BASEBALL METEOROLOGY AND PHYSICS
by Steven LJ Russo
Although at the Schenectady Planetarium, my teaching is in Astronomy, for
the 15 years I lived in the Finger Lakes, I was also a radio and television
Meteorologist. I also did live "play by play" on the radio, for the
Auburn
Astros (now known as the Auburn Doubledays), a minor league "Single-A"
team for the Houston Astros. So since I know a little about the weather,
and also a little about baseball, here is an article that you might enjoy,
especially if you end up at your local stadium, cheering on your favorite team.
Baseball is played with two main pieces of equipment, the bat and ball.
The ball has a circumference of at least nine inches, and no more than
nine and one quarter inches, and weighs between five, and five and one
quarter ounces. A cork core is wound with 316 yards of three different
kinds of yarn, and is covered with two pieces of cowhide sewn together
with 216 red cotton stitches.
The bats, mostly made of ash, weigh between 31 and 36 ounces, and are
usually two and one half inches in diameter. The best point of contact is
known as the "node", where maximum energy is transferred to the ball.
This
point is approximately four to six inches from the end of the bat. Balls
hit on the rest of the bat, known as the "antinodes", do not travel
far
since much of the energy at these locations is lost as vibration.
At the exact moment that the ball and bat make contact, the ball is
compressed to about one-half of it's diameter, and the bat compresses
about one-fiftieth as much as the ball. Most of the energy upon contact is
lost as heat energy. The ball gives back about thirty percent of the
energy it receives during it's compression, and it is this energy that
makes the ball rebound from the bat. It requires a force of about 8000 lbs
to hit a 90 mile per hour fastball 400 feet, with the ball traveling about
110 miles per hour. And depending on how the baseball is pitched, it can
drop, curve, spin, or act erratically depending on how much friction it
encounters on the way to the batter.
Baseball however, can really be governed by the laws of physics, both
atmospheric and mechanical, and of course, atmospheric physics can affect
us fans.
Thunderstorms are sure to hit while at the ballpark this summer, and you
can actually figure out when they are getting closer. Light travels at
about 186,000 miles per second and sound travels at about 1,100 feet per
second or one mile in 5 seconds. When you see the lightning, count the
seconds until you hear the thunder. For example, if you count to five,
then the storm is about one mile away. The final warning is a rush of cold
air about 3 miles ahead of the storm.
Sometimes you cannot hear the thunder, but far off in the distance, you
can see flashing in the sky. This is called "Heat Lightning", which
has
nothing to do with heat. It is the flashing that is viewed in a
thunderstorm at a distance which is too far away to hear thunder or see
the actual streak of the lightning. When you see "Heat Lightning", the
storm is usually about 15 miles away.
Also to set the facts straight (and to contradict my own terminology), we
don't get thunderstorms here; They are rare east of the Rocky Mountains. A
thunderstorm occurs in dry regions, usually in the southwest where there
are tremendous displays of lightning, loud thunder, and very little rain.
What we refer to as a thunderstorm, consisting of dark clouds, strong
winds, lightning, and heavy rain, is technically known as a thundershower.
Lightning, by the way, although beautiful to look at, is not something to
take lightly. A single bolt lasting 1/10 of a second contains 30 million
volts and the total energy released by lightning in an entire storm is
greater than that of an atomic bomb. And although our eyes and mind plays
tricks on us, a lot of the lightning we see is actually traveling from the
ground to the clouds.
It is obvious that rain can affect the field conditions or actually cancel
the game but the atmospheric conditions can also determine how far the
baseball will travel. As with any object, if a baseball encounters
aerodynamic drag, its flight will be shorter. The density of the air has
an effect on the drag.
Without going into a whole lot of technical jargon, if you add water to
dry air, it will vaporize and since water vapor has less density than dry
air, the ball should be helped along in its flight. Therefore, high
humidity creates longer flights and hopefully more home runs.
Unfortunately, if the humidity gets high enough where fog, mist, or rain
may occur, the droplets of moisture will lead to a high density of the
air, increasing the aerodynamic drag, and therefore reducing the distance
the ball will travel.
One of the worst home run parks, was the home of the Houston Astros until
this year; the Houston Astrodome, where they always keep the humidity at
around forty percent. If you want to see more home runs this Summer then hope for above normal humidity (higher than 54%, and lower than
about 80%) and we'll get to see more long drives towards or over the
fence, and hopefully for our sake, they will be off the bats of the home team.
As mentioned previously, environment factors into the game. Lets assume
that the ball has been hit with enough energy to travel 400 feet. The
altitude of the stadium will affect the flight of the ball. In Miami,
where the stadium is at sea level, the ball will travel 400 feet. At Shea
Stadium, home of my beloved Mets, the ball would travel 401 feet, while in
Atlanta, it would travel 408 feet. In the mile high thin air of Colorado,
the ball would fly 440 feet. For comparison, at EAB Park the elevation of
about 50 feet would let the ball fly about 400 feet, just a drop too
little to carry it over the wall at 405 feet from home plate.
Now the temperature comes into play. The warmer the temperature, the
farther the ball will travel. At 65 degrees, that 400 foot fly ball would
actually travel 408 feet, at 85 degrees, 416 feet, and at 95 degrees, 420
feet. All of this assumes no wind. A ten mile an hour wind towards the
batter will decrease the flight to 370 feet, while a wind away from the
batter will increase the flight to 430 feet. Then we have to take into
account the atmospheric pressure. A dropping of pressure of only an inch,
will add about five feet of flight to the ball. And according to the laws
of physics, the farthest a ball can be hit, at sea level, under perfect
conditions, is 545 feet!
The game can be affected by other weather conditions. Wind can be a
problem. In the 1961 All Star Game in Candlestick Park, Baltimore Orioles
pitcher Stu Miller was blown off the mound by a gust of wind.
And who can forget June 15, 1976, the day that the Pittsburgh Pirates and
the Houston Astros were rained out, in Houston, in the Astrodome! After
the two teams arrived, flooding from a ten inch rainfall closed all the
roads around the stadium. The game was canceled and the two teams were
"rained in" in the Astrodome.
Rainouts can also affect the outcome of important games. In the 1911 World
Series, game four was delayed from October 18th, to the 24th. That meant
that future hall of famer, Christy Mathewson was up in the rotation to
pitch for the Giants. Unfortunately, the long rain delay made Christy lose
his stuff, and the Giants lost. In the 1950's the Milwaukee Braves fans
had a slogan: "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain." The rest of the
pitching
staff had such a lack of talent, that the fans would hope for rainouts
just so that Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain would have the only good weather
for games to be played.
And what about my 1986 World Champion Mets? Oil Can Boyd was scheduled to
pitch game seven, which was then delayed a day due to rain. Instead, on an
extra day's rest, the job was given to Bruce Hurst, even though most of
Boston thought that Oil Can had a better shot at beating the Mets. The
rest proved to be too long, as the Mets won the game, and the World
Series.
On a personal note, the last year that I lived upstate, My Auburn
Doubledays were scheduled to play the Oneonta Yankees for the Championship
for the New York Penn League. Several tornadoes swept through the area
making both cities’ fields un-playable, so the championship was shared by
both teams; hence the "championship" ring that I wear every day.
At any rate, enjoy the Summer weather, and the Baseball.
Until next time, "Look to the Skies!!!!"