Posted on 01/22/2010 3:20:48 AM PST by Pharmboy
Whenever the bat hits the ball you react with some motion NO MATTER where it is going. Takes a split second to put things together and react to the actual trajectory.
Strangely enough, it’s important to me to know whether a fielder predicts the final point based on a tracjectory predicted from early clues (as several players believe), or predicts moment-to-moment during the flight.
My next question is how long (or short) are the “moments.”
This is interesting. Thanks.
Since some of us see age 50 way back in the rear view mirror...it just now takes a bit bigger “split” in the “second” to respond. :)
You are most welcome. An interesting question in physics and human visuo-spatial physiology.
ping
This is basically what one has to do when playing tennis. You have to be able to calculate in your head where the ball is going to land in your court and then to be there when it does, and many factors go into the calculation ... where your opponent is standing, how hard he hit the ball, the angle of his racquet when he hit, and more. A “lob” is especially like a fly ball.
I believe Mays was about 430 feet from home plate when he made that catch. Parts of the Polo Grounds were around 460 feet from home plate. A truly massive outfield.
Today “The Catch” would have been a tremendous home run.
Dimensions of the Polo Grounds.
Left Field - 279 ft (85 m)
Left-Center - 450 ft (137 m)
Center Field - 483 ft (147 m)
Right-Center - 449 ft (136 m)
Right Field - 258 ft (78 m)
Specifically, Castillo and Murphy.
There’s a former Marine fighter pilot (Korea)/Pistol Team member who stops by the watering hole now and then. He say’s he can’t explain his vision, either—just that “the damn ten-ring looks like a dinnerplate to me at 50 yards.”
Oh no..I was had...hahaha...
Still...its neat and she’s cute.
Our taxes at work.
Understanding the gravitational...uh, baseball field.
I was there!
(And it's lots more than "hundreds of thousands of YouTube viewers" who have seen this. It is simply the most often replayed video moment in sports history.)
ML/NJ
This is not nearly as puzzling as how a person can take a round bat and hit a round ball...squarely.
Sure ... it's not hard to do ...
But how do you do it? How does your brain process the visual data so you can think the ball is headed some particular place?
It's quite clear that you haven't a clue ... neither do I.
It is, in fact, a very difficult problem. "Artificial Intelligence" and robotics are, in some ways, more difficult disciplines than mere rocket science.
Calculus.
Yowza...I never realized the Polo Grounds’ outfield was that huge. As a kid I was at Ebbets Field (Brooklyn) often, but never went to the Polo Grounds (Manhattan/NYC).
Wow!! You were there...most excellent. I was watching it on TV (the old black and white Dumont!).
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