Stories tagged baseball playoffs

Yer outta here!: Physics play a big role in the National Pastime.
Courtesy Mark RyanWith the baseball play-offs and World Series coming up, I’m sure lots of folks out there (especially in Chicago and not so much in Minnesota) are agonizing over the question: What is more effective, sliding into base head-first or feet-first?

Well, as usual, science has solved the problem. Using physics and mathematics, David A. Peters, an engineer from Washington University in St. Louis, has figured out which of the two ways is more advantageous. Peters is a huge baseball fan, and a mechanical engineer to boot. He explains it this way:

"There's momentum— mass of the body times how fast the player is moving. There's angular momentum (mass movement of inertia times the rotational rate). If it's feet-first and you're starting to slide, your feet are going out from you and you're rotating clockwise; if it's head-first, as your hands go down, you're rotating counterclockwise. On top of this is Newton's Law: Force is mass times acceleration. Then moments of inertia times your angular acceleration."

So which method gives ballplayers a better chance of making it safely to the bag? Center of gravity seems to be the key.

"It turns out your center of gravity is where the momentum is. This is found half way from the tips of your fingers to the tips of your toes. In the headfirst slide, the center of gravity is lower than halfway between your feet and hands, so your feet don't get there as fast. It's faster head-first."

Regardless of the science, Dr. Peters figures preference for one way or the other among ballplayers is about 50/50. And the whole argument goes out the window when talking about first base. Usually, players are much better off running through first rather than sliding into it at all.

"Mathematically, you might think there's an advantage, but leaving your feet is actually a detriment because you're no longer pulsing (pumping your legs) and you start to decelerate," he says. "When you're running, your get your feet out in front of the center of gravity, so you're getting maybe three or four steps of an advantage."

Dr. Peters was also involved in a previous baseball study covered by the Buzz back in July.

SOURCE
Washington University story

Tags : physics, momentum, center of gravity, baseball playoffs, baseball, angular momentum

read more... | add a comment | share

Yankee beater: Millions of midge bugs threw the New York Yankees off the game Friday night in their playoff game in Cleveland. Some Yankee players and fans are complaining that the bugs were an unfair homefield advantage and that the game should have been delayed while they swarmed.They find plenty of things to argue about on sports talk radio, but this is a new one: Should a game be called or delayed on account of bugs?

New York Yankees fans, and some players, are upset that umpires didn’t delay their playoff game against the Cleveland Indians last week when a huge swarm of midges – bugs sort of like mosquitoes – overtook the field.

New York’s pitcher at the time, Joba Chamberlain, hit a batter with a pitch and threw two wild pitches during the eighth inning while he was being buzzed by all the bugs. One of those wild pitches allowed Cleveland to score the tying run and send the game into extra innings, where the Indians ended up winning in the 11th. One Indian batter was able to smack a hit while at bat during the bug flurry.

Umpire Bruce Froemming said that he never considered stopping the game and after about 45 minutes, all the bugs were gone. But the intense blast of bugs lasted for just about 10 minutes. Chamberlain was sprayed with bug repellant twice during the half inning, but it did little to help.

Why were the bugs suddenly showing up for the game? Midges like to breed on warm fall nights near bodies of water. Cleveland’s Jacobs Field is right alongside Lake Erie. Also, they’re attracted to light, and a Major League baseball park has a lot of those burning during a night game. Midges are a common sight in Cleveland on June and July evenings, but not a welcome on in October the Yankees.

Personally, I’m a Yankee hater and love to see any new and creative ways for them to get beat. What do you think about the bug controversy? Share your thoughts here at Science Buzz.

Tags : baseball, midges, New York Yankees, Cleveland, Cleveland Indians, baseball playoffs

read more... | add a comment | share