Baseball. Often dismissed by many because of how "slow" and "boring" it is. This being said, anybody who knows anything about physics should strongly disagree with these statements. The truth is, every 15- 20 seconds, a ball flies towards the batter travelling 80+ mph and curving up to a foot in one direction all the while a batter is trying to hit that ball to distances exceeding 400 feet. The most interesting piece of this intense chain of events is the movement of the ball, which require
Over the break, I took a 5 day cruise into the Gulf of Mexico. Although there wasn't any internet connection for me to have Mr. Fullerton's videos grace my presence (I know what I'm going to be doing all day today), I was still thinking about physics the entire cruise. One particular event that made me use my physics knowledge took place when we were walking down the pier in Progreso, Mexico. Another Carnival cruise ship was leaving the port as we were about to get on our ship. The boat back
In the short period of time I got to watch the Dodgers/ Cubs game before I started working on my physics, I noticed a strange game plan that the Dodger base runners were employing against Cubs lefty pitcher Jon Lester. After a four pitch walk to lead off the bottom of the first, Dodgers player Enrique Hernandez started to bounce back and forth and side to side as he was taking his lead from first, trying to distract Jon Lester from his task of pitching. To people who aren't familiar with the g
The feat of checking a baseball swing is truly one that requires much physical power. The majority of people compliment the batter's keen eyesight when he stops his bat mid swing, when in reality they should be complimenting his strength. Thinking about it from a physics perspective, it is simple to see how much strength is required to stop a swing. 250 milliseconds after the ball is released, the batter starts his swing, generating all the force he can out of muscles in his arms, legs, hips,
I thought I would do a quick post about some very interesting information I read about pitching and how it ties in with bio-physics. As a lot of people know, Tommy John surgery is a dreaded operation that is used on mostly baseball players to correct the mother of all baseball injuries: a UCL tear. The UCL, or Ulnar Collateral Ligament is a small ligament on the "pinky side" of your elbow. Its main purpose is mainly to hold back all the torque generated by your arm when it goes into a whippin
56 days....
Getting hit by the ball in baseball is just a fact of life. Many plays in a game consist of players simply knocking the ball down with their bodies in order to better control it or keep it from getting past them. Usually the ball impacts a part of the body that can take a good amount of force without too much pain (like the torso). Rarely, and usually by error of the fielder, the ball can find its way to less ideal areas of the body. In my case, playing the awkward bouncing
Well if my last blog didn't get you interested about baseball hopefully this one will...
Introduced to 3 pilot stadiums in 2014 and now in its 2nd full season of league- wide use, STATCAST is yet another way for baseball (and physics) fans to geek out about anything that goes on in between the chalk lines. Essentially, STATCAST uses common methods of tracking and, with the help of computer and human input, creates powerful graphics, videos and analysis in a matter of minutes. This system
Last night, in Cleveland, two landmark events happened in a city mostly considered the laughingstock of sports. In one night, the Indians won game one of the World Series against the Cubs and the Cleveland Cavaliers hoisted their Championship banner on opening night of the NBA regular season. With these stadiums right across the street from each other, it got me to think: with Cleveland fans so starved of sports success, they took full advantage of this opportunity to be loud and support their
This Christmas I was lucky enough to get my 4th wood bat from my parents. (Sorry dad for breaking the last 3) As I was holding it in my hand I noticed it felt lighter than my previous bat, but what confused me was the fact that both had the same length and weight. Using my ever-expanding knowledge of physics, I got to thinking about it and a few minutes later it dawned on me that its really not that confusing at all. Despite how un-exact of a science you may expect making wooden bats may be,
Today at 4:30 Eastern Time something magical will happen. THE Oakland Raiders will take the field in a NFL Playoff game for the first time in 12 years. There are a lot of questions surrounding the Raiders and their chances of even making out of the wildcard round. Their chances are pretty good as long as they can overcome the Texan's defense, who is 1st in the league in the overall category. Being the overconfident Raiders fan I am, I predict the Raiders are going to play not one, but two ga
A new development in baseball, especially in Little League, is the implementation of breakaway "safety" bases that rely totally on friction with the ground to stay in place. The idea behind them was that younger players, who had not yet perfected sliding, were getting hurt when they slid into a immovable base and hurt themselves from the sudden deceleration of their body. With their leg (mostly the knee and ankle) bearing the brunt of that force, it would make sense to take every precaution to
This past semester I took "History of Warfare", a half-year elective that took an in-depth look at all major US wars since WWI. On the last day of the class, we shifted focus to the homefront and talked about mental injuries veterans sustain and how they try and cope after war. One thing that really shocked me was the existence of a fairly recently discovered injury called Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). What surprised me even more was the way in which this injury was sustained. Essentially, t
I have been wanting to do a post on the physics behind a fastball for a while... and because of the events that transpired early today I think this is a fitting time to do it.
Today, Yordano Ventura, 25 had his life taken in a car crash in the Dominican Republic. He was a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals and was widely regarded as a pitcher that most announcers describe simply as "electric". Usually I use physics here to bring to light how truly difficult baseball is and the skill of
62 days until the first Varsity Baseball game of the season (@ Arcadia if anyone's interested)
My job is a pretty simple one: I work behind the snack bar counter at Lakeshore Hockey Arena and cook food for anyone who cares to buy it. Its not hard and can be fun depending on who you work with but there is one thing that really aggravates me: the french fry bags. The bags have perforated tops to make opening and pouring the fries out of them easy. A major drawback is made very clear though
(49 short days until game #1)
Today was a very eventful day in the baseball world. Spring training started and Hannah and Derek Jeter announced the birth of their first child. To celebrate both, I thought I would break down the physics behind two of Derek Jeter's most iconic defensive plays.
The first play, commonly called the "jump-throw" is known across the world by almost any baseball player or fan. It starts with a sharply hit ground ball towards the hole between Jeter and thi
HBP- Hit By Pitch is a common abbreviation seen in every stat line in baseball. It is something that looks a lot less painful than it actually is- especially in the majors when some guys just shrug off 90+ mph fastballs. One interesting thing about getting hit by a pitch (which I have some good experience with) is the fact that there really is a wide range of pain associated with the event. There are many factors that effect the pain factor for the batter. Things such as location, pitch type
Well its been real Physics C. Here I am, sitting here, writing my last blog post of high school (and maybe forever). This class has been a huge undertaking, but also something that I am glad I attempted. Although the work has been hard and I am far from even coming close to mastering some of these complex concepts, my time with Physics has been amazing and enlightening. It has opened me up to a totally new way of seeing things, and I cant wait until I can put what I've learned into use while
Last week our physics class failed at a single attempt to calculate the horizontal distance traveled by a projectile launched from a projectile launcher. After one test launch, we were required to calculate the delta x of a ball launched at an angle of -4 degrees. I think the biggest factor contributing to our failure was the lack of effective communication and teamwork. When it came time to gather values to calculate the distance, the main form of communication was that of yelling louder tha
The beauty of baseball is the fact that any single detail of the game to can be analyzed way more than most people want to know. Everything from the moisture of the grass to how a player catches a ball can play huge roles in a game. Even in something as small as catching a ball, physics can be found in not only the method of catching but in the actual construction of the baseball glove. During a professional baseball game, players routinely throw the ball at speeds approaching 100 mph and can
Sports Authority Field at Mile High doesn't have that name for just any reason. Home to the Denver Broncos, it is exactly one mile above sea level and is surrounded by the thinnest air in the NFL. As far as football goes, thin air really benefits the home team in many more ways than expected. Other than the obvious facts that kicks and passes go farther, daily practice at that elevation can make a football team extremely effective when it comes to the physical side of the game. When the Bron
Tonight, the 2016 Gold Glove Awards were presented. For those of you who dont know, the Gold Glove Award is given to two MLB players for each defensive position that had exceptional seasons playing defense (making athletic plays, committing few errors and so on). The award is given to two players per position because a winner is chosen from the two main leagues under the MLB: the National and American Leagues. One particularly fascinating position from a physics standpoint is the position of
Keeping with my outfield theme, Crowhops are critical to the outfield position. A crowhop is a shuffle-step like movement that allows a fielder to throw the ball with greater initial velocity and therefore more distance. Although I've been around the game for over a decade, the physics behind the crowhop never really seemed interesting until you take a deeper look. Standing still, a player can still throw a ball with tremendous speed. All of this velocity is coming from the muscles in the ar
This long weekend, my family took a vacation up at my cottage near Watertown NY. My father, brother and I all hunt and have been doing so since a young age and every fall we take time to spend some time in the woods with each other hunting for big game. This time of year, bow hunting is the open season, and sitting in my tree-stand this past weekend, I thought back to a time when my brother and I were first learning about hunting and archery. My brother, who was 11 at the time was enjoying hi
I know this blog is all about baseball but sometimes special moments must be capitalized upon... and this is one of those moments. In light of the great ball game my Raiders had today (hey Justin ) I thought I would do a blog post on the best defensive end in the league: Khalil Mack. His tipped pass in the 4th quarter and strip sack later on pretty much sealed the game for Oakland and in particular I want to focus on the tipped pass. Believe it or not, the physics behind this play are pretty
Thank God I'm a Clemson fan...
Saturday was an awful day for me watching the Raiders fall to the Texans; but Monday was a different story. My Clemson Tigers won the College Football Playoff Championship with a thrilling victory over Alabama. It was one of the most exciting games I have ever watched and was definitely well worth staying up till almost 1 on a Monday night. Although I could talk about the physics of Deshaun Watson holding up the National Championship Trophy, that would be
