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Issue No. 20 "Baseball"
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September 18, 1997
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The central drama in the game of baseball is the confrontation
between the pitcher and the batter. As Bug Holiday, a Cincinnati Reds outfielder,
once put it, "This is a funny business. We get paid to knock the cover
off the ball, and the pitchers get paid to keep us from hitting it."
Or, as Brian Johnson, a catcher for the San Francisco Giants put it, "as
a hitter, we have to try to take every advantage that we can."
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Click on the image of San Francisco Giant's catcher
Brian Johnson to hear a RealMedia clip.
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Clip requires the
RealPlayer.
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In this intense struggle, the pitcher usually wins. A batting
average of .333, indicating a hit one out of every three times at the plate,
is achieved only by the star hitters of the game.
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"How far can you hit one?"
The Science Behind a Home Run
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Using a wooden bat and hammer you can find the "sweet
spots" of a baseball bat.
Click on the image above to learn how to try the activity.
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Last Issue:
"Stanley Falkow: Microbe Spy" and "Try
this: What's That in My Root Beer?"
June/July /August 1997 Issue
About This Issue:
You've probably noticed it has been some time since our last issue. We will
continue to publish new issues, hopefully every other month. Recently, we've
been putting more effort into other more "permanent" resources.
In fact, this issue covers a topic we will explore much more fully in Spring
of next year. "Science of Baseball" (the third in a series of
sport science resources) will be available on the opening day of baseball
season1998. If you'd like to check out other Sport Science resources and
learn about our new Sport! exhibition (September 27, 1997 -January 4, 1998
) visit the
Sport Science
web site
.
We hope you enjoy this issue and we'd like to extend our thanks to the San
Francisco Giants for their cooperation with the project. Good luck in the
pennant race!
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