Category Archives: Baseball

THE SCIENCE OF THE WIFFLE BALL.

THE SCIENCE OF THE WIFFLE BALL. This article by Bjorn Carey in Popular Science reports on research using a wind tunnel by mechanical engineer Jenn Stroud Rossmann at Lafayette College on the forces that operate on a Wiffle ball. (A … Continue reading

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THE NBA SAYS IT WILL BE MORE OPEN ABOUT REFEREEING.

THE NBA SAYS IT WILL BE MORE OPEN ABOUT REFEREEING. Sam Amick in USA TODAY SPORTS WEEKLY (March 12-18) reports that “New NBA commissioner Adam Silver has vowed to have an open dialogue about officiating….” Mike Bantom, the NBA executive … Continue reading

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HOW GOOD A JOB DO UMPIRES DO IN CALLING BALLS AND STRIKES?

HOW GOOD A JOB DO UMPIRES DO IN CALLING BALLS AND STRIKES? Scott Lindholm had an analysis on the SB Nation site of how accurate major league umpires have been in calling balls and strikes. His analysis is based PITCHf/x … Continue reading

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PAUL BLAIR’S JUMPS.

PAUL BLAIR’S JUMPS. For eight of the years that Earl Weaver managed the Baltimore Orioles, Paul Blair was his center fielder. Weaver said that during those eight years he never saw Blair take his first step toward a fly ball. … Continue reading

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MEASURING JASON HEYWARD’S JUMP ON A BALL.

MEASURING JASON HEYWARD’S JUMP ON A BALL. The video at the bottom of the blog post by Clint Boulton and Michel Hickins shows a great catch by Jason Heyward and then shows the data that is available about that catch. … Continue reading

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BIG DATA COMES TO MONEYBALL.

BIG DATA COMES TO MONEYBALL. I have posted a number of times, including here, about how Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, pioneered the application of improved statistics (sabermetrics), as shown in the Michael Lewis book MONEYBALL … Continue reading

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GEORGE CARLIN ON GOING HOME.

GEORGE CARLIN ON GOING HOME. George Carlin reached the same conclusion on the symbolism of home plate in his analysis (here) of the differences between football and baseball. Carlin pointed out that: “Baseball is a nineteenth-century pastoral game. Football is … Continue reading

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THE SYMBOLISM OF HOME PLATE.

THE SYMBOLISM OF HOME PLATE. Why should baseball rules be different at home plate from the rules at the other bases? The executive director of the players union is quoted (in the article I linked to yesterday) as saying: “There … Continue reading

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BASEBALL DECIDES NOT TO OUTLAW HOME PLATE COLLISIONS.

BASEBALL DECIDES NOT TO OUTLAW HOME PLATE COLLISIONS. I posted here a couple months ago about the announcement that major league baseball was going to adopt a rule outlawing collisions at home plate. It seemed to be too good to … Continue reading

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REFORM—REDUCING COLLISIONS AT HOME PLATE.

REFORM—REDUCING COLLISIONS AT HOME PLATE. I have posted several times, beginning here, on my long-held belief that blocking the plate in baseball ought to be eliminated. I had thought that any change in the rules was unlikely, but this article … Continue reading

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