RARE EVENTS—HITTING A BASEBALL THREE TIMES WITH ONE SWING.

RARE EVENTS—HITTING A BASEBALL THREE TIMES WITH ONE SWING. Matt Adams of the Southside Showdown blog called Nick’s attention to this post at the Physics of Baseball blog explaining what seems to me the most remarkable play of the 2012 baseball season. The post, by Alan Nathan, also demonstrates just how much analytical power can now be brought to bear on any play in baseball. Hunter Pence in the National League Championship Series hit a pitch three times with one swing; the result was to generate unusual sidespin which completely fooled the shortstop and gave Pence a double. The post shows the swing in slow motion and explains that “Under normal circumstances, the batted ball would have been a weakly hit ball to the left side.” The ball loses a lot of energy because of the vibrations of the bat and travels slowly so the bat is able to catch up.