| |
Week of 8/2/99:
It's the heart of baseball season! Fourth in a series of baseball questions!
Q:
The range of speeds at which major league baseballs are thrown and
batted varies approximately from 50 to 130 miles per hour. Below
50 mph, the flow around the ball is entirely laminar; while above
about 150 mph, the flow can be considered to be completely turbulent.
The range of interesting baseball speeds occurs almost entirely within a
laminar-turbulent "transition zone." Why does this help make baseball
such a lively, unpredictable, and entertaining game?
A:
Aerodynamic drag plays an important part in baseball trajectories.
The drag can change dramatically on a baseball flying in the
laminar-turbulent transition zone. Indeed, significant differences
in drag are often present on opposite sides of the ball at the same
time. Knuckleball hurlers, in particular, take advantage of the
variability of the drag transition zone when throwing their slowly-rotating
balls toward the plate.
No one got the correct answer!
- The Aeroquiz Editor
Week of 8/9/99:
It's the heart of baseball season! Fifth in a series of baseball questions!
Q:
Decades ago, home teams were allowed to dole baseballs out to
the home plate umpire one-by-one. At the time, this practice was not thought
to give an unfair advantage to the home team because the umpire could
easily inspect the ball's surface to see if it had been illegally scuffed
or if an illegal lubricant had been applied to it. Rules now, however,
make this practice illegal. All of the game balls to be used by both
teams must be submitted at the same time a few hours before game time. Why?
A:
The balls are sumbitted a few hours before game time to make sure
none of the balls have been frozen to deaden their response
to being hit.
Congratulations to Philip Stehno.
There are stories in baseball, going all the way back to the days
when John McGraw managed the New York Giants, of putting baseballs into
freezers. Deep freezing a baseball to minus ten degrees Fahrenheit
can reduce the ball's so-called "coefficient of restitution" (a measure
of how well the batted ball rebounds off the bat) by about ten percent.
If taken out of the freezer an hour or two before game time, the outer
surface of the ball becomes warm enough to fool an umpire, but the ball's
center is still very cold. The visiting team, naturally, would bat the
cold, "dead" balls, while the home team would enjoy batting livelier,
room temperature (or even heated) balls.
- The Aeroquiz Editor
Week of 8/16/99:
It's the heart of baseball season! Sixth in a series of baseball questions!
Q:
One of the longest home runs (and perhaps the longest ever) was
Mickey Mantle's 1953 "Washington Wallop" off of Chuck Stobbs that
went over the left field bleachers of old Griffith Stadium. Although
(naturally) disputed, the distance was estimated at 565 feet by a Yankees
publicity man. What might be the effect on blasts like Mantle's if baseball
is further internationalized to include a team in Mexico City?
A:
The high elevation above sea level of Mexico City (7800 ft) would allow
longer baseball flight distances due to the reduced air density at
that elevation.
Congratulations to Stephen Jackson.
Denver is high enough! If Mantle had hit Stobbs' pitch in Mexico
City, it would have traveled about 40 feet farther due to the reduced
air resistance at the elevation of 7800 feet. A Mexico City team would have
a tremendous impact on pitching. To prevent all home run records from
falling, the team might try moving their fences back. But that would leave
large gaps in the outfield into which hits would fall. Breaking ball
pitchers, with much less air to "bite" into, in particular would suffer.
- The Aeroquiz Editor
Week of 8/23/99:
It's the heart of baseball season! Seventh in a series of baseball questions!
Q:
Pitchers who throw blistering fast balls are generally young.
Fast ball hurlers often have to develop other pitches as they age
in order to keep in the game (Nolan Ryan, baseball's all-time strikeout
leader, who continued to throw major league heat until age 46, defies explanation!).
But it isn't diminishing strength that slows them down. Indeed, 35-year-old
pitchers are likely a bit stronger than they were at 25. Why do their
fast balls lose speed?
No correct answers! The question stands another week!
- The Aeroquiz Editor
Week of 8/30/99:
It's the heart of baseball season! Seventh in a series of baseball questions!
Q:
Pitchers who throw blistering fast balls are generally young.
Fast ball hurlers often have to develop other pitches as they age
in order to keep in the game (Nolan Ryan, baseball's all-time strikeout
leader, who continued to throw major league heat until age 46, defies explanation!).
But it isn't diminishing strength that slows them down. Indeed, 35-year-old
pitchers are likely a bit stronger than they were at 25. Why do their
fast balls lose speed?
A:
In general, the elasticity of tendons and other tissues decreases with
age or with injury. This reduces older pitchers' ability to throw the
fast ball.
No one got the correct answer!
- The Aeroquiz Editor
|
|
