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A Choose Up Game - One of My Best Games
A Choose Up Game - One of My Best Games The teams were picked and the line ups were announced. I was batting third. I could not wait to hit. Hitting to me was like eating for a fat man with a tape worm. I lived for the experience. I knew even...
Baseball Bats for the Professional and Amateur
From the time small children are old enough to hold a baseball bat many have longed to be part of the great American pastime. Baseball bats have been around ever since the game was created and there are baseball museums that have collections of...
Game In Progress
A Baseball Story A Game In Progress The game is getting down to the nitty gritty and the opposing team is ready to pull ahead if we don’t get our stuff together. Oh well I know I had him, blind ump. The next batter is their number four batter and...
That's a home run!
Its a Hit!
Baseball is a favorite game of the Americans. No wonder it is the national sport of the United States of America. No one can say with much certainty when this game originated but according to some accounts it is said to have begun...
Total Bases
Total Bases
This statistic fascinates me. For me it shows the difference
between a slugger and a home run hitter. There have been players
that have hit home runs that I do not consider good hitters.
But when they are slugging, they get all...
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In baseball, how does a pitcher throw a curveball?
In baseball, how does a pitcher throw a curveball?
A successful major league batter gets a hit only 30 percent of the time he comes to bat. One of the ways pitchers lower these chances even further is by throwing a curveball. A curveball is a pitch that appears to be moving straight toward home plate but that is actually moving down and to the right or left by several inches. Obviously, a pitch that curves is going to be harder to hit than a fastball that is moving straight.
There are two basic factors involved in creating a curveball:
Proper grip
Air resistance
Any baseball pitch begins with how the pitcher grips the ball. To throw a curveball, a pitcher must hold the baseball between his thumb and his index and middle fingers, with the middle finger resting on the baseball seam. When the pitcher comes through his motion to throw the ball, he snaps his wrist downward as he releases the ball, which gives the ball topspin. If the pitcher throws properly, the back of the his hand will be facing the batter at the end of the motion. The ball will break down and away from a right-handed batter if thrown by a right-handed pitcher.
The spinning action created when the
pitcher releases the ball is the secret behind the curveball. This spinning causes air to flow differently over the top of the ball than it does under the ball. The top of the ball is spinning directly into air and the bottom of the ball is spinning with the air flow. The air under the ball is flowing faster than air on top of the ball creating less pressure, which forces the ball to move down or curve. This imbalance of force is called the Magnus Effect, named for physicist Gustav Magnus, who discovered in 1852 that a spinning object traveling through liquid is forced to move sideways.
Adding to the air pressure exerted on the ball are the 108 red stitches that hold the cover on the ball. Because they are raised, the stitches increase the amount of friction created as the air passes around the ball and places more air pressure on top of the ball. A well thrown curveball can move as much as 17 inches either way. If you've ever seen a batter jump out of the way of a baseball that ends up crossing over the plate, you've seen a good curveball.
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http://www.a1-baseball-4u.info/
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