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Re: [Phys-l] TV technology, the World Series and physics



very good comparison.. even football stadiums are different in weather and wind conditions. home crowds affect a game, even with hockey and basketball even though all basketball courts are the same all over. making a baseball stadium the same as every other stadium wouldn't matter with the home crowd and weather unless you enclose every stadium and play before no crowd at all.

On Oct 20, 2011, at 3:58 PM, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:

Likewise, sports car races are performed on every conceivable track configuration. This tests the skill of the drivers to adapt to varying conditions and makes for more interesting racing.

Bob at PC



-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [mailto:phys-l-
bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Marty Weiss
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 3:03 PM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] TV technology, the World Series and physics

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 has
progressed 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:


On 2011, Oct 20, , at 09:21, Anthony Lapinski wrote:

But to really make the game of baseball more fair, all parks should
be the
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?
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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
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l