The Washington times., 1920-07-18
By Prof. A. L. Hodges,
The WeN-knosDn Physicist.

p Asst season Babe" Ruth broke all
baseball records by hitting twenty
nine home runs. And this season
there is every indication that he will beat
his 1919 total by a wide margin.
What is the secret of Ruth's ability to
make home runs with such surprising fire.
quency? Is it because he is possessed Of
greater strength than his fellow players?
Is It because his vision is keener or his
muscles better co-ordinated?
All these things doubtless have some
thing to do with it, but the real reason for
this phenomenal series Of home runs sci
ence finds to be the way Ruth applies to
his work with the bat certain wellknown
principles Of physics and psychology.
But" you say. Ruth is ball player.
What does he know Of physics or psy-
chology?"
Notheing, perhaps but whether con-
sciously- or unconsciously Ruth applies
certain well.known principles OF these two
sciences every time he makes home run.
Let us consider some OF the many inter
esting scientific factors involved IN bat
ting ball.
AS every follower of baseball knows, a
home run is the knocking of the ball out
of the reach Of opposing players and In
such a direction and to such distance as
to make its return impossible tefore tn?
runner completes the circuit OF the bases.
Viewed as a mechanical problem, the hit
ting Of a home run means simply hitting
the ball with the bat so as to give II great
! speed in the proper direction. The spe d
, and direction which the bat can be made 70
give the ball depend on the degree OF tit,
curve which the pitcher has impaired to
the ball, the weight of the ball, the weight
of the bat, the elasticity OF the ball and
bat, and the angle at which me ball lr
pinges on the bat.
The speed which a ball I es on iru-
mediately after its collision with the bat
is a little difficult to compute because
neither the bat nor the ball is perfectly
elastic or perfectly non-elastic. To illus
trate the difficulty OF such c, mputation
let me explain what happens when per-
fectly elastic and perfectly Lon-elastio
bodies come into collision.
. II two inelastic bodies-say two pieces
of lead-of equal weight and going with
equal speed, but in opposite directions
meet squarely in mid-air, they will both
stop and fall to the ground, all theh
energy Of motion having been turned into
heat. II, however, perfectly elastic bodier
of the same weight going with the same
velocity, but in opposite directions, meet
in mid-air they will bounce back with
the same velocity they had originally. II
one of these bodies has twice the velocity
of the other, the latter will bounce back
with twice its original velocity and the
former will bounce back ouly half as fast.
All this applies to bodies having the same
weight. Whenever one Of the colliding
bodies is heavier than the other, the We
! locity given the latter body upon bouncing
| is enormously increased.
: The bat which Babe" Ruth wields and
the ball which he hits are both fairly elias.
tic; therefore, everything else being equal,
the ball will be driven farther the heavier
the bat and the faster the bat is moving
as Il hits the ball. Also as the weight OF
Babe" Ruth's body prevents his bat from
doing much bouncing back, the faster the
ball comes the farther It will go when he
hits It.
The weight OF the ball itself Is q very
important factor in hitting a bome run.
viewed as a scientific problem II there