The Physics of Baseball

The illumination of the ordinary—of why the sky is blue or why the stars shine—is not the least important role of physics and physicists. Then can’t we add to the list of deeper queries some of the questions that seemed so important to me in my youth: How can Babe Ruth hit so many home runs? What makes Carl Hubble’s curveball and screwball swerve in their trips to the plate? And if baseball plays no known role in the fundamental structure of the universe (see The Iowa Baseball Confederacy by W. P. Kinsella for a contrary position), it is not of trivial importance in the perception and appreciation of that universe by some of its inhabitants. Although not quite so important now, in the period between the Civil War and World War II baseball was a significant part of what defined the United States. Forty years ago, Jacques Barzun, a preeminent student of American culture and a native of France, said, “Whoever wants to know… America had better learn baseball.” But, even as the game itself is subtle and complex, I have found subtleties and complexities in my attempts to know the physical bases of this American game.