Re: [Phys-l] Baseball

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@mindspring.com>]

At 11:15  -0600 10/20/06, JMGreen wrote:
> OK, squinting seems reasonable, but why do some pitchers bend over
> with the ball behind their back/butt  --  This seems so goofy -- Of
> course the whole game seems goofy to me -- Which is worse, baseball or golf?
I suspect that part of it is to be able to adjust their grip on the 
ball out of sight of the batter. If you note, when the pitcher is 
satisfied with the signal he stands up and brings the ball into his 
mitt. And occasionally the TV camera will zoom in on the pitcher and 
you can see him adjusting his grip behind his back.

Baseball and golf are two games that are dominated by rituals (so is 
football, but they are punctuated by more action sequences so it 
isn't as obvious). To really appreciate this aspect of baseball you 
need to hear George Carlin's routine comparing the nature of baseball 
to the nature of football. Unfortunately, I don't have a reference to 
this routine, but I wish I did.

Hugh
--

************************************************************
Hugh Haskell
<mailto:haskell@ncssm.edu>
<mailto:hhaskell@mindspring.com>

(919) 467-7610

When you are arguing with a stupid person, it is a good idea to make sure that
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					Anonymous