Keep Your Eye on the Ball: The Science and Folklore of Baseball

by BAHILL

"Keep your eye on the ball!" may be good advice--but it is impossible to do. The batter can track the ball until it is about five feet in front of the plate, but then he falls behind because the ball is moving too fast. In Keep Your Eye on the Ball, Robert G. Watts and A. Terry Bahill--engineers by vocation, baseball fans by avocation--have devised a series of experiments that put some of baseball's most cherished myths to the test. By applying physics, psychology, physiology, and other scientific principles to baseball, the authors have resolved, once and for all, some of the controversial issues that have intrigued fans for decades, including: * Do curveballs really curve? Do fastballs rise? * How do knuckleballs and spitballs work? * What exactly happens when the ball hits the bat? * Does corking the bat really help a hitter? * Are aluminum bats more dangerous than wooden bats? * Can certain physiological factors help predict success for a hitter? * Why are more home runs being hit than ever before? * Are today's players better than yesterday's? Completely revised and updated to include recent statistics, new research, and additional historical commentary, Keep Your Eye on the Ball is a highly informative and entertaining guide to the science of baseball that all fans of the game--regardless of scientific background--will enjoy.

Genres: Science, Baseball

213 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1990

Reviews

[Larry Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

For physicist baseball fans (and you know who you are) this is a great book. I can't speak for the physics, but it is chock full (probably a physics term) of data, formulae, and other physics references.

For the average baseball fan (that's me) there is a lot of good information, and a lot of probably good information that can be skipped without losing continuity.

Answering scientifically questions like "Can a ball can actually curve (or rise) or is it an illusion?", "What's the proper weight for a bat?", and "What is one factor in eyesight that can differentiate a major league batter from prospects?"

I really enjoyed the book in whole, but at times there is a lot of physics that must be read through to get to the conclusions/results of the studies.

In this age of sabermetrics the information is welcome. And if you just skip the stuff only physicists can understand it's not only a good read but a quick read.

[Emma Strawbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty physics heavy and sometimes strangely formatted math but very interesting for sure

[todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's might think they've made their subject "accessible" but they might not succeed with folks who hated high school science. Here's a physics book that might keep people interested in Newton's laws and Bernoulli principals. Two engineers give the background on why curve balls curve and knuckle balls knuckle. It is not an optical illusion as anyone who has really tried to hit either will attest. Brought back many memories, some good and some not so. The end of the book turns to statistics and rating players from different eras. The engineers may not like it so much, but the economists will probably like it more so.

I'm still struck that a batter has .4 seconds before a 100 mph fast ball hits the catcher's mitt. Makes the .58 seconds you have for a 70 mph one seem liesurely!