quote:Do all pitchers' fastballs lose velocity at the same rate? Is this just a matter of physics?
Yes to both. I hope you don't mind if I take this in a purely scientific way. There is no such thing as a negative acceleration in the x direction (the ball litterally slowing down) unless some external force is enacted on it (it is hit, caught etc...). The only force enacted on it in the x direction is air resistance, which in most cases is the minimal of the two main forces. The most signficant force is gravity, which is causing negative acceleration, yet in the y direction (twoards the ground). Gravity is pretty much always the same on earth (at least at the heights where we pitch), and air resistance, as I said, is neglagible compared to gravity.
All in all, they drop in velocity between release and reaching the plate will be almost uniform with very slight variance due to slight differences in air resistance.