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The Story of One of "Babe" Ruth Home
A The Ball as It Leaves the Pitcher' Hand, Rotating en Ita Honzont
A.!, and Travelling at an Initial Velocity of 150 Feet a Second
Nearly Two Mile a Minute. -
B The Centre of Percussion of "Babe" Ruth'a Bat, Swnnf for One-Twentieth
of a Second with a Fore Equivalent to Forty-four Horse-Power,
MaaU the Oneaminr Ball. Check IU
Waiting Hands and Send It Speeding at Greatly Increased Verbc
in an Entirely Different Direction.' I
C The Ball Immediately After Its Impact With the Bat, Moving Skywa
at an Angle of Forty-two Degrees and With an Initial
Velocity Estimated at Five Hundred Feet a Second
or Nearly Six Miles a Minute raster 1 nan .Any ex
press Train Travels.
P -Maximum Height Reached by the Ball as a Result
of Its Collision With the Bat'a . f
Centre of Percussion, Backed Up
by Mr. Ruth's Forty-eight Horse
power Energy. The Height At
tained Will Be Greater on a Clear
Day Than on One When the Air.
Is Full of Moisture.
IV Slowed Down by the Friction of the Air, the Force of Gravitation Begins to Overcome the Ball's Initial
Velocity and It Starts Falling to Earth. Before the Full Effect of the Gravitational Force Is Felt, How
ver, the Ball Has Travelled Far Beyond the Fielders' Reach and "Babe" Ruth Has Scored Another Homo Ron
By Prof. A. L. Hodges,
Thm Will-Known Phymieut.
AST season "Babe" Ruth .broke all
I baseball records by bitting twenty
nine home runs. And this season
there Is every Indication that be will beat
his 1919 total by a wide margin. '
What Is the secret of Huth's ability to
make borne runs with such surprising fre
quency? Is It because he is possessed o
greater strength than bis fellow players t
Is It because bis rlslqn Is keener or bis
muscles better co-ordinated?
All these things doubtless bare some
thing to do with it, but the real reason for
this phenomenal series of home runs sci
ence finds to be the way Jtuth applies to
bis work with the bat certain well-known
principles of physics and psychology.
"But,- you say, "Ruth is a ball player.:
What does be know of - physics , or psy
chology?" "-. '
Nothelng. perhaps, but whether con
sciously or inconsclously Ruth applies
. certain well-known principles of these two
sciences every time be makes a home run.
Let na consider some of the many Inter
esting sclentiflo factors involved in bat
ting a ball.
i As every follower of baseball knows, a
Jiome run is the knocking of the ball out
,ot ' the reach of opposing players and la
uch a direction and to such. , distance as
to make its return Impossible before thi
runner completes the circuit of the bases.
Viewed as e mechanical problem, the hit
ting of a home , run means simply hitting
the ball with the bat so as to give It great
speed in tile proper direction. The spejd
and direction which the bat can te made to
give the ball depend on the degree of tin
curve which the pitcher has Imparted to
the ball, the weight Of the ball, the weight
of the bat, the elasticity of the ball and
bat, and the angle at wfcich the ball inv
plnges on the bat. ; :
Hie speed which a ball t " es on im
mediately after its collision with the bat
is a little difficult to compute because
neither the bat nor the bell is perfectly
elastic or perfectly non-elastic. To Illus
trate the difficulty of such, a computation
let mo explain what happens when per
fectly elastic end perfectly, luon-elastto
bodies come into collision. (
If two Inelastic bodies say two pieces
of lead of equal weight and going with,
equal speed, but In opposite directions,
meet squarely in mid-air, they will both
stop and fall to the ground, all " theit
. energy of motion having been turned into
beat. If, however, perfectly elastic bodier
of the same weight going with the sam
eloclty, but In, opposite directions, meef
In mid-air, they will bounce back with
the same velocity they had originally 11
one of these bodies .has twice" the Telocity
of the other, the latter will bounce back
with twice its original velocity and the
former will bounce back only half as fast.
All this applies to bodies having the same
weight. Whenever ' one of the colliding
bodies is heavier than -the other, the Te
locity given the latter body upon bouncing
is enormously Increased,
t The bat which "Babe Ruth wields and
the ball which he hits are both fairly elas
tic; therefore, everything else: being equal,
the ball will be driven farther the heavier
the bat and the faster the bat is moving
as it hits the ball. Also, as the weight of
("Babe Ruth's body prevents his bat from
doing orach bouncing back, the faster the
ft all comes the farther It will go when he
Hits it.
The weight of the ball itself is a very
Important factor in hitting a home' run,
Viewed U ft scientific problem. If there
..itiSiil
How
Runs Told la Terms of Science
Course Toward the Catch
- - . . ;
Diagram Showing How the Difficulty of Following the Ball (B)
ureases as It Approaches Nearer, and Nearer to the Batter's
Eye (A), the Angle at Which It Is Viewed from v
Positions 6 and 7 Being Ten ; Times as
Great as That from 1 to 2.
: were no atmosphere, everything be
ing equal, the lighter the ban happened to
be the farther It would go. The friction of
the air, however, slows the ball up con
siderably, and this fact has to be taken,
into consideration with several others.
The conclusion which science reaches Is
that- the heavier the ball Is, without In
creasing its size or decreasing its elas
ticlty, the farther it will go after being
struck with the bat. -
The direction taken by a batted ball Is
affected ta some extent by the rotation of
the ball as It strikes the bat. This factor '
(s of the greatest importance when the
bat does not strike the ball squarely. '
It is, possible for the bat to hit the ball
in such a Way that It actually increases the ,
latters rotation. In other wards, it is per
: fectly possible for the batter to hit the
ball in such a way that it takes on a de
cided curves Everybody who plays golf
knows what a common occurrence this is
on the links. A golf ball when struck acci
dentally off centre will often describe the
weirdest imaginable path through the air,
particularly if it passes through various
s air currents.
A home run depends to a very large ex
tent upon the direction given the batted
ball. The importance of this factor snay
be estimated as nine times that of the
speed given the batted ball. By direction
we man not only the horizontal angle, but
also, the vertical angle at which the ball
leaves the bat. For example, o matter
; how hard the ball is hit, it will never re
sult in a home run unless it clears the
npstretched , arms of the players in the
field, i; - -.v
It Is plain that the direction given
the batted ball must depend to a largo
extent upon the manner in which the ball
is travelling before it meets the bat. Pro
vided the ball is given a proper rota
tion on its horizontal axis by the pitcher,
the kind of curve best suited to make it
difficult to hit it at the proper vertical
angle is either the down shoot or the up
shoot. On account of the many variable
factors concerned science believes that any
home run made with either of these curves
is a lucky chance pure and simple. --After
the ball has been set in motion by
the bat with a certain speed, .the distance
it will go depends upon the vertical angle
at which it starts. The most desirable
angle is one of 42 degrees with the ground, -or
about half a right angle. Other factors
which determine the distance a batted ball
will travel are the speed of the ball, its
sphericity, the smoothness of its surface
and -; Its ..lack of rotation. The greater the
speed of the ball the more perfectly
spherical it is, the smoother its surface
and the less rotation with which it travels
the farther It will go. . Atmospheric con
ditions, of course, enter Into the problem. "
A ball will go farther in a clear air that is
free from moisture. The wind may carry
it bodily for quite a distance or may retard
its progress. -
If science were asked to make It difficult
pr well-nigh impossible for rBabe"- Ruth to
Interesting Principles of Physics and
Psychology Involved in the 0
Swing Which
at Six
"babe" RutH Grasps His Bat and
Skyscraper With
of Horse-Power
Home Runs Ruth
bit ft borne ran It would select a day wnen"
the barometer was. high, with the air so
heavy with moisture that it would retard
the progress of the batted : ball. The
pitcher selected would be one good on very
low but curvy downshoots. If such a
pitcher were not available, one -who had
such great speed that he could put any
Jdnd of a ball over the plate for the
batter would ; be chosen. "With this -kind
of a pitcher fhe ball is likely to
be hit behind the plate and unlikely to be
started on its course at the proper angle.
His hitting of a home run could then be
made still more difficult by compelling the
redoubtable 3abe" to. use a bat either so" -heavy
that he could not swing It with much
speed, or so light that It would tend to hit
the ball at the wrong horizontal angle.
. There Is a certain spot on the bat,-usually
a few inches from the end, but vary
ing with different bats, which science
knows as the centre of percussion. If the
ball hits the bat exactly on this spot the
greatest effect is produced. All ball play
ers are aware when the "ball hits this spot
on the bat. not only through the absence .
of Jar to the arm, but also throlKh a pecul
iar satisfaction which Is hard to define,
but which is no doubt'physical as well as
mental. '--.-t-r-: : '"j- . '
V "Babe" Ruth's phenomenal home run rec
ord Is largely due to the fact that, con
sciously or unconsciously, he has found a
way of . producing the collision between ,
bis bat and the ball on this centre of per
cussion more frequently than any other
player.
: What Is called the centre of percussion
Is a principle that enters Into the design
not only of baseball bats, but of all things
designed for men to swing. In the ham
mer, for example, the centre of percussion
should be in the head. If the tool Is not
designed bo that this centre Is properly
located the hammer Is unsatisfactory to
use because It Jars and tires the arm too
much-
? The problem of hitting home runs with t
the surprising frequency that "Babe Ruth '
does is one-more complicated in the mat
ter of powers s of Judgment and observa
tion involved than in mechanical prin
ciples. Viewed as a mechanical problem, -the
home run requires a bat Just as heavy
as a player can use with comfort, the bat
to" be given a motion as fast as possible
when hitting tie ball, and Striking the
ball so that, it will be impelled' into the
air at an angle of approximately 42 de
grees or half a right angle. The ball
should also,, of course, be bit at such a
horizontal angle as not to cause a-foul.
; T2ie weight of the batter baa very little
to do with the matter of home runs, but his
arm muscles are a controlling factor to
the extent of, say, fifty per cent. Of course,
If his arms are rigid enough to make the
bat for all practical purposes a part of his
body when be hits the ball, and if his body
is swung forward at Just that Instant. It
Is possible that a heavys batter, all other'
things being equal, would be able to knock'
the ball farther than a lighter player. -
fO 1920. International Featurs Serrlca, ZqqT
la-
the Ball Skyward
Miles a Minute
What Would Happen if a Gigantic
the Thousands
Which All the
Has Made Last
Year and This Represent. t 1
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tiome runs depend, to a considerable de
gree, on quickness of the eye and a speedy
response of the body's muscles to the
message which the eye flashes to the brain.
T6 follow the ball as it leaves the pitcher's
hand Is no easy matter, as the sphere Is
often travelling at the rate of 150 feet
a second, or nearly two miles a minute.
The eye movement necessary to follow if
Increases greatly as the ball draws nearer
and nearer the plate, owing to the In
crease in the angle of vision which, by the
time the ball is over the plate, is about
ten times what It was whan It left the
pitcher's hand.
-As I have sala, the pitcher often hurls
the ball at the rate of 150 feet a second.
But the ball is travelling much faster
than that when it leaves "Babe" Ruth's bat
after being hit for one of the home runs
that have made him famous. This is In
accordance with the laws of the Impact of
.$lastiq bodies.
. grI&'ttainJUrtta Beaerve&u.
Horse? Power
Bat Were Swung Against a
V
c j y. .- :v
- .
to
, Raise
a'' ' '
55-Ton
"
Half a
Foot. -
All other things being
equal, the faster a ball Is
thrown the farther It can
be batted. You can prove
tnls'toTyour own satisfac
tion by throwing a ball
against a .trick wait The
faster it travels, the hard
er it hits the wall and the
farther It will bounce
back. , ' -
Of course. If It Is raining
when one of "Babe" Ruth's
long hits Is made, the
drops of water striking the
ball will bring it to the
ground long before it
otherwise would falL The
rain also makes the ball
heavier, and as if contains
only so much energy to
start with, it will be
slowed up in its flight on
account of some of the
energy being used to rive
. the captured rain drops
their new velocity. ,
How ,much actual energy does "Babe"
Ruth expend In hitting one of his home
Tuns? Tie activity or horsepower Involved
is very great, but it la in operation only
for the fraction of a second.
The ball which "Babe'V Ruta hits for a
home run weighs . about live ounces. If
r his bat gives it a velocity of 500 feet a sec
ond, we find, by applying a well known
formula of physics, that 1,200 foot pounds
of actual energy or work Is done; Now,
If it takes Ruth one-twentieth of a second
to impart this energy by a swing of his bat.
this would
do si me rate or z,vvv loot
pounds a second which Is about forty-four
uursepuwer. -
. 'The king of home run makers Is then
working at the rate of forty-four horse
power every time he cracks out one of his
long hits, but he maintains this rate for
such a brief length of time that not very
much actual work is involved.
Bu 11 the energy -exerted by Babe
J1
g i? I -
1
The Horse-Power Required to Make Fifty of
"Babe" Ruth's Home Runs .Would Be Suffi
. cient -:
Ruth In all the home runs he has made
up to date could be collected Into a single
force it would be a very enormous thing.
Twenty-nine such runs last season and
more than a score thus far this year
this would be the equivalent of more than
2,000-horsepower enough if exerted be
hind a gigantic bat to demolish a building
like New York's Metropolitan Tower!
Of course, there are many psychological
as well as mechanical factors Involved in
the hitting of the long series of homeruns
which Babe" Ruth has been making for
two seasons. - The batter must be aple to
"sense jn some manner not yet fully un
derstood Just about what kind of ball the
pitcher is going to throw. Then he must be
capable of putting his body in readlnass
with lightning swiftness to meet thafklnd
of ball when It passes over the plate. The
player's Judgment about the ball must be
made within the smallest fraction of a sec
ond after it leaves the pitcher's hand.
Through some queer sixth sense ne
kinesthetic sense, as psychologists call it
all batters have the feeling as to whether
the ball the pitcher Is about to throw Is go
ing to pass over the plate or not. In the
average batter the; impressions conveyed
by this sixth sense cannot be more than 69
per cent accurate, but in the case of "Babe
Ruth, as his batting record shows, they
must be about 90 per cent accurate. As
everybody who plays baseball or ever
watches a game knows, you can't strike out '
and make a home run, and the player can"
seldom hit a home run unless the ball he
strikes is taking a course that would have
carried it straight across the gdate unless
interrupted by his bat. , 'r
This, then, is the secret of "labe
Ruth's home runs as viewed from a scien
tific standpoint. A highly developed kin
aesthetio sense enables him to "sense" the '
kind of bsM the pitcher is going to throw.
When a ball rotating on its horizontal
axis and curving most favorably for his
purpose comes along he swings his bat at
it with an energy sufficient t ehnn it.
direction 'and greatly Increase its velocity
-The bat is swung In such a way that the
centre of percussion meets tha bail
lng It upward at an angle of 42 degrees
and not too far to the right or the left.
-When .all these things happen the result
should be a home run, provided that the
pitcher has given the ball proper speed
and that the wind and other atmosDherla'
editions are favprable, WBaB9
4
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