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Just a note that the "Mythbusters" show on Discovery Channel is going to air a special on Baseball Myths Wednesday (8/8) night at 9.00pm (check your local listings for exact time).....apparently, there is also some guy named Roger Clemens in it!!

Some of the footage was shot in a friend of a friend's lab. Smile

Make sure you tune in or TIVO it....should be a lot of fun.
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My thoughts exactly coach! Sad thing on the corked bat test, they even eluded to increased bat speed as one of the reasons. And the sliding theory was flat out UGLY! Cool to see the Rocket but NOT in the Sox uni.



I think the most interesting one was the balls stored in humidors. If it's done explicity to reduce the flight of the ball (and their testing indicated a reduction of 14%), wouldn't that be considered cheating right along with....ya know... ?
Last edited by Beezer
I know there are all kinds of scientific formulas about how mass and speed and all kinds of stuff prove this and that. I believe they came to the right conclusion with the wrong way in the corked bat.

In my experience the ball - on average - will not go as far with a corked bat because of the loss of mass. The increased speed will not on average make up for that loss of mass. I have seen guys hit it farther with corked bats but there are so many variables in volved with hitting that is going to happen. Maybe I'm wrong but it's the trend I have seen over the years.

The humidor is used to offset the higher altitude. You make a great point beezer on the cheating aspect but they totally missed the point in what the humidor is used for. This was something that should have been tested in Colorado and not someplace near sea level.

The baserunning - horrible. Just horrible. They were a bunch of chickens running around without their heads. I sort of relate it to having actors try to play baseball in movies - you can either do it and it adds credibility to the movie or you can stink at it and the movie loses all credibility. Those non - baseball players should have used real players. I think good high school players would have resulted in better results than what they did.

Still love the show though. I will keep watching it and learning.
Neat show, but the biggest "myth" is that those folks can act. I'll watch, read, or listen to almost anything baseball-connected...but I switched over to a ball game after about 20 minutes. It was either the White Sox game in HD...or the Mythbusters...and the decision took about 5 seconds (had to find the remote).
quote:
In my experience the ball - on average - will not go as far with a corked bat because of the loss of mass. The increased speed will not on average make up for that loss of mass. I have seen guys hit it farther with corked bats but there are so many variables in volved with hitting that is going to happen. Maybe I'm wrong but it's the trend I have seen over the years.


Coach? I must be reading this wrong. Where in the world have you seen enough corked bats to recognise
a trend in their use? I have never seen one except for sammy!

I didn't see the episode so maybe that would explain.
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Most of it was semi-painful..until the "knock the cover off the ball" segment at the end...that was simply thrilling!

I was paying rapt attention at 100 mph... Cool

I was wide eyed and standing at 200 mph... Eek

...At 457 MPH!...I was whooping and hollering and running around the living room.!!..YEE HAW! Who needs 756!

...and the shredded cover..That was a "Natural moment" for sure...the perfect come down from all that excitement...Tears...


Other observations...

The principals love and enthusiasm for the game was obvious...

Agreed...The baserunning WAS simply comical...They should have done that at the beginning. Then we would have known exactly what kind of hardball "experts" we were dealing with up front. If you don't have a certain level of understanding of the variables involved, you can't be expected come up with the right questions.

For example...Despite delaring the corked bat issue an undeniable myth...I still think they got it wrong. I gotta figure that there are varaiables that Mybusters did not take into account. There is a reason why corked bats are illegal, and why Sammy had a couple hundred lying around...and it ain't batting practice.

...of course we should not be too surprised...while I am a big fan of good science...science also once told us with certainty that the world was flat.

But my biggest disappointment?

Where was our friend JustBaseball...JB, aint that your stomping grounds!?...Ames?...

...Our friend JB would have straightened them right out, let me tell you...

Cool 44
.
Last edited by observer44
The pitching segment didn't cover anything really new. Seeing the ball in the flow tank helped show the physics of the curveball really well.

It was interesting seeing the steam cannon firing balls at 200MPH and then at400 MPH and just sawing those wood bats right off.

Having the staff trying to hit Clemon's pitches was silly. Even his BP pitches were beyond them. Get some local college players or minor league players. Give them a chance to hit big league pitching.
The idea of the program was good, but the execution....

I think the corked bat thing defies their typical scientific method. All things being equal, the corked bat wouldn't hit the ball as far. But that's not the way they are used. Corked bats are generally going to be larger than a player's uncorked variety, to give him a bigger sweet spot, or used by aging players trying to recreate their former bat speed. They missed the point.

And why in the world didn't they use local hs or college players for the BP or baserunning segments? Would have had a lot more credibility and entertainment value.

Anybody e-mail the show?
For the sliding segment, they were at Pacific University....why didn't they get actual baseball players that knew how to slide to be their test dummies? It hurt my ankles watching those guys slide.

I also thought the corked bat test was flawed, and they could have done the testing with pencil and paper. The cork lightens the bat, but they held bat speed constant. Therefore, if force equals mass times acceleration, and acceleration is constant, then obviously the heavier bat will produce more force. No experiment needed, in my opinion.

They set the bat speed equal to that one guy's swing speed. But he didn't swing both bats. I guess they should have had him swing both bats, presumably swinging the corked bat faster. Then they should have set the bat speed accordingly for each bat and done the testing. Then again, I'm no scientist.
I guess that no one caught what the narrator said after talking about Sosa and his corked bat. He said that the "...player" was suspended for 4 matches." Matches? Someone watches more s****r than baseball. I just about turned the channel then. But I watched it. In between the movie "Dodgeball" and the Reds game.
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Originally posted by tasmit:
I guess that no one caught what the narrator said after talking about Sosa and his corked bat. He said that the "...player" was suspended for 4 matches." Matches? Someone watches more s****r than baseball. I just about turned the channel then. But I watched it. In between the movie "Dodgeball" and the Reds game.


I did catch that he said matches and I just kinda chuckled to myself....especially after they all proclaimed their great love for the game. It's strange that your experience was the exact same as mine.....Mythbusters/Dodgeball/O's game/Braves game at the same time with constant flipping
quote:
Originally posted by observer44:

...of course we should not be too surprised...while I am a big fan of good science...science also once told us with certainty that the world was flat.


Cool 44
.



Now, now 44...don't go jumping to conclusions. I was skeptical once myself, but no longer. You hear much about many things when you keep your ears open...and when big time folks come traipsing through you pay attention.

I bus dishes at the Burp 'N Go Diner and ATM in Smith Center, KS on US Rt. 36 at the stop and go light. The Burp, as us locals call it, is a nice family style joint...great variety on the menu, open at 4:00am for breakfast, and real easy on the wallet.

Two or three times a week a State of Kansas Dept.of Geophysics and Mole Control passenger van, enroute from Mankato to Phillipsburg, will pull into our lot and out will climb eight nerdy, but important looking, scientists. We always appreciate their stopping at The Burp. They're an easy bunch to accommodate. Fried egg sandwiches and a cup of Postum is all any of them ever order.

As I clear the nearby tables and wipe the oatmeal and ketchup from the banquettes and chairs I regularly overhear them discussing conversations they have had with their colleagues from elsewhere in the US and Canada. Always laughing at and putting those colleagues down for their silly beliefs that the earth is round...a sphere...instead of flat.

They are tremendously sure of themselves. Me? Well I had heard rumors for years that the earth was round, but after hearing their semi-weekly comments on the subject I became curious...wanted to find out once and for all the truth...round or flat?

Of course I researched it all at the Smith Center Carnegie Library. I scoured all of the books, texts, and reference material in search of the answer. I found Highlights For Children magazine to be the most helpful, comprehensive, and entertaining source on this topic.

Several issues, from the 45 or 50 years worth that I studied, actually discussed this very topic in the Goofus and Gallant feature. Gallant always ended up winning the exchange...convincingly proving the earth is indeed flat. Poor Goofus...always mired in the past...scheming, but never coming down on the right side of any topic. Sad.

The Timbertoes, in all of those issues, amazingly never broached the subject. In one episode, Let's Have a Hoe-Down, Ma warns Tommy and Mabel "not to dance too close to the edge." This may have been a reference to the edge of the earth, but I'm not certain. I may have been reading too much into the storyline. It was really late.

The Timbertoes pages were always easy to find...always being dog-eared to the max. Although they didn't shed much light on my search for the truth I always headed for them first. Who wouldn't? My goodness, talk about riveting, gripping, seat of your pants intrigue and adventure! Good golly!

Anyway...after weeks and months of diligent research and finding almost all of the Hidden Items (the only items I never found were the heart of a conservative and the brain of a liberal) I came to the conclusion that those nerdy scientists were every bit entitled to be so c0cksure of themselves...the earth really is flat!

As I stand here on the edge of the recently striped macadam, snapping a picture of the view looking west towards Phillipsburg, I would have to think, like the nerdy scientists, that the earth is flat...no question. Those editors at Highlights For Children really know their stuff...zeroing in on the truth issue after issue. I can only wish that they will become tempted to search out the best fried egg sandwich in Kansas...I'd like to sit down and share a cup of Postum with them.


Last edited by gotwood4sale
quote:
Originally posted by TripleDad:
quote:
In my experience the ball - on average - will not go as far with a corked bat because of the loss of mass. The increased speed will not on average make up for that loss of mass. I have seen guys hit it farther with corked bats but there are so many variables in volved with hitting that is going to happen. Maybe I'm wrong but it's the trend I have seen over the years.


Coach? I must be reading this wrong. Where in the world have you seen enough corked bats to recognise
a trend in their use? I have never seen one except for sammy!

I didn't see the episode so maybe that would explain.


In my VERY unscientific youthful days. We would always get a wood bat and cork it somehow and use it. By no means were they ever used in any real games but basically us just goofing off during the summer.

I guess I need to apologize because I guess I did sound like I was doing studies and stuff on it. Just a bunch of kids messing around and then learning a few scientific words over the years to make my head hurt when I use them.
quote:
by c2709: We would always get a wood bat and cork it somehow and use it. By no means were they ever used in any real games
that's your story and you're stickin to it! Wink


quote:
by bbtdy: The question is can i get to the bag doctor quicker by reaching for it with my outstretched diving body as opposed to running through it
quote:
Originally posted by Emanski's Heroes:
I did catch that he said matches and I just kinda chuckled to myself....especially after they all proclaimed their great love for the game. It's strange that your experience was the exact same as mine.....Mythbusters/Dodgeball/O's game/Braves game at the same time with constant flipping


The wife wanted to watch Dodgeball, I wanted to keep an eye on the ballgame and Mythbusters. Our other TV was being occupied by our oldest daughter. So it was fun for an hour going through the channels. Big Grin
quote:
Originally posted by Bee>:
quote:
by c2709: We would always get a wood bat and cork it somehow and use it. By no means were they ever used in any real games
that's your story and you're stickin to it! Wink


quote:
by bbtdy: The question is can i get to the bag doctor quicker by reaching for it with my outstretched diving body as opposed to running through it



Uh any further comments about "doctoring" equipment needs to be directed to my legal team.

Phil Neikro - Expert Lawyer on scuffing
Sammy Sosa - Law school student at the Woodworking Institute Tech.
CD - sliding head first into first base as a way to get there more quickly would not necessarily create drag and slow you down.

If you dive forward and stretch out to touch the bag in full horizontal position, it is at least plausible that you get there faster. I don't know if you actually do or not, but if the dive is timed correctly, there would be no slowing down from the drag created.
How did the former Major League player who was teaching them to slide allow them to make such fools out of themselves?

Geez!!! Stop at 2B vs sliding feet first. WOW!!! How dumb! What Myth is that busting?

As everyone knows except these people I guess, the age old debate is running through 1B vs sliding/diving head first.

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