Bryan daily eagle and pilot. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1918, 1913-06-18

theory, and doubted the ract. Every
curve, shoot hook" "fadeaway' ana
l3pw ball depends upon the same prin-
4ples, revolution and air pressure. Jhe
Way ball curves depends upon lhe
force with which ii is thrown and the
amount of rotation. Its direction De
ponds upon the amount of friction ap-
piled by the fingers to given point ON
the surface of the ball. The BAH AZ
ways curves In the direction OF tbs
heaviest friction applied by the hand.
and away from the heaviest air
friction. The curve increases IN the
ratio OF the amount OF its revolu-
ton
Perhaps the most frequent question
asked of baseball writer is, How
far can a ball be made to curvef'
or course they mean by norma,
pitcher not using mechanical assist |
ance. ! never have been able TO lind
the limit of the curve, nor indeed, TO |
though ! have made some expert
ments. ! refer to the actual curve OF
the ball due to its rotary motion and
air resistance. do not think that
the real curve of the ball in 56 feet
distance from the pitchers hand
when he releases the ball, to the h0De |
plate) can be more than 20 inch9U
| have heard ball players declare thd
ball curves from six inches to iivey
feet tried 1t once with 0rval Over
all. who had. | believe. the most
sweeping and widest fast curve ball
| ever saw
We placed IL 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 al wider intervals until the last
one was 6 feet in 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
all's reach was much greater than
the average, but do not think the act
ual pitching distance, from hand TO
plate. is more than So 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 The was pitching off slight
eleyation). His hand hit the paper
and tore a hole a foot lower, showing
he had released the ball before hls'
arm reached the extreme limit OF its
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 little over
two and half feet from the right of
the line. 1t was less than foot from
the line when il struck the first OF the
eight sheets placed closely together IN
front OF the plate. and II tore through
the next one u triile, higher. Then 1t
began its true curve. Nine feet ~
front Of the plate it broke and shot
uON uNOlu anu buAN uiu anu tiOhotu
the sheet at the home plate ten inches
above the ground and nearly twelve
inches to the outside" chat is, for
right-handed batterl of the center of
the plate. The ball had dropped five
feet two inches downward, through The
force of gravity, the angle at which il
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 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 di-
rection in which it revolves The
amount Of the curve depends upon the