http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2719191
... thoughts anyone?
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interesting. i wonder how indepth they studied this, if they checked ever other year as well.
say 1997-2004. maybe some things you just cant explain.
say 1997-2004. maybe some things you just cant explain.
Here's the link to the press release. Press Release A press release is written by the company issuing it, and they are usually self-serving. Then folks like ESPN pick up the press release, get a comment from the likely opposing point of view, and distribute it as news.
So apparently the president of UMS has been interested in this subject since 1994. I suppose that interest is amplified by an opportunity to demonstrate his company's imaging capabilities. Imaging Mac's actual 70th HR ball is apparently more attention-worthy than jsut cutting open a 1998 foul ball.
The property of the ball that matters is the coefficient of restitution (COR), which is a measure of how "bouncy" the ball is. MLB and Rawlings test baseballs for COR at an impact speed of 85 feet/sec against a rigid wall. Thus their testing is done under conditions which approximate a bunt. According to Robert Adair, author of The Physics of Baseball, tests done by a colleague of his showed no change in COR between 1988 and a second set of measurements made in 1998. Whether these low-speed tests tell us much about the COR during a home-run impact is debatable.
My own opinion is that the ball really hasn't changed. I base that on the recorded distances of the longest home runs hit over the last 50 years of so in the older ball parks. A really good whack has been and still is around 475 feet.
So apparently the president of UMS has been interested in this subject since 1994. I suppose that interest is amplified by an opportunity to demonstrate his company's imaging capabilities. Imaging Mac's actual 70th HR ball is apparently more attention-worthy than jsut cutting open a 1998 foul ball.
The property of the ball that matters is the coefficient of restitution (COR), which is a measure of how "bouncy" the ball is. MLB and Rawlings test baseballs for COR at an impact speed of 85 feet/sec against a rigid wall. Thus their testing is done under conditions which approximate a bunt. According to Robert Adair, author of The Physics of Baseball, tests done by a colleague of his showed no change in COR between 1988 and a second set of measurements made in 1998. Whether these low-speed tests tell us much about the COR during a home-run impact is debatable.
My own opinion is that the ball really hasn't changed. I base that on the recorded distances of the longest home runs hit over the last 50 years of so in the older ball parks. A really good whack has been and still is around 475 feet.
Doesn't sound too exciting to me. Had they given any hard data (increase in size and ratio of effect, etc.) it might be a little more interesting topic.
Perhaps they should stick with imaging shoulders and knees if this is the only info they have.
Perhaps they should stick with imaging shoulders and knees if this is the only info they have.