Hmmm...interesting article from Collegiate Baseball. You mean it's been the baseball, the make-up of the baseball, that has caused balls to fly further than ever before? You don't say?
from baseballnews.com
Voting For Flat Seam Ball Will Take Place:
The NCAA now has researchers testing raised seam vs. flat seam college certified baseballs with a COR performance limit of .555 to determine what the “drag effect” is of both balls and if the flat seam ball flies further, according to Dave Keilitz, executive director of the ABCA.
“It will be interesting to see what NCAA researchers come up with,” said Keilitz.
“If the raised seam ball goes 350 feet, will the flat seam ball go 355 feet, 360 feet or further because it has less drag in the seams? Currently we don’t know the answer.
“They are nearing the end of their study and will then do some field testing with the ball before finalizing their conclusions,” said Keilitz.
According to Keilitz, previous testing showed significant differences in the distances balls travel that are approved for college and pro baseball.
“Previous research has shown that a minor league flat seam ball with a maximum COR of .578 hit 300 feet would go 20-25 feet further than a college (raised seam) ball with a maximum COR of .555,” said Keilitz.
That would translate to 26.6 to 33.3 feet further on a ball hit 400 feet with the minor league baseball.'via Blog this'
Where have we heard that before? Didn't we hear pitchers openly complaining about the hardness, an almost billiard ball like feel to the baseball back in the so-called steroid era? Weren't they complaining about the flatness of the seams back then as well? And pitchers would be the subject matter experts on the consistency and constitution of the baseballs.
It's like fixing a basketball game, you don't need to buy a superstar player. You fix the refs.
If you want to fix the amount of scoring in a baseball game. You "fix" the baseball.
You're welcome.
Can we not speculate on what the results of the study will show? I'm not sure we need a really long study to document the effects. We're doing a study on what is basically a known quantity, to determine the quantity.
My guess is it will be pretty significant. The prior studies seem to show about an 8-10% increase in the distance traveled by a fly ball. That seems to be about the effect we were seeing during the "steroid era"
What if it has been the ball all along?
The Physics of Sports:
http://home.roadrunner.com/~enloephysics/sports.htm
THE SPORTS OF BASEBALL & SOFTBALL
Baseballs and softballs are examples of sports projectiles. The air flow around the ball is science that must be mastered by every baseball or softball pitcher. The air flow around a smooth ball is much different than the air flow around a ball with stitches. See the diagrams below. In the flight of a smooth ball the air molecules travel around the ball to the back where they meet and mingle and combine to push the ball forward. The pressure behind the ball is less than the pressure in front. When the ball has stitches as in a baseball or softball, turbulence occurs where the stitches are. The turbulence causes the air to stick to the ball just a little longer and reduces the wake (as in a boat's wake) which reduces drag. These stitches can also change the direction of the ball. A good pitcher uses the spin and the stitch alignment to throw curve balls.
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