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Subject: Baseball on Mythbusters
Posted by: C1-NRB
- [17348117] Wed, Aug 08, 2007, 21:39
Tonight's Mythbusters (Discovery Channel, check local listings) is all about baseball.
Does a corked bat really help? Does a humidor have any effect on baseballs? etc...
It repeats again at 1:00 am EDT, so set your recording device of choice accordingly. |
| 1 | holt
ID: 41512278
Wed, Aug 08, 2007, 22:48
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interesting. thanks.
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| 2 | J
Leader
ID: 049346417
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 00:48
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Good find! Comes on again at 1am ET. Thanks, all set to tivo!
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| 3 | barilko6
ID: 52261810
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 07:59
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Anyone have an update on this?
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| 4 | C1-NRB
ID: 5932328
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 08:30
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Update like... you want after-the-fact "spoilers"?
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| 5 | barilko6
ID: 46637248
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 08:53
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For sure...I won't see it at all, and I am curious as to the results!
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| 6 | Ender
ID: 5963859
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 09:37
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It's on my DVR right now.
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| 7 | C1-NRB
ID: 5932328
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 10:04
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If you have a fast connection, you can watch it here:
Mythbusters site
In a nutshell (spoilers follow):
A corked bat only gives the player a mental edge. The cork actually absorbs some of the energy from the ball causing it to leave the bat at a slower rate than an uncorked bat. If you want to lighten a bat to increase your swing-speed, get a lighter bat.
They tested baseballs that had been saturated at 90% humidity, dried out at 10% humidity, and a control group at 50% humidity. The 90% balls were softer and bounced an average of 14% lower than the 10% balls when dropped from a height of 125 inches. That figures to about 60 feet in ballpark terms. For a "real world scenario," they set up a hitting rig at a ballpark that struck balls at the same velocity and ran all three groups through it. The 90% balls didn't make it out of the infield, the 50% (control group) balls made it to about the cut of the grass, and the 10% balls all made it into the outfield.
When running to second or third base you can arrive faster at the base by going in to a slide than by trying to run to and "stop on a dime" right on the base. This doesn't hold true for first base and home plate because you don't have to stop right on either one- you can run "through" them.
You can't hit a baseball so hard that you knock the cover off (a'la "The Natural"). For them get the cover off a ball they fired it out of an air cannon at 400 mph.
There might have been another one, but I can't remember it right now.
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| 8 | Donkey Hunter
ID: 451362821
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 10:06
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DVRed and am watching now. They are testing four myths. Does a corked bat send the ball further? Can you hit a ball hard enough to knock the hide off? Does sliding get you to the bas faster or slow you down? Do humid balls travel less far? Looks like they are also going to be looking at the physics of different Roger Clemens pitches with a high speed camera to see if it really curves or is an optical illusion. I can post spoilers when I finish watching.
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| 9 | Mattinglyinthehall
Leader
ID: 01629107
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 10:08
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I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure I've seen a game where the cover came off a ball.
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| 10 | Mattinglyinthehall
Leader
ID: 01629107
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 10:13
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Poking around google I cant find any references. Maybe I am wrong.
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| 11 | Mattinglyinthehall
Leader
ID: 01629107
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 10:14
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Maybe it's something that could happen to a doctored ball.
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| 12 | mrbig
ID: 59522612
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 12:45
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MITH,
Or a ball with a few weak stiches in one area that happens to be hit on the weak spot with a swing that puts a lot of spin on the ball.
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| 13 | Great One
Sustainer
ID: 053272014
Thu, Aug 09, 2007, 13:00
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I missed it, crap. If anyone spies a replay... let me know.
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| 14 | ChicagoTRS
ID: 4110481415
Fri, Aug 10, 2007, 13:52
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GO...They will repeat it like 50 times over the next couple weeks.
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| 15 | Ender
ID: 1138421
Fri, Aug 10, 2007, 18:42
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They should have tested a "corked" bat with superballs in it a la Albert Belle (that was him, right?).
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| 16 | Toral
ID: 575542418
Fri, Aug 10, 2007, 20:01
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Graig Nettles.
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| 17 | Ender
ID: 1138421
Fri, Aug 10, 2007, 20:39
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Nice link, Toral. I'm not sure how I confused the two incidents, but oh well. Thanks.
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| 18 | holt
ID: 41512278
Sun, Aug 12, 2007, 02:55
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http://mythbustersresults.com/
episode 81
A baseball bat filled with cork can hit a baseball farther than a normal bat.
busted
This myth operates under the assumption that cork-filled bats can be swung faster because of their lighter weight, and that the springiness of the cork could propel the ball farther. To eliminate the human factor of the myth, Adam and Jamie constructed a special batting rig and used a pressurized air cannon to launch the baseball at it. Tests showed that the cannon could launch the ball 80 miles per hour, which is the average speed of most MLB pitches. Regulation bats could propel the ball away at 80mph while corked bats could only propel the ball 40mph, half the speed of regulation bats. The reason was because cork bats have less mass to transfer force into the ball, and the cork actually absorbs some of the ball’s impact. The Mythbusters concluded that using a cork filled bat will not improve your performance (it will in fact hurt it), and the major league batters who were caught using cork-filled bats risked their careers for nothing.
A dry baseball can be hit farther than a ball stored in a humid environment.
confirmed
The Build Team started off with a small scale test by dropping dry and humid balls from a certain height. The results showed that the dry balls tended to bounce higher than the humid balls. For the full scale test, the Grant built his own rig (dubbed “The Mad Batter”) that could both swing the bat and pitch the ball at the same time. They then tested the rig at a baseball field using humid balls, dry balls, and control balls stored in a normal environment. The results showed definitively that the dry balls were hit the farthest distance and the humid balls being hit the least distance.
A fast ball can lift itself higher into the air.
busted
Despite the testimony of some pitchers, the myth would defy the laws of physics because in order for a fast ball to actually rise, it must exert more force upward than its own weight. However, the maximum force a fast ball can exert is only half of its weight, making a rising fast ball impossible.
On bases that you can’t overrun, it is faster to slide into them.
confirmed
While a popular tactic used by baseball players, some speculate that sliding will actually slow a person down due to the friction being exerted between their bodies and the ground. With some coaching, the Build Team learned how to slide like baseball players. They then timed how long it would take to run to a base and slide to a base. The results showed that all Tory, Jamie, and Grant reached the base faster by sliding rather than running by several fractions of a second. The reason was because as they ran, the Tory, Jamie, and Grant had to slow down at the last second so that their momentum wouldn’t carry them past the base. With such definitive results, the Mythbusters agreed that sliding to a base is faster than running.
A baseball’s stitches can tear and the hide of the baseball will fall off if the baseball is thrown fast enough and hit hard enough.
busted
The Mythbusters modified their cork bat rig to fire the baseball at much higher speeds. It fired the ball at a static bat with speeds over 200mph, which is twice as fast as the fastest pitch ever recorded. However, the ball remained intact. The Mythbusters then fired the cannon at maximum power. The hide of the ball did come off, but the ball was fired at about 437mph, four times faster than any human could pitch.
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