It's all about me

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by ThurgreedMarshall
Wrong. Almost everyone swings the ultra light bats now because they recognize that bat speed is the key.

Howard Johnson is right!* The formula for force is F=mv^2, which means that bat weight (mass) goes into the mix straight up, while the vector speed of the bat goes in squared. By comparison to an incremental increase in speed at impact, a heavier bat don't count for much, even with all other things being equal. Which they're not, because a heavier bat will never be going as fast at the point of impact, given the same amount of strength put into the swing. Bat speed is the key.

*In honor of 30th anniversary of Blazing Saddles.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
SS, don't listen to Fringey. If you get the enhancement surgery, you don't have to worry about ANY of the other factors. Paying attention? No. Being skillfull? No. Why? B/c you'll have a giant cock! Chicks will wait in line to service you. Then you can take a nap and be serviced again!

Trust me. It's wonderful. I'm so lazy I can hardly sit up. But I don't need to!!

I seem to be conflicting information. Maybe I'll just become rich instead.

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
I'm pretty sure Bonds uses a VERY light bat. If I recall it's lighter than the bat I used when I was 15. And I was skinny at 15.

However, players in the 30s-50s used much heavier bats than players use today.

That's because Bonds understands Newtonian physics.

KE=1/2 M x V^2

Or in English, Kinetic Energy (KE) is proportional to (one half, actually) the mass of an object (M) times the square of its velocity.

In short, the speed of the bat is more important than the mass; if additional mass slows down the bat speed, you end up with less total kinetic energy to transfer to the ball.

Strength certainly impact the ability to hit homeruns. Additional strength does not necessarily enable a person to swing a bat faster (which is controlled more by the ratio of slow and fast twitch muscles, as well as reaction times and eye hand coordination), but it may enable a person to swing a heavier bat at top speed than he would otherwise be able.

ETA: Curse you Atticus!!!

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
The bats are a lot lighter and denser. They heat treat them to remove any lingering humidity.

Babe Ruth was rumoured to have swung a 38oz bat. Most players today use a 30-31. Paul O'Neill (not the Treasury Sec'y) used to swing a 34 and everyone poked fun at him.

Also - recall that they didn't bring in the fences for Teddy Ballgame either.

There are a lot of reasons why more home runs are hit today versus different era.

1. Batters are bigger, stronger and faster. They can generate more bat speed and they can correct what would otherwise be mistake-pop-ups with strength. Their weight training programs allow them to isolate and strengthen the muscles that will make them the most successful.

2. Pitchers are bigger and stronger. Earlier this year, one of the scouts was quoted on Baseball Tonight as saying that it's remarkable that the change they've been seeing after the crack down on steroids was that so many pitchers were losing velocity. Everyone throws 90+ now. You make decent contact with a faster pitch, it will go farther.

3. The ball is juiced.

4. The bats are unjuiced.

5. Ball parks are smaller.

6. Expansion has watered down the talent level for pitchers. Lots of guys can throw hard, but only a few can pitch well. You can always find good hitters. But pitching is always at a premium.

7. The strike zone is smaller. Whatever happened to the letters and the knees? The strike zone now goes from the waist to the knees. And umpires are on tight leashes with their zones.

8. You can't throw inside anymore. And if you do, guys aren't scared to get hit because they have armor on their arms and legs. What is most surprising to me is the increase in the number of opposite field home runs by shortstops and second basemen (the little guys). This is because they can dive into the pitch. How many times have you seen Manny or Alex Rodriguez take a low and outside pitch out of the park? Back in the day, that would happen roughly once and the next pitch you saw would be in your ear. Now, if you throw at someone, you're gone (unless you're Pedro or Clemens).

9. Designated hitter.

10. The best in the world play at the major league level, instead of just the best white guys in the world.

TM

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by ThurgreedMarshall
Tiger never outdrove Daly. Daly has always led Tiger in driving distance. If you're talking about a specific hole (or day) where he substantially outdrove Daly, it was probably due to club selection.

TM

Maybe it was someone else besides Daly. It was one hole though. I was at Augusta the year before he first won. The next year you couldn't get near him, but that year it was doable.

I was down a fairway, we see 4 balls come up. 3 are together, 1 30 yards further. The other 3 were big hitters, maybe not Daly, or maybe as you say different club, etc. But Tiger was surprisingly skinny armed compared to the guys he just outdrove. He certainly is (was) one of the bigger hitters, and it does raise the question why "big arms" is different in golf and baseball. Maybe its a consistancy "every drive must go X" vs. "1 HR every 8 times up is still 50 if you get 400 ABs" diffference.

And Coltrane, smaller guys might do great, but the record holders have massive arms. "A few more over the wall" due to muscle is the difference between really really good and a record.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by baltassoc
That's because Bonds understands Newtonian physics.

KE=1/2 M x V^2

Or in English, Kinetic Energy (KE) is proportional to (one half, actually) the mass of an object (M) times the square of its velocity.

In short, the speed of the bat is more important than the mass; if additional mass slows down the bat speed, you end up with less total kinetic energy to transfer to the ball.

Strength certainly impact the ability to hit homeruns. Additional strength does not necessarily enable a person to swing a bat faster (which is controlled more by the ratio of slow and fast twitch muscles, as well as reaction times and eye hand coordination), but it may enable a person to swing a heavier bat at top speed than he would otherwise be able.

ETA: Curse you Atticus!!!

so the boring baseball talk has changed to boring physics talk. and suddenly the nerds all come out of the woodwork. anyone care to explain the effect of gravitational forces on the ball next?

happy fucking Friday.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
so the boring baseball talk has changed to boring physics talk. and suddenly the nerds all come out of the woodwork. anyone care to explain the effect of gravitational forces on the ball next?

happy fucking Friday.

Hey, I tried to change the topic to my giant cock. No luck, apparently.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
so the boring baseball talk has changed to boring physics talk. and suddenly the nerds all come out of the woodwork. anyone care to explain the effect of gravitational forces on the ball next?

happy fucking Friday.

Are you saying smart science people can't be sexy?

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
so the boring baseball talk has changed to boring physics talk. and suddenly the nerds all come out of the woodwork. anyone care to explain the effect of gravitational forces on the ball next?

happy fucking Friday.

I think that the gravitational force is directly proportional to the square of the distance between two bodies. Mmmm, bodies.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
Hey, I tried to change the topic to my giant cock. No luck, apparently.

maybe that's because no one believes you, scrawny boy.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
But all the big home run hitters have massive arms, don't they. Speed being the main thing would make shortstops the big HR hitters.

What's odd is the same doesn't appear true in golf. The first time I saw Tiger play 2 things impressed me. 1 he substantially out drove Daly and a few other big hitters. 2 at the time at least, he was scrawny.

Long hitters in golf are all about arc and proper striking. Lots of physics shit I don't understand. A pro slowed my swing down considerably years ago and I wound up hitting the ball a lot further than I did swinging like a lunatic. Doesn't feel like it should work that way, but it does. I still can't understand it. Slower = longer just doesn't work for me.*

The other thing is that back when I played a lot, when I could hit a draw, a 3/4 hit draw would sail past the hardest hit dead straight drive. I think that's due to the overhead spin you get with a draw, which makes sense, since slices have a reverse spin, and are always shorter.

* Well, except in one sport.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
maybe that's because no one believes you, scrawny boy.

It really is Friday Ms. Literal!

Did you know that I don't believe that you're actually Jennier Aniston??

[Paddle Mybuttocks]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

Did you know that I don't believe that you're actually Jennier Aniston??

I just daydreamed about her. It was good for me.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by robustpuppy
Was anybody else distracted by this?

So far, it's the only thing in the thread that I've found slightly interesting.

[Atticus Grinch]

Judge tells Catholic school it can't discipline mulleted student for violation of hair dress code; relies on the length of Jesus's hair to support argument.

Too bad Jesus probably wore his hair short, as most Aramaic-speaking first century Jews did.