I was listening to the game Monday evening while driving back to Cincinnati and heard Marty Brennaman call this Jay Bruce home run, a 400+ foot round tripper. Marty gave the distance of the blast very shortly after Bruce hit it and I wondered—as I’ve wondered many times—how do they calculate just how far a gopher ball flies? Here’s what I could find: Apparently, the two most common methods involve some cameras, a whole lotta math, and that pesky element that’s always popping up in baseball; the human element. According to the article, a company called SportVision, “the premier global provider of enhancements for sports television,” manufactures the measurement system used by ESPN. SportVision, also the creator of K-Zone, installed a boatload of cameras in every single Major League ballpark and uses them in a variety of ways (the MLB even uses its data for umpire evaluations when calling balls and strikes). “The system uses two specialized cameras to track the location of the baseball as it flies through the air. The cameras, after being calibrated with known points on the field, can produce a virtual 3-D grid and calculate where the ball is in relation to that grid.”
The second system, called “The Tale of the Tape,” was introduced in 1988 and produced by IBM (the program’s name is probably an allusion to a HR hit by Mickey Mantle in Washington’s Griffith Stadium, a 656-foot shot responsible for coining the phrase “tape measure job” according to Carl Benjamin’s article. Click to read more about some of the longest home runs ever hit!). Using a map of the park, a human spotter, and the equation horizontal distance + (elevation * cotangent value) = total distance, an official distance is determined.
If you think that stuff is cool, check out this website, HitTrackerOnline.com. This website calculates home run distance using everything from atmospheric information, initial speed and angle of the ball off the bat, and trajectory to give the truest mesaurement possible. Data from every home run hit since 2005 (including playoff home runs) is available at your fingertips. Search by season, hitter, pitcher, or ballpark, follow the path of the ball on a map of the stadium, and click to watch a video of each. I could spend hours on this website. HR’s are categorized into three categories, “No Doubts,” “Just Enoughs,” and “Lucky Homers”. This year, Jay Bruce and Mark Reynolds are tied for the NL lead in No Doubters with six a piece while American League teammates Vernon Wells and Jose Bautista share the distinction with six each also.
Just as each round-tripper is a little different than the last, so is each players’ trot around the bases. Some guys enjoy lapping up the glory in the limelight while others prefer to get back to home plate in less time than is necessary to score on an inside-the-park HR. Tater Trot Tracker records the time it takes players to round the bases “from the moment the bat touches the ball to the moment the foot touches the plate” and displays both the fastest and slowest times of the season. Here’s how 2010’s trots stack up:
SLOWEST
1. David Ortiz – May 24 30.59 seconds
2. David Ortiz – May 17, 29.81
3. David Ortiz – May 14, 29.42
4. Alex Gonzalez – April 21, 29.28
5. David Ortiz – May 14, 29.07
6. David Ortiz – May 1, 28.95
7. David Ortiz – May 26, 28.94
8. Orlando Cabrera – May 5, 28.90
9. Jose Guillen – April 11, 28.36
10. Bengie Molina – April 12, 27.95
FASTEST
1. Adam Rosales – April 11, 15.86
2. Adan Rosales –April 28, 15.87
3. Adam Rosales –May 26, 16.48
4. Chris Heisey –May 19, 17.11
5. Chris Heisey –May 26, 17.15
6. Jason Heyward –April 20, 17.18
7. Brendan Ryan –May 27, 17.20*
8. Tyler Colvin –May 28, 17.28
9. Joey Votto –May 4, 17.45
10. Michael Saunders –May 9, 17.53
INSIDE-THE-PARK
1. Angel Pagan – May 19, 14.48
2. Cameron Maybin – May 31, 14.75
3. David DeJesus –April 23, 15.71**
4. Stephen Drew – April 5, 15.84
5. Adam Jones – May 22, 16.04
6. Aubrey Huff – April 14, 16.45
Earlier in the season, ESPN’s Baseball Tonight celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Web Gems segment. Producer Judd Burch came up with this gem of an idea for his show in part because he was a huge Phillies fan at a time when they weren’t much to talk about. “‘In 2000, the Phillies were a bad team, and Scott Rolen was my favorite player,’ Burch said. ‘Some nights, the Phillies weren't even getting in the show. One of the inspirations for Web Gems was getting Scott Rolen in the show, he's the best defensive third baseman in Phillies history. If there had been no Scott Rolen, there would have been no Web Gems.’” After ten years of dazzling plays, the invention of the Internet, and the fantasy baseball boom, I believe the next great application of this little baseball highlight Hoedown is upon us (even better than the Buehrle-Meter!). A friend of mine, and fellow fantasy team owner, pitched this idea to me; what if a Web Gem category was added, perhaps to the pitching statistics. If a player on your team has a play featured on the segment, you get one point towards your total points for that week. This way—even though it’s a bit subjective—defense plays a role in the game, possibly changing how owners draft or how they determine what players to keep/pick up. Personally, I think it’s an excellent idea. I’ve always wanted fantasy to incorporate a defensive position player stat and I think this is probably the best and most fair way. Make sure to voice your opinion on the poll this week or leave your comments below. This also got me thinking about fantasy stats and I wondered why your National League pitchers don’t get credit for their offense. I understand that it is probably better that pitcher’s ABs aren’t part of any offensive categories, but what if pitchers were only rewarded for hits, runs, home runs, RBI’s and stolen bases. This way your AVG category won't take a hit and you still get credit for having guys like Carlos Zambrano and Micah Owings who have been known to swing the bat well. Just a thought, I haven't really fleshed this out fully.
Pete Rose cheated to break the all-time hits record. At least that is according to Deadspin.com, which reported Tuesday that a bat, scientifically proved to have been used by the Reds’ great when he hit 4,192, was corked. A collector who owned the bat had it X-rayed, the results are pictured below.
Was it a shock to hear that Rose corked his bat? Not really. I feel like Pete probably subscribed to the philosophy, “If ya ain’t cheatin’, ya ain’t tryin’.” While definitely considered dubious in all baseball realms, I’m not sure if corking your bat actually has any substantial effect on your hitting (this despite a high school science project I did in which I showed that corking a wood bat did increase the speed balls fly off the bat, however my testing methods were suspect, at best). Ballplayers have tried to get an advantage over their competitors for as long as the game’s been played. From pitchers spitting tobacco juice on the ball to make it less visible and change its flight path to players shooting up steroids in the clubhouse, guys have tried to gain an edge in every era. Do I still think Peter Edward Rose is the hit king? Yes. There is no doubt in my mind. Does this affect his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame? Hell no. Sadly, I know Rose will never be enshrined in Cooperstown and that’s just the way it is.
Wiffle Ball: The Ultimate Guide by Michael Hermann released April 10, 2010 and I've heard nothing but great things about this book. I can't wait to read it this summer. I plan to compile a baseball summer reading list later this month, be looking out for some great titles I reccommend picking up.
Here's a funny story about a dad at a Mets game accidentally stealing a ball from a kid. David Wright tossed the ball into the stands, very classy guy, good story.
This is cool. Take fan voting to the next level by campaigning for your favorite players!
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