The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1912-10-25
FIRST SPEED TEST
OF PITCHED BALL N
WORLDS HISTORY
WALTER JOHNSON, OF WASHING
TON AMERICANS DOES
THE HURLING.
SOUTH Paw NAPOLEON RUCKER

| AhW NfN V1LOH hOOIhkSm
Speed Of 1872 Feet Per Second BY
Former and 1870 by the Later
Two Watch Ticks Takes the 5an
Over the Plate.
When big Walter Johnson of the
Washington Americans sent base
ball crashing through a screen Of
copper wires and against a steel
plate on the testing rangs of the
Remington Arm-Union Metallic Car
fridge COMPANY at Bridgci ort, Conn,
last Saturday. new chapter in the
annals of The American national
game was Eegun. Tie speed Of q
pitched bal w.s exact. .ecordol n
the first tine in the 'rolid's history.
Ballistic engineers bad skill ,,ty
adapted the chronograph an inst "a
ment emplo,et in &C ,lrately tess e
Remington CAC ammunition, to
measure II seconds the flight Of a
baseball, al.I OF the s1gl estion of F
|C Lane, ei'tor of thu Bas,e,u
Magazine, tie rathec elaborate 10.
| When the sped of rifle bull at il
t, be deteln 1 ed IN the chr, y
graph, tia 8 hi is PLACED in fix,
position ii. Fnown c.'tance from d
large 5-16th II ch steel pate at tho
end Of an c. closed ra lse, something
like an eion, ated shootins- gallerv Of
the comilon type. Ov,s' the m lie
Of the gun thin CO per wire is
stretched. Tie speeding bullet ,uts
the wire and electric,.., releases IN
upright rod OH the iecG Jing iny. -
ment at the rear of the weapon The
impact Of the bullet on, the steel
plate, in the same manner, releases
a knife which hicks the bar as IL
falls past given point and from
the distance recorded on the bar, the
length Of time reqsired for the mis-
sile to travel from wire to plate il
computed in feet per second.
One Of the changes necessary to
meet the requirements Of the pitch
ing arm" was to arrange a network
of copper wires over a frame about
three feet square, through which the
ball was thrown. This frame was
mounted on an upright standard and
was raised or lowered to CORES
pond with the heights Of the pitchers
or the styles Of ball to be delivered.
In selecting the pitchers for the
initial test, Walter Johnson was
chosen because of his reputation as
the spediest slab artist" in the
game, and Napoleon Rucker, the star
left-hander of the Broklyns, was
picked as south paw" who pitches
"a ball Of moderate speed, depending
to a larger extent on SLOW ball''
tactics than does Johnson. ss
Both pitchers experienced difficult
ty in the "troyout" in getting the
bal through the rather narrow wired
frame. AS Johnson remarked, I'VE
are after the man at the other end Of
the range in the real game and
don't think any of us pay much at
tention to how the ball starts"
However, little practice brought
out three consistent scores" from
each pitcher, both of whom threw
at a terrific speed. Johnson's first
record was 100 feet per second, lanck-
er's 1O6; second trial, Johnson 12l,
Rucker 109, and in the final fling ato
the plate. Johnson pushed his speed
up to 122 feet per second and Ruck-
er increased his to 113. It seemed
probable that speed of at least $50
feet per second might be reached
after longer warming up" period
and more practice.
Johnson's high mark OF 122 feet
per second affords some most inter-
esting comparisons For instance, a
ball going at that velocity has a strik-
ing energy of 160 foot pounds--half
the punch" of As calibre Colt
Automatic pistol The Twentieth
Century Limited, flying at a mile-a-
minute gait over the rails, makes but
SO feet per second--only about two
thirds the speed of Johnson's ball.
If Johnson should throw at a man
standing on the back platform OF that
famous train-starting his throw
after the last car had passed at the
mile-a-minute specific ball would
catch up and strike a. harder blow
than II thrown by the average pitch
Ier at stationary mark.
"A speed Of 122 feet per second
means that johnson sends the sphere