OSU v. Florida--the three HR pitches

[ArmWhip]

The guy who did the video made an interesting observation but his reasonlng is wrong. The Magnus effect does not require spin to cause a ball to curve. A knuckleball breaks due to the Magnus effect, an airplane wing supplies lift and it doesn't spin. Spin can direct or control the Magnus effect but doesn't cause it.

The splitter in the video breaks due to the Magnus effect but it is not caused by spin but by another force which defies common sense, the Areodynamic Drag Crisis. Common sense would say that a spherical object with a smooth surface, which has less air friction, would be able to move faster than an similar object with a rough surface, not so. A smooth golf ball will only travel about half as far as a ball with dimples. A smooth baseball has a aerodynamic drag factor of about 0.5, a baseball with seams has a drag factor of 0.3. Seams/dimples allow the ball to travel faster and further. This explains some of it.

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For this type of pitch, regardless of what forces cause the ball to curve, the trick is still to figure out how to throw a smooth side-rough side orientation. Maybe the screwball does exist.

 

[efastball]

Knuckleballs spin. Slowly. Regular FB 1000-2000 rpm, and knuckleball maybe 50 rpm (most)-150 rpm (Dickey) - so they tumble over one to two times total. So, I'm not sure why Dr Cross (and Dr Nathan) thinks the Magnus effect isn't doing everything, since, unlike pitches that spin much faster, the smooth part changes every millisecond - that makes movement random..

Dr. Cross is definitely mistaken in the video regarding the last pitch. The last pitch in the video is not a splitter. (no wonder he was the first to notice this mysterious effect on the ball. It's because he didn't fully understand baseball pitch grips)

Baseball Splitters act like changeups, and would go to the right, but drop just a little more. This was my Son's out pitch for 10 years.

The pitch/grip in the video is a forkball, which acts more like a knuckleball, which is why it seemed to go the 'wrong' way (it went to the left).

You grip a splitter more with the fingerpads (the fingers would be just outside the seams), and a forkball with the sides of the fingers (fingers further apart, and harder to throw) and the fingers will be on the outside edges of the ball (see pic below).. In a splitter, you will pull on the seams slightly as you release, and the forkball/knuckleball you try not to pull the seams at all.

Splitters will appear to the catcher/hitter as a 2 seam FB, you will see the 2 seams as 2 straight blurred lines laying over slightly. The forkball will seem to be barely tumbling over.

It's sometimes hard to tell them apart in the hand, but the proof is what direction they went and the way they spin. It's a very common mistake (many pitchers and coaches don't know the difference) and it's no wonder the professor was confused.



Sorry to go into so much detail here, but I love this stuff, and I enjoy reading papers by Dr Cross and Dr Alan Nathan.

 

[4 girl's dad]

What about the 3-3 run HR’s? Goodness, that was a disaster for the Gators.

 

[ArmWhip]

Knuckleballs spin. Slowly. Regular FB 1000-2000 rpm, and knuckleball maybe 50 rpm (most)-150 rpm (Dickey) - so they tumble over one to two times total. So, I'm not sure why Dr Cross (and Dr Nathan) thinks the Magnus effect isn't doing everything, since, unlike pitches that spin much faster, the smooth part changes every millisecond - that makes movement random..

Dr. Cross is definitely mistaken in the video regarding the last pitch. The last pitch in the video is not a splitter. (no wonder he was the first to notice this mysterious effect on the ball. It's because he didn't fully understand baseball pitch grips)

Baseball Splitters act like changeups, and would go to the right, but drop just a little more. This was my Son's out pitch for 10 years.

The pitch/grip in the video is a forkball, which acts more like a knuckleball, which is why it seemed to go the 'wrong' way (it went to the left).

You grip a splitter more with the fingerpads (the fingers would be just outside the seams), and a forkball with the sides of the fingers (fingers further apart, and harder to throw) and the fingers will be on the outside edges of the ball (see pic below).. In a splitter, you will pull on the seams slightly as you release, and the forkball/knuckleball you try not to pull the seams at all.

Splitters will appear to the catcher/hitter as a 2 seam FB, you will see the 2 seams as 2 straight blurred lines laying over slightly. The forkball will seem to be barely tumbling over.

It's sometimes hard to tell them apart in the hand, but the proof is what direction they went and the way they spin. It's a very common mistake (many pitchers and coaches don't know the difference) and it's no wonder the professor was confused.

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Sorry to go into so much detail here, but I love this stuff, and I enjoy reading papers by Dr Cross and Dr Alan Nathan.

So then the question is whether it is possible to get a softball to break if you can get it to spin like he says, the seams on one side and a smooth area on the other?

 

[sluggers]

So then the question is whether it is possible to get a softball to break if you can get it to spin like he says, the seams on one side and a smooth area on the other?

I think that is exactly what is happening with the Garcia riseball.

She is definitely throwing the pitch with bullet spin. And, the batters are swinging quite a bit under the ball.

So, something is happening.

 

[ArmWhip]

I think that is exactly what is happening with the Garcia riseball.

She is definitely throwing the pitch with bullet spin. And, the batters are swinging quite a bit under the ball.

So, something is happening.

We all know that bulletspin passes for a riseball in many cases. True bulletspin goes straight. The video used cricket as an example and they were throwing cut backspin.