Baseball cheaters can't hide from the laws of physics
Tuesday, June 28, 2011 - 19:30
in Physics & Chemistry
Some baseball superstitions are accepted as cold, hard truth. But in the world of physics, the most accepted verities are subject to experimentation. A corked bat hits the ball further? Not in Lloyd Smith's lab. Baseballs today are livelier than in the past? See above. A humidor can curb home run production? Yes, but only because Smith has fired the balls through a cannon and measured their bounciness as they hit a bat.