This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation. Home runs are exhilarating — those lofting moments when everyone looks skyward, baseball players and fans alike, anxiously awaiting the outcome:…
I don’t know about this home run theory. Seems like it might violate baseball’s collective bargaining agreement with the players.
I saw on TV earlier they’ve considered changing the size of the ball to compensate for temperature.
Don’t know about the size of the ball but the bases are larger and the Pirates won their Home Opener so all is good.
And it makes it harder for the Black Sox to throw the game. “I was just trying to bunt,but nobody can even find the ball.”
It’s the moisture cintent of the ball in addition to density of the atmosphere that affects how far a baseball can be smacked.
15-30% humidity as opposed to 6% in a baseball will affect how high it will bounce when dropped on a hard surface. The dry baseball bounces higher
The stadium crew in Denver maintained their baseballs in a dry condition. Hence more home runs.
I read the other day that MLB was worried about too little offense and low scores. Then I saw this article written by Seth Borenstein (Mr. Climate Change). It’s hard to know what to say. The ball flies further in warm weather. Hardly an earthshaking pronouncement. If anyone is trying to minimize AGW, they should continue to publish these kind of articles.
However, with all the playoff games, the World Series is played almost a month later than it used to be played. So, at least for the most important set of games, the odds of a home run are at best no better than the historical average.
No one goes to baseball games anymore, they’re too crowded.
Odds are we are going to strike out against global warming.
How high does the temperature have to climb before baseball goes extinct?
Two days going on three without a trump whine posted on the main page…
Glory!
Stories like this are disappointing to me, not because there’s Physics involved and it might be fun to consider, but because there are so many other serious aspects to the Climate problem that are ignored on a daily basis by the media.
For instance:
Global warming started in 1975. Coincidence?
The 2100 World Series will feature the Toktoyactuk Tigers vs the Ikalouit Red Sox.
Can I blame pitch clocks, universal DH and 10th inning runners on second on climate change too?
No those are “Nielson Rules”.
The DH in baseball renders it a non-sport. If you fricking play any position you stand at the plate and take your pitches. Catchers are historically slower runners than other players, how about designated runners if a catcher gets on base? What the hell kind of sport exempts only one particular position from participating in a function EVERY OTHER PLAYER on the filed must participate in? And now baseball is just dropping a player on to second base in extra innings. No one does a thing to get there, the guy just walks out and there he starts the inning? Because we want to shorten extra inning games? How about everyone starts at the plate with one strike and one ball in extra innings? You know, just to make a real hash of the game and its rules.
Everyone together now … deep breathe … hold it in … now let it out, exhaling the following mantra:
Breathe out entirely on the last syllable, stretching it out and tapering off to a whisper until you are empty. Then return to normal breathing and rest comfortably for a few minutes.