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Baseball statistics are the most interesting and informative of all
sports. The size of the ball park doesn't affect the skill of the
players, but certainly does affect how the game is played out; and that
is why each ball park is an individual arena which increases the drama of
the game. The important things are standard: 60 ft 6 inches from
pitchers' mound to home plate; 90 feet between bases. Balls are
standard, height of the mound is standard. The things that make this an
interesting game of strategy are the things that are different among the
parks and the decision making capacity of the umps. Wind factors differ
among parks, distance down the lines and dead center have to be accounted
for among other factors. Then there are the decisions on where to
position your fielders for hitters (pull hitters, spray hitters, etc.)
The physics of pitching has been discussed many times as has the physics
of hitting.
Yes, baseball, while boring to some, is a fascinating game to those of us
who have sat at the park arguing among ourselves as to the merits of
managers'decisions and the other aspects of the game that we have enough
time to study because it is NOT as rapid-fire as, say, hockey or as
overly programmed as pro football has become, or as individualistic as
basketball.
By the way... to us purists the play review that can change an entire
outcome of a football game has little place in baseball... For over a
hundred years the umps have been the final arbiter of calls and arguing
with the ump is a "right" which every manager has used to the delight of
the fans who love to hoot and boo a "bad" call or when the manager or
players get tossed out of the game. That's part of the charm of the game
and I hope they don't make the review a common part of baseball;
deciding on home-runs (foul or fair or if the ball was touched by a fan,
etc) might be necessary, but I draw the line at that!
From the dead ball era to the modern lively ball years, the game hasprogressed from a pitchers' advantage (some say that is happening now) to
the home-run happy era of a few years ago and back to a delicate balance
between hitting and pitching. Baseball is the same basic game it was
when Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron were hitting them out of the park. The
steroid tragedy was an aberration, I hope, putting a lot of records under
scrutiny (and with asterisks next to their names. I hope they have
solved that problem. Whether the Cardinals or Rangers win it's always
been game that millions enjoy and millions more love to analyze to death
every season.!
PLAY BALL!
Marty
On Oct 20, 2011, at 1:47 PM, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
the
On 2011, Oct 20, , at 09:21, Anthony Lapinski wrote:
But to really make the game of baseball more fair, all parks should be
same size. Baseball statistics are inherently not very meaningful.
But does this variation not make the game more interesting?
bc thinks the data can be normalized for the purpose of comparison?
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
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_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l