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
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
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,
Today we were hitting in the field house as part of our practice and I decided to focus on something I always knew happened, but never knew why. Every time a baseball bat rolls, it always does so in a circular fashion. This can be really annoying especially when it gets set down and then all of the sudden it starts randomly rolling off in a circle and depending on speed, always goes in a different path. The more I thought about it, the more I was amazed that it could be explained simply with
(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
