Thrown a shuuto

So I was in one of my interminable meetings today and the phrase "you threw me a curveball" was used. That got me thinking, that isn't necessarily the most accurate expression.

Obviously, saying someone threw you a curveball means they gave you something different than you were expecting. While it's true that there have been many a major league who have had a hard time hitting Old Uncle Charlie, is that really the best pitch to use?

My understanding (bearing in mind my baseball career ended ignominiously with 2 broken noses and a Mendoza level batting average in little league) is that the curveball isn't necessarily a pitch that looks like a fastball, but rather is difficult to hit because of its extreme movement (like Barry Zito's 12 to 6 er).


Seems to me like a better expression would be "You threw me a changeup," seeing as that's a pitch that relies on fooling the batter and defying their expectation. A slider, or even a shuuto would seem like other good choices. A slider especially, can fool the hitter into thinking a fastball is coming, until it breaks away from the hitter I've heard the phrase "backdoor slider" used in conversation before, but it's probably not something you want to be trotting out in the workplace.

So the next time someone tells you that you threw them a curveball, make sure you tell them to shuuto their mouth.