Well played baseball is largely a game of illusions.
1. The basic pitch in baseball is the eponymously named 'the fastball.'
How fast?
The hardest throwers can get the ball to a velocity of 100 mph as it crosses the plate. A few....even faster.
" SAN DIEGO Aroldis Chapman(notes) was summoned from the bullpen one batter too late to make a difference in the game. No matter. The 22-year-old Cincinnati Reds left-hander made do by making history Friday night, throwing the fastest pitch recorded in a major league game, a 105-mph fastball." http://sports.yahoo.com/news/chapman-throws-fastest-pitch-ever-074900166--mlb.html
2. Since the ball slows down over the course of the 56 feet or so, from pitcher to catcher, its speed is about 8 mph greater when it starts out, losing about 1 mph every 7 feet.
In addition to speed, backspin applied causes the ball to appear to rise, or hop. At 1600 rpm, it will rotate about 10 times during its journey, with a hop of about 7 inches- more than enough to confuse a hitter.
a. As the batter must begin his swing when the ball is less than one third of the way to the plate, and at that point the hop is only about 3/4 of an inch.
The greatest movement of the ball occurs during the last 15 feet.
3. For professional pitchers, variation is the key to success. Two fastball, thrown with the same trajectory and the same velocity, will appear differently if thrown with different backspin rates: comparing one with an 1800 rpm backspin with one with a 1200 rpm rate, the difference between the two trajectories at the plate, will be about 2 and a 1/2 inches. So, if the batter guesses that path is that of the lesser rpm ball, but is the greater, the ball will 'hop' over his bat.
The illusion.
a. In reality, the ball drops some 2 and a half feet from the hand of the pitcher to that of the catcher....so, where is the 'hop'?
It is the rise from an anticipated straight line from the pitcher's hand, by the batter.
That straight line could only exist if the game were played in outer space, where there is neither gravity nor air.
4. Another alteration used by some pitchers is the release of the ball with an extra left-right component of spin, which accentuates a sideways break. This is called a 'cut' fastball.
a. If the pitcher throws a 90-mph fastball sidearm, or even a three-quarter motion, using a sidespin rather than backspin, the curve will be from left to right (for a right-handed pitcher), and move about six inches.
5. As for the illusion that a hard thrown ball travels in a straight line, this can be dispelled by viewing a pitch from the side. Even greater is the drop from a third baseman with a strong arm, through the roughly 127 foot distance to the first baseman. There, the drop is almost ten feet from the initial line, with a peak trajectory of about 2 and a half feet.
6. How about balls thrown with the same trajectories, but slightly different velocities?
a. A batter expects a 95-mph fastball but given one of 90-mph will swing much too soon and much too high!
b. Even just 2-mph taken off the pitch and it's a foul tip back to the catcher, if he expects on of 95-mph.
c. A right-handed batter who corrects properly for height, but not speed, will hit the 93-mph pitch foul down the third base line.
d. A ball thrown at 90-mph will be a full three feet further from the plate than one of 95-mph. Hit that.
7. And different velocities result in different heights for the pitch.
Guess right....and you're a star!
From Robert Adair's "The Physics of Baseball," chapter four.
1. The basic pitch in baseball is the eponymously named 'the fastball.'
How fast?
The hardest throwers can get the ball to a velocity of 100 mph as it crosses the plate. A few....even faster.
" SAN DIEGO Aroldis Chapman(notes) was summoned from the bullpen one batter too late to make a difference in the game. No matter. The 22-year-old Cincinnati Reds left-hander made do by making history Friday night, throwing the fastest pitch recorded in a major league game, a 105-mph fastball." http://sports.yahoo.com/news/chapman-throws-fastest-pitch-ever-074900166--mlb.html
2. Since the ball slows down over the course of the 56 feet or so, from pitcher to catcher, its speed is about 8 mph greater when it starts out, losing about 1 mph every 7 feet.
In addition to speed, backspin applied causes the ball to appear to rise, or hop. At 1600 rpm, it will rotate about 10 times during its journey, with a hop of about 7 inches- more than enough to confuse a hitter.
a. As the batter must begin his swing when the ball is less than one third of the way to the plate, and at that point the hop is only about 3/4 of an inch.
The greatest movement of the ball occurs during the last 15 feet.
3. For professional pitchers, variation is the key to success. Two fastball, thrown with the same trajectory and the same velocity, will appear differently if thrown with different backspin rates: comparing one with an 1800 rpm backspin with one with a 1200 rpm rate, the difference between the two trajectories at the plate, will be about 2 and a 1/2 inches. So, if the batter guesses that path is that of the lesser rpm ball, but is the greater, the ball will 'hop' over his bat.
The illusion.
a. In reality, the ball drops some 2 and a half feet from the hand of the pitcher to that of the catcher....so, where is the 'hop'?
It is the rise from an anticipated straight line from the pitcher's hand, by the batter.
That straight line could only exist if the game were played in outer space, where there is neither gravity nor air.
4. Another alteration used by some pitchers is the release of the ball with an extra left-right component of spin, which accentuates a sideways break. This is called a 'cut' fastball.
a. If the pitcher throws a 90-mph fastball sidearm, or even a three-quarter motion, using a sidespin rather than backspin, the curve will be from left to right (for a right-handed pitcher), and move about six inches.
5. As for the illusion that a hard thrown ball travels in a straight line, this can be dispelled by viewing a pitch from the side. Even greater is the drop from a third baseman with a strong arm, through the roughly 127 foot distance to the first baseman. There, the drop is almost ten feet from the initial line, with a peak trajectory of about 2 and a half feet.
6. How about balls thrown with the same trajectories, but slightly different velocities?
a. A batter expects a 95-mph fastball but given one of 90-mph will swing much too soon and much too high!
b. Even just 2-mph taken off the pitch and it's a foul tip back to the catcher, if he expects on of 95-mph.
c. A right-handed batter who corrects properly for height, but not speed, will hit the 93-mph pitch foul down the third base line.
d. A ball thrown at 90-mph will be a full three feet further from the plate than one of 95-mph. Hit that.
7. And different velocities result in different heights for the pitch.
Guess right....and you're a star!
From Robert Adair's "The Physics of Baseball," chapter four.
