gammons/s/2001/0212/1079272.html
^ http://multimedia.foxsports.com/m/video/25977947/the-herrera-screwball.htm
^ "Unheralded Braden keeps making us believe this is his defining year". CNN. May 10, 2010. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/joe_posnanski/05/09/dallas.braden/index.html?xid=cnnbin&hpt=Sbin.

v d e Baseball pitches

Fastballs	Cutter • Four-seam • Two-seam • Shuuto • Sinker • Split-finger

Breaking balls	Curveball (12–6) • Knuckle curve • Knuckle slider • Screwball • Slider • Slurve

Changeups	Circle changeup • Forkball • Fosh • Palmball • Vulcan changeup • Knuckle changeup

Other pitches	Eephus pitch • Gyroball • Knuckleball

Banned pitches	Spitball

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Translations:

Screwball

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - skør kugle, original, excentrisk person, skruebold
adj. - skør, tosset, gal

Nederlands (Dutch)
mafkees, idioot

Français (French)
n. - cinglé
adj. - cinglé

Deutsch (German)
n. - (Slang) Spinner
adj. - spleenig

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - παλαβιάρης, (αθλοπ.) μπαλιά με ανάποδο φάλτσο
adj. - θεοπάλαβος

Italiano (Italian)
svitato

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pessoa excêntrica (f)

Русский (Russian)
сумасброд, чокнутый, сумасбродство, эксцентричность

Español (Spanish)
n. - excéntrico, chiflado
adj. - excéntrico, chiflado

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - skruvboll, knasboll, galning
adj. - knasig, galen, knäpp

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
怪人, 曲线球, 略带神经病的人, 怪僻的, 精神有点怪的, 奇妙的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 怪人, 曲線球, 略帶神經病的人
adj. - 怪僻的, 精神有點怪的, 奇妙的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 괴짜, 기인, 스크루볼 (변화구의 일종)
adj. - 별난, 엉뚱한, 엉터리의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - シュートボール

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) غريب ألاطوار (صفه) أحمق‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מטורף‬
adj. - ‮מטורף, תמהוני‬

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		American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Roget's Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang. Oxford University Press. © 1997, 2008, 2010 All rights reserved. Read more
		Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Screwball. Read more
		Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more

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