Rising fastball

UmpJM · #1 (**permalink**) Thu May 25, 2006, 01:04pm

fmsc,

I am deeply disappointed in you.

I mean, if you're going to go around throwing a bunch of facts and science into the mix, I don't even see where it makes any sense to engage in this fascinating conversation. (Oh wait - it doesn't - I already knew that.)

Besides, it sounds like you're one of those "science mumbo-jumbo" non-believers who thinks the Earth is a sphere - just because of some "doctored up" photos alledgedly taken from, get this, "outer space". Puhleeeze! Anyone with two eyes can simply step outside and see for themselves that it is perfectly flat.

JM

jxt127 · #2 (**permalink**) Thu May 25, 2006, 02:15pm

Gotta be something about engineers.

As my dad put it

Mechanical engineers build weapons.

Civil engineers build targets.

BigUmp56 · #3 (**permalink**) Thu May 25, 2006, 02:42pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jxt127

Gotta be something about engineers.

As my dad put it

Mechanical engineers build weapons.

Civil engineers build targets.

And, electrical engineers just raise a lot of static!

Tim.

greymule · #4 (**permalink**) Thu May 25, 2006, 02:47pm

In a somewhat related area, I have seen softballs crushed off criminally hot bats do seemingly impossible mid-air tricks, enough so that everyone on the field notices. I've seen line drives (1) corkscrew out to left field, (2) whiz over an infielder's head and drop precipitously to hit in front of the outfield grass, (3) travel just over a leaping F6's outstretched glove and then go over a 10-foot fence 300 feet away, (4) and appear to be headed for center field but shift sharply toward right-center.

I figured maybe the high-tech bats were compressing the balls so much that as they traveled so fast through the air changing shape, they moved around unpredictably. My friend at the university, however, says that some kind of super spin imparted by the bat is the likely cause. (That makes sense. The batter tries the usual upward swing to hit a home run but tops the ball slightly.) The strange effects clearly could not be obtained with a thrown ball, but of course the balls are traveling off the bat much faster than anyone could possibly throw them. For example, a 300-foot throw with a softball would be remarkable (and possible only at a high arc), yet batted balls that travel 350 feet or more are common at higher levels. The bat can probably impart more spin than a human could, too.