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I was watching the movie Mr. Baseball the other day. Several times during the movie they talk about しゅうと which they describe as "the great equalizer". (Could possibly be しゅうとう, but their dialog does not sound like they're elongating the last syllable).

I've tried very unsuccessfully in finding this word in any of my multiple dictionaries. Is this a common, known Japanese word? Is it some kind of 野球用語? Is it just 外来語 of "shoot", or some word from another language? If it's Japanese, does it have associated kanji?

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If you write it in hiragana, it will most likely suggest mother-in-law, a different word. – sawa Apr 3 '12 at 16:48

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シュート is a baseball term. It seems to me like different people have different terms for this pitch (although I'm no baseball expert).

According to the Wikipedia article (which references Mr. Baseball, incidentally) and its talk page, it's a "shuuto" or "shootball" in English, but some people may recognize and describe it as a "sinker" or "reverse slider".

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Fantastic, thank you! – istrasci Apr 3 '12 at 16:13
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It is not particularly (only) a baseball term. It can also mean a shoot in basketball. – sawa Apr 3 '12 at 16:50
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I would still describe "check" as a chess term, even if the same word can be used with a different meaning in ice-hockey or other sports. But I understand what you're saying. :) – Hyperworm Apr 3 '12 at 16:56
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@sawa: True, it can mean "shoot" in basketball, soccer, etc. I guess the confusion was due to the fact that the word "shoot" is not a regular baseball term, so the movie made it sound like しゅうと was word of Japanese origin. – istrasci Apr 3 '12 at 19:16

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