Physics of baseball/bat collision - GIF

[Jon]

Slow-mo of baseball breaking bat. From The Physics of Baseball website, in which a University of Illinois physics professor geeks out on his two-fold research interests: "the physics of the baseball-bat collision and the flight of the baseball".




More: Miguel Cabrera's Vibrating Broken Bat

Previously:

How a baseball is made - GIF
Baseball hat steamer stretcher - GIF

[stillldoinit]

Wow, I wonder why they use such squiggly bats.

[Jon]

Outside of professional MLB, aluminum bats are more common. Certainly in little league, high school, etc. The problem with using them at the upper levels of competition is that the ball comes off of the bat too fast, and the pitcher cannot quickly enough escape the oncoming ball. My understanding is that, when the bat breaks, it's a planned failure at the weakest point of a dangerous operation, like a plastic speedometer gear that's designed to break first. Someone with more knowledge about baseball can probably speak to this better than I can.

Related would be the famous episode where Randy Johnson "exploded" a bird with a pitch. And of course the obligatory "fowl ball" comments.

36-second video:

[Toolmaker51]

Slow-mo of baseball breaking bat. From The Physics of Baseball website, in which a University of Illinois physics professor geeks out on his two-fold research interests: "the physics of the baseball-bat collision and the flight of the baseball".

Yikes! Geeks out hardly describes his condition, terminal I'm afraid.

I've only been to one game, local bush league amateurs.
One pitcher was incredible though.
No matter how wildly any his batters swung, he could hit their bats. I guess opposition tired of his skill, having him removed from playing further.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

Yikes! Geeks out hardly describes his condition, terminal I'm afraid.

I've only been to one game, local bush league amateurs.
One pitcher was incredible though.
No matter how wildly any his batters swung, he could hit their bats. I guess opposition tired of his skill, having him removed from playing further.

I have been to 1 major league, Pittsburgh Pirates when I was in Kindergarten or 1 grade. Also went to 1 fast pitch softball game with wife #1. She kept complaining that someone was going to get hit by all the foul balls into the stands. Sure enough, she took one right between the eyes, sunglasses exploded, and 2 black eyes for a couple of weeks. I do not remember any broken bats though.

[Frank S]

what about Jay Gibbons - BALTIMORE ORIOLES Outfielder breaking 6 bats in 1 game

[Frank S]

in the middle 80's while working at a caterpillar repair shop the guy who owned it bought 30 season tickets every year right behind 3rd base in the front 2 rows I probably went to 40 or 50 games back when Charley Hpugh was on top of his pitching carrier. My last game to go to was when Nolan Ryan joined the Rangers because I moved on to another field of work

[hemmjo]

When my son was young and started playing baseball, late 80's-early 90's, we could not afford $100 for an aluminum bat. We got a nice used wood Louisville Slugger for $5.00 at a garage sale. He was a bit embarrassed at first that he did not have a shiny new aluminum bat like all of the other kids. But he would lean his bat against the fence along side all of the brand new, expensive aluminum bats. It was not very long before most on his team would choose his old wood bat over the newer metal bats.

The solid crack as the wood made contact with the ball, as opposed to the tinny "ping" of the metal, along with the reduced vibration of the handle made all the difference. Of course as he got older, they stopped allowing the used of wood bats all together.

[Jon]

You can go a long time at the US patent site poking around for baseball bat patents, including unusual inventions that claim to reduce the likelihood of bat breakage: US Advanced patent search for utility baseball bat patents

[Jon]

Baseball is hit three times in one swing. Look at that gorgeous oscillation: