Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1913-06-06

theory, and doubted the fact. Every
curve, shoot, hook" ''fadeaway," and
slow ball depends upon the same prin-
ciples, revolution and air pressure. The
way a ball curves depends upon the
force with which it Is thrown and the
amount of rotation. It's direction de-
ponds upon the amount Of friction APP
piled by the fingers to = given point on
the surface of the ball. The ball al
ways curves in thee direction Of the
heaviest friction applied by the hand.
and away from the heaviest air
friction. The curve increases in the
ratio of the amount of it's revolu-
ton
Perhaps the most frequent question
asked of baseball writer is, How
far can a ball be made to curve?
OF course they mean by normal
pitcher not using mechanical assis<-
ance. Itnever have been able to find
the limit Of the curve, nor, indeed, to
though l have made some expert
ments. / refer to the actual curve Of
the ball due to It's rotary motion and
air resistance. l do not think that
the real curve of the ball in sc feet
distance from the pitchers hand
when he releases the ball, to the home
plate) can be more than 20 inches.
l have heard ballplayers declare the
ball curves from six inches to five
feet. l tried it once with Orval Over
all, who had l believe, the most
sweeping and widest fast curve ball
/ ever saw.
We placed II big Sheets of tissue
| paper between Stats, Of them at
short intervals over the first Is feet
in front of the plate, the rest scatter
ed at wider intervals until the last
one was feet i'm front Of the pitchers
SLAB, and to my surprise, his hand
struck the paper as the ball was re-
leased. proving the actual distance
of the pitch is much shorter than
| usually supposed. Of course Over
alls reach was much greater than
| the average but do not think the act
ual pitching distance, from hand to
| plate, Is more than SIS feet
Overall pitched his wide overland
curve. The ball entered the first
sheet four feet to the right of the
string, which was placed through the
center of the two plates at height of
| five feet, and almost six feet above the
ground Che was pitching off slight
| elevation). His hand hit the paper
and tore a hole foot lower, showing
he had released the ball before his
arm reached the extreme limit of it's
swing. The ball went through the Sec
| ond sheet, which was 10 feet from the
| first just four inches lower than
| through the first, and a little over
| two and half feet from the, right OF
| the line. 1t was less than a foot from
| the line when 1t struck the first of the
eight sheets placed closely together in
| front of the plate, and it tore through
| the next one trifie higher. Then 1t
began it's true curve. Nine feet in
| front of the plate it broke" and shot
| downward and outward and crossed
the sheet at the home plate ten inches
above the ground and nearly twelve
| inches to the outside" Chat is, fer a
vight-handed batter) of the center of
the plate. The ball had dropped five
| feet two inches downward, through the
force of gravity, the angle at which it
was pitched and the curve, and had
angled and curved practically FIVE feet.
The closest calculation we could make
was that the ball actually curved, as
result of its rotary motion, approx
mately II inches
The air resistance, which was dis
| puted at Tyng's experiments. has, Of
course, became a known factcr with
the study of the science of aeronaut-
les. The amount of resistance can
be computed closely by the use of the
barometer. The ball curves in the d.
rection in which it revolves. The
amount Of the curve depends upon the