Sad

[DownTownTonyBrown]

The ball will speed up as it falls - the farther it falls the faster it goes (as in hitting it over a cliff) - up to a terminal velocity as he mentions.

The ball speed will not increase above the speed with which it left the bat because of air friction and the level playing field - the ball falls down the same distance as it went up.

Gravity works AGAINST the flight of the ball on its way up and gravity works WITH the flight of the ball on its way down - the net effect is close to zero.

If there were no air, there would be no drag or air friction and the ball would fall at the SAME speed with which it left the bat. Hence in Denver, balls fly farther because at this higher elevation there is less air (it is less dense) and therefore less air friction.

But any place they play baseball they have air. Different from gravity that always pulls down (decreasing the ball's speed on the way up and increasing it on the way down), air friction always works against the flight of the ball and is always decreasing the speed of the ball.

[greymule]

Thanks, Tony and Garth.

That's what I thought. On, say, a line drive back at the pitcher (discounting the insignificant effects of tailwind, gravity, cosmic rays, solar wind), the ball is traveling fastest the instant it leaves the bat and constantly slows thereafter. A line drive horizontal to the ground cannot "pick up speed" in the air, no matter how much potential energy it carries as a result of being deformed by the bat.

I have seen softballs make drastic, seemingly impossible changes in direction after they have been hit by some of the weapons of mass destruction that Miken and Worth have produced. I've seen line drives toward the pitcher rise and go sailing off toward right center. I once saw a line drive hit so hard that it shot past F5's head and dropped to the ground 6 feet behind him. F5 was just getting the glove up as the ball hit the ground. I felt at the time that he might have just escaped death.

Can't say I've ever seen such weird things with baseballs. I guess they don't deform to the degree that softballs do.

Tony, I see your point about the curve ball. The correct question would then have to be, "Does the ball accelerate on its path," and of course the answer would be no.

[Snive]

I realize this is an older post, and my two cents worth is probably not necessary, but I think that it is worth mentioning that Baseball Ontario has changed their rules to make all age groups use wood bats as soon as they are old enough to make the jump to a regulation sized diamond (60'6" / 90'). While Baseball Canada still allows the Junior division to use aluminum only in the National Tournament. Since this ruling has come into affect, I have noticed several changes in the way baseball is played up here. Weaker teams are no longer getting blown away by stronger teams (what would once be a 15-2 game is now 5-0), far fewer injuries, games are MUCH quicker (I've had only 3 games over 2 hours this past season out of 75). Plus, it just sounds right...I hate the sound of an aluminum bat 'DING' ... it's just not baseball without the crack of the bat!

Take care

[Jim Porter]

I've seen similar dramatic results when our MSBL went to wooden bats two seasons ago. It has turned weak pitchers into decent pitchers. It has resulted in FAR fewer home runs (I've seen one in two seasons, where before I'd see more than a dozen each season.) The scores of games have been dramatically reduced, from double digits to single. The length of games have also been dramatically reduced. 9 inning games now last 2 to 2-1/2 hours, where before it was almost always a 3-hour affair. The gap between the best teams and the worst teams has also been significantly reduced, leading to better competition.

The only drawback is the cost. But our adult players are willing to pay for the obvious improvement in the league. No one wants to go back to aluminum.

[chris s]

Originally posted by Jim Porter
I've seen similar dramatic results when our MSBL went to wooden bats two seasons ago. It has turned weak pitchers into decent pitchers. It has resulted in FAR fewer home runs (I've seen one in two seasons, where before I'd see more than a dozen each season.) The scores of games have been dramatically reduced, from double digits to single. The length of games have also been dramatically reduced. 9 inning games now last 2 to 2-1/2 hours, where before it was almost always a 3-hour affair. The gap between the best teams and the worst teams has also been significantly reduced, leading to better competition.

The only drawback is the cost. But our adult players are willing to pay for the obvious improvement in the league. No one wants to go back to aluminum.

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I love the look on these guys faces when they take one on the handle, hands are in shock, ball squibs to F1 for easy out...batter is staring at hands....gotta love those outs!!!! Our MABL league has some summer JUCO teams, they can pop the crap outa the ball with the woodies, I was really impressed, one field has the alleys at almost 400(cf is 425), now that is some real estate to cover!!!!!!!

[Rich]

Our local adult league usually has 2-3 home runs per game and the fields here are usually pretty good sized.

First couple of years the offensive stats will be crap, but eventually the good players will be hitting quite well with the wood.

Rich

[Jim Porter]

In our MSBL they switched this year to the Worth baseball. Now, all the players are complaining it's a mush ball. I have to agree. The ball isn't coming off the wood like it did last year. They're stuck with them for the season, but next year they'll be going back to the Rawlings.

I love working in that league. They have a 48 and over division, and those guys are hilarious! Non-stop one-liners. There's a team in that division called the Silver Foxes. Look for them in Arizona if anyone works those games this year. They are all 58 and over, and many are older than 70. There are a number of former Major Leaguers in that division. Those guys can still hit and pitch amazingly well, but they don't run all that great.

[Edited by Jim Porter on Aug 18th, 2003 at 09:59 PM]

[chris s]

Originally posted by Jim Porter
In our MSBL they switched this year to the Worth baseball. Now, all the players are complaining it's a mush ball. I have to agree. The ball isn't coming off the wood like it did last year. They're stuck with them for the season, but next year they'll be going back to the Rawlings.

I love working in that league. They have a 48 and over division, and those guys are hilarious! Non-stop one-liners. There's a team in that division called the Silver Foxes. Look for them in Arizona if anyone works those games this year. They are all 58 and over, and many are older than 70. There are a number of former Major Leaguers in that division. Those guys can still hit and pitch amazingly well, but they don't run all that great.

[Edited by Jim Porter on Aug 18th, 2003 at 09:59 PM]

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Those are mush....Rawlings R100's or RPBL's...the FED ball...they do get OOR, but as long as you have a clean dozen!!! Had a submariner tossing a month or so ago, boy did he have some nasty crap...found out why...ball was a literal egg...me gotta work on that......