Loading…

Corked bats, juiced balls, and humidors: The physics of cheating in baseball

Three questions of relevance to Major League Baseball are investigated from a physics perspective. Can a baseball be hit farther with a corked bat? Is there evidence that the baseball is more lively today than in earlier years? Can storing baseballs in a temperature- or humidity-controlled environme...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of physics 2011-06, Vol.79 (6), p.575-580
Main Authors: Nathan, Alan M., Smith, Lloyd V., Faber, Warren L., Russell, Daniel A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Three questions of relevance to Major League Baseball are investigated from a physics perspective. Can a baseball be hit farther with a corked bat? Is there evidence that the baseball is more lively today than in earlier years? Can storing baseballs in a temperature- or humidity-controlled environment significantly affect home run production? These questions are subjected to a physics analysis, including an experiment and an interpretation of the data. The answers to the three questions are no, no, and yes, respectively.
ISSN:0002-9505
1943-2909
DOI:10.1119/1.3554642