Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota
Here's the thing... compared with a baseball, a softball has greater mass and travels a shorter distance. The aerodynamic forces would, therefore, have to be greater to influence the linear momentum of the ball (product of velocity and mass) quickly enough to have any material effect. It is possible to doctor a softball to cause this, but simple saliva won't cut it. And, as Mike pointed out, compared with the mass of the softball, the saliva has no shot at unbalancing the ball, either.
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I thought the greater mass, hence more stitches and surface are what helped in the ball movement, provided the pitcher imparted enough spin and maximized the number of seams catching air. I played ball with a lefty that could throw a flat curveball that broke 12 to 15 inches. You could hear the ball hissing from the spin he was able to impart on the ball.
Ted