In Pitching, Applied Science More Like Applied Substance

It took two scientists to write a book to confirm what everyone already knew: Good pitching will always beat good hitting.

In “Keep Your Eye on the Ball--The Science and Folklore of Baseball,” a professor of mechanical engineering and a professor of industrial engineering examined some baseball axioms through a scientific lens.

After studying the aerodynamics of the knuckleball, Robert Watts concluded, in a paper he submitted to the American Journal of Applied Physics, that the ball should spin three-quarters of a revolution on the way to the plate.

However, if it’s spin you are looking for, they found, try a little spit or Vaseline or anything that changes the rotation of the ball. Why does it help a pitcher to scuff the ball? A scuff will cause the flow of air around the ball to shift away from the rough spot, making the ball curve toward the scuff.

“I keep waiting for someone to add one of those little pads you buy to cover a corn on your foot, and use that on the ball. It’ll break like crazy and then all the catcher has to do is slip the corn pad off when he gives the ball to the umpire to check,” Watts said.

Add baseball: Even without loaded baseballs, Watts said he concluded that there will never be another .400 hitter. He said it is precisely the current abundance of hitting talent that makes it impossible--in fact, both pitching and batting are the best they’ve ever been.

“Theoretically,” he added, “you could have an enormous number of Ty Cobbs facing Cy Youngs. The (club) owners see to it that the rules keep the league averages at about .265, though. They have to, otherwise it would be boring with some teams hitting .400 and some hitting .200, depending on whether their Ty Cobbs or Cy Youngs were better.”

After the spitball was outlawed in 1919, batting averages zoomed. Later, when good pitching brought averages down again, the pitcher’s mound was lowered.

Science marches on.

Trivia time: What happened to Cleveland Indian pitcher Bob Feller’s mother, Lena, on Mother’s Day in 1939?

Anniversary: On this day in 1989, a major earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area caused the third game of the Giants-Oakland Athletics World Series to be postponed.

Trivia answer: She was struck in the head by a foul ball hit by Marv Owen of the Chicago White Sox, on a pitch thrown by her son. The cut above her right eye required six stitches to close.

Quotebook: Coach Dan Henning of the San Diego Chargers, on why he called a draw play on fourth and 10 with two minutes left in the 30-24 loss to the Rams last Sunday: “When you get to fourth down, you take a shot no matter what you call. That has been our most effective third-and-long play, and the only plays we call on fourth and long are the plays that are effective on third and long.”