A similar story I recall (from Smokey Yunick's Power Secrets book, I think) is that he noticed when assembling an engine, that if the piston pin was centered, no amount of air pressure through the plug hole would push the piston down. Offset, it would go easily. He said that had to be better, less work against itself, and from then on, he specified offset pins when ordering pistons ( I assume reverse direction from stock/OE).