I don't know why this is stirring up such a fuss, but it does. It appears that there are claims being made that the Japanese Boston Red Sox baseball pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka can throw what is known as the "gyroball". Instead of a baseball with a horizontal spin, causing it to sink faster or float longer, the gyroball has a vertical spin (what most people think a gyroscope should be like). A ball having that kind of a spin moving through air will curve either to the left or to the right, depending on the direction of the spin.
The physics here isn't the big deal, or surprise. What people are doubtful is whether the human arm, in the conventional mechanics of throwing a baseball pitch, can impart that kind of a spin. I wouldn't know since I don't play baseball. I suppose if one can change the throwing mechanics, such a ball might be possible. After all, I've seen tennis player from a far wide position on the court hitting a ball around the net post to curl the ball back into the court. One really does not need a pure vertical spin to do this, just a component of it.
Zz.
No comments:
Post a Comment