The Ball Across the World
As early as 1200 BC, Mesoamerican city-states had begun playing the game Ulama, a ball game with rules similar to soccer but much more difficult. Instead of hitting the ball into a goal, teams use their hips and shoulders to aim the ball into a raised hoop (Leyenaar 314). On the other side of the globe, the Greeks invented a ball game called Pila, a game similar to modern volleyball with a ball much larger than the Ulama. Over the centuries, Pila made its way to the Roman Empire, where it was played until Rome's fall (Smith 918). A couple hundred years later, people in China living under the Han Dynasty invented the game Cuju, which is recognized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) as the earliest form of soccer (Leyenaar 312). In the late 1800's, the game of baseball rose to popularity, and since has become a staple sport culture across the world especially in the United States, Mexico, and Japan. These games were invented by different cultures, in different places, at different times, and, yet the fact that each sport revolves around the use of a ball hints that there must be something universally attractive about a ball and its physical applications in sports. Today, the world's most popular sports: soccer, baseball, basketball, rugby, tennis, golf, water polo, lacrosse, and football, revolve around the use of a ball. So, what is it about a ball that has become so attractive for use in sport?
The most obvious characteristic of a ball is that it is round, the most obvious benefit being that round things roll. An object that can roll is subject to more movement than an object that cannot, and so controlling a ball requires a certain level of skill and athleticism that certain individuals are more capable of than others.
The most obvious characteristic of a ball is that it is round, the most obvious benefit being that round things roll. An object that can roll is subject to more movement than an object that cannot, and so controlling a ball requires a certain level of skill and athleticism that certain individuals are more capable of than others.
Which brings us back to the ball... The skill involved in kicking, throwing, essentially controlling, a round ball gives humans a way of distinguishing themselves without becoming overly violent. Sure the Greeks, Romans, Mesoamericans, and Chinese had used balls sports for thousands of years as a means of staying in healthy physical condition, for earning pride and distinction, and for competition, but their sports had been largely restricted to the upper class. During and leading up to the industrial revolution, however, the increasing concentration of people necessitated the extension of pacifying ball sports to the working class. The "Dead Ball" Era Where the industrial revolution necessitated, it also provided. New factories mechanized the mass production of baseballs, new railroads and canals facilitated their transportation, and newly formed worker's unions marked team from team. Even though machinery made baseballs easier to come across, they still weren't very affordable, so teams would use the same ball through multiple games. The balls were hit, thrown, rubbed with sweaty hands, rolled in wet grass, and inevitably spat on by mouths of tobacco juice enough that their cores would lose the "spring" characteristic of modern baseballs. In the 1840's, balls did not explode of the bat the same way they do today. Rather, baseballs were soft, with loose stitching and a viscous core. This earned the era of early baseball the nickname "The Dead Ball Era" (Baseball Reference). "The Dead Ball Era" came to an end with a few rule changes, including the addition of foul balls as strikes, but is mostly a result of the Chapman Beaning, when Ray Chapman was killed by a ball that was said to have been "become difficult to see" (Baseball Reference). In 1920, umpires were instructed to replace mid-game balls damaged in any way. Baseball popularity and production had grown enough the major leagues could afford plenty of new balls. But with expansion, came unforeseen consequences, including increased offense, and changing stadium conditions. Stadium Conditions effect ball travelEarly Stadiums:
Were early baseball games not well attended because there were not large stadiums for them to go to? Or were large stadiums not built because there was not a market to be made selling tickets? Either way, the first baseball games played at Elysian Fields between The New York Knickerbockers and New York Nine were played in a park without bleachers, dugout, or seats, let alone foul poles, a backstop, or even a home-run fence (Baseball Reference). These early games, in the 1840's, were played in the Northeast region of the United States so there wasn't much variation from game site to game site, but, during the civil war, baseball was spread throughout the rest of the country. According to Josh Leventhal, a baseball historian, "matches between regiments from different stated introduced the game to more far-flung regions in the Midwest and the East Coast. And through prison camps along the Mason-Dixon Line, the game's exposure was broadened in the South" (Leventhal 62). Matches were not only an expansionary tool, Leventhal claims that "[W]artime baseball also helped to break down the social barriers that had characterized the sport in previous decades" (Leventhal 63). In other words, wartime baseball made baseball the sport of the common man, setting it up to eventually become America's most beloved pastime. Stadiums Expand: By the turn of the 20th century, baseball was being played in many more places across the country, but average Major League Baseball attendance was still low; the average for the 1901 season was 3,247 people in attendance. In the next twenty years, game attendance in major areas grew enough that larger stadiums were built. With the rise of new, permanent, places of play, play at different fields were effected by meteorological factors unique to the region and stadium. Differences in Stadiums: In fields at sea level, for example, where there is high relative barometric pressure, the ball meets more resistance while flying through the air, and therefore does not go as far as a ball would in a field at higher altitude. Temperature will also effect ball flight: in warmer temperatures, a ball will fly further than in colder temperatures. Robert Kemp Adair, a physicist professor at Yale, explored these differences as a favor to his friend Bart Giamatti, the President of the National League in 1987. Concerning stadiums, he concluded that that: 1 - "A 400-foot drive will travel 20 feet farther on a 95- degree day in Atlanta than a 45-degree day in Milwaukee. A 400-foot home run will go about six feet farther for every one- inch drop on the barometer." 2 - "The density of the air also affects the distance a ball will travel. A 400-foot drive at Yankee Stadium, which is near sea level, would travel five feet farther in Chicago's Wrigley Field, eight feet farther in Atlanta's County Stadium and as much as 40 feet farther in Denver's Mile High Stadium. Helping the Rockies pitchers will be the fact that their fastballs will get to the plate six inches quicker through the thin air." 3 - A 90-mph fastball thrown with a 10-mph tail wind will arrive at the plate 1.7 mph (or three inches) quicker than if there were no wind blowing. Conversely, a 10-mph head wind slows the pitch the same time and distance. |
Cue Human Competitivity...
In John Spethwith's lecture on early humans, he explored the idea of ritualistic hunting. Hunting, he said, was not just about acquiring sustenance; early human hunters distinguished themselves by killing dangerous animals. The human longing for distinction is not unique to early man. It plays out throughout history and into today. Think of the great Beowulf earning his crown after slaying the monster Grendel, of the legendary Hercules conquering the terrible Hydra, the frontier-hero Davy Crocket proudly wearing his coonskin cap. Even Chris Kyle, the lauded hero of American Sniper, distinguished himself, primarily, as a killer. In times of violence and war, killing, whether it be intentional or unintentional, was, and is, a common way for men to glorify themselves. However, in times of peace, and in sedentary, non-hunting cultures, with no animals to hunt and no people to kill, men turn to sport to demonstrate their physical prowess. The game of baseball, in this sense, is unique in the relatively low physical contact involved in its play. Sure, every once in a while there is a hard collision, an over-aggresive tag, a hit batter; teams sometimes even clear their benches, but this violence pales in comparison to the overwhelming physicality inherent to football, rugby, water polo, and lacrosse. Even in soccer and basketball, "hard fouls" are a common occurrence. In baseball, on the other hand, the physics of the ball becomes more relevant than the physicality of the players. The physics involved in pitching, in particular, are profoundly complex.
Physics of Pitching
Forces' Impact on Pitching:
The forces at play on the pitched ball make the pitcher position uniquely difficult to master. Pitchers are generally expected to be able to throw several different types of pitches, chiefly, the fastball, curveball, change-up, and slider. As a result, Philippe Cousineau of the Society for American Baseball Research, says that "[I]n Little League, high school, and college ball, the separation is not so strict: the best athletes are normally used as pitchers" (Cousineau 1). This process, by which the best, "most fit," athletes are selected to become pitchers somewhat resembles the biological process of natural selection. A players height, weight, speed, and coordination directly connect to their ability to play a particular position, which has led to the development of niches within baseball. Taller, heavier pitchers, especially, can add more velocity to their fastballs. Image 4.1 shows the average height of a player by niche, or position. But if pitchers really are the best athletes, and being a starting pitcher is so competitive, why wouldn't those athletes chose a different position where they could easily excel over inferior athletes? Well, it wasn't always so. The legendary hitter, Babe Ruth, actually started out as a pitcher, but managers decided he could be even more productive as a hitter. Ruth was so highly valued that in an historic trade, he was sold by the Red Sox to the Yankees for $100,000, at the time, an absurd amount of money for a trade contract (Benjamin 2). A Changing Dynamic:
Today, as shown in image 4.2, starting pitchers are paid more than any other position position. Moneyball: the Economics in Baseball touches on the rise of sabermetrics, the application of statistical analysis to players value in baseball, but Jason Linden argues that when it comes to pitchers, sabermetrics is incomplete. Linden says, "We don't really know very much about how to measure pitcher value" (Linden 1). So, perhaps, pitchers are being overvalued. It seems that though we've been playing ball sports for thousands of years, have invented baseball, established new rules, built grand stadiums, and studied the complexity of the its physical properties, we still have more to learn. |
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Fitzpatrick, Richard. "The Physics of Baseball Pitching." The Physics of Baseball Pitching. March 29, 2006. Accessed April 16, 2015. http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/329/lectures/node41.html.
Leiby, Corey. "Vintage Baseballs." - Antique Baseballs. Accessed March 19, 2015. http://www.antiqueathlete.com/vintage-baseballs.shtml.
Leventhal, Josh. History of Baseball in 100 Objects. S.l.: Black Dog, 2015.
Leyenaar, Ted J. J. Ulama: The Perpetuation in Mexico of the Pre-Spanish Ball Game Ullamaliztli. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1978.
Linden, Jason. "How Much Do We Know about Pitcher Value?" The Hardball Times. October 16, 2013. Accessed April 16, 2015. http://www.hardballtimes.com/how-much-do-we-know-about-pitcher-value/.
Pivovar, Steven. "Seamless Transition? Coaches Say New Ball Should Boost Offense — but Maybe Not in CWS." Omaha. February 8, 2015. Accessed March 19, 2015. http://www.omaha.com/sports/seamless-transition-coaches-say-new-ball-should-boost-offense-but/article_caed738c-af5c-11e4-b3e5-0fd5241550c9.html.
Russel, Daniel. "Physics of Baseball & Softball Bats." Forces Between Bat and Ball. June 12, 2014. Accessed March 18, 2015. http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/bats/impulse.html.
Schlichtholz, Fred. "College Baseball." Telephone interview by author. March 28, 2015.
Smith, William. "Pila." LacusCurtius • Greek and Roman Ball Games (Smith's Dictionary, 1875). Accessed April 16, 2015. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Pila.html.
Sowell, Mike. Pitch That Killed: The Story of Carl Mays, Ray Chapman, and the Pennant Race of 1920. S.l.: Lyons Pr, 2015.
Weiss, Peter. 1998. "Do Sluggers Swat on Spot Or Swath?" Science News, Sep 19, 189. http://search.proquest.com/docview/197524703?accountid=14667.