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



That's the way the game has been played for over a hundred years and ball players are often hired for their ability to hit hr's in a particular park... left handed hitters or right handed hitters depending on the distances to either field.. But they still have to play the other half of the games in opposition parks with hostile crowds and distances that are different... some more advantageous and some less so. Meanwhile, the opposing players also come into a park for 14 or more games a year and face the same surroundings. Look at the stats for wins at home vs wins on the road... some teams do well, others poorly. It all works out in the end. The best teams (in today's game it's usually the teams with the highest salaries) often win and this year they did not win... Yankess and Phillies got knocked out early, Red Sox didn't even make the playoffs at all. So, home field advantage didn't work out.

This isn't nuclear science... baseball is a game of inches... one well hit ball can get caught up in an inbound wind and be caught, while the same man can come to the plate the next inning and get a game winning double.

A pitcher can win 20 games but be knocked around in the playoffs... look at Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt this year. The distances only matter in perfect conditions and that rarely occurs in a game... otherwise you would see the long ball hitters such as Pujols or Howard getting 70 homeruns every year and that never happens.

M



On Oct 20, 2011, at 7:18 PM, Anthony Lapinski wrote:

I agree that winds play a role, at least in footfall and baseball (and
golf). But the distances/walls should be uniform. If your park has the
shortest distances to the outfield and you play half your games at there,
that's a HUGE factor/advantage.

Forum for Physics Educators <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu> writes:
It is not as simple as "one" distance or even two. You have distance at
the foul poles, left field, center field, right field, etc. Plus
intangibles such as the "green monster" in Fenway, the long dead center
in some parks but short right and left field... hogh walls, low walls,
etc. a lot of things like that. Certain enclosed stadiums are easier to
hit hr's because no wind swirlling around, while some stadiums have
prevailing winds blowing in or blowing out which affect hr's. Many
things which tend to normalize out over 162 games.

On Oct 20, 2011, at 6:49 PM, Anthony Lapinski wrote:

I don't have the park stats in front of me, but I wonder what the
differential is between the "smallest" and "largest" baseball parks in
terms of distance from home plate to the outfield walls. I imagine it is
"significant" enough to affect the long balls, which definitely alters
game outcomes. Nobody can really change the weather or crowd control,
but
park size for baseball (as in nearly all other sports) should be
uniform.

Forum for Physics Educators <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu> writes:
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:


_______________________________________________
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