Coming for yall @themagnuspi.bsky.social @pobguy.bsky.social

On this date in Game 7 of the 1966 NBA Finals, coaching his last game, Red Auerbach & the Boston Celtics defeat the Lakers. Bill Russell: “It would have been a real crime not to see Red leave a winner.” Elgin Baylor: “Bill Russell is the greatest basketball player I have ever played against.”

The peanut should work very well for 4S. For 2S (or sinkers), the movement is often shifted due to seam-shifted wake.

I remember this, probably from one of the Pitchf/x summits. I even recall Matt and Dan Brooks writing an article expanding on the relationship between arm slot and direction of movement.

You wrote it...I read it!

Bob Dylan, 1941-present

The Twilight Zone, 1959-1964

Usually referred to as "U-trip"

Regarding my criticism of the BPF standard, it's all discussed here: baseball.physics.illinois.edu/Normalizatio...

Agreed. When I worked with USA Baseball to develop the current youth bat standard (which is similar to the BBCOR standard for NCAA and high schools), USSSA would not agree to that standard and preferred their own BPF standard (of which I have been very critical).

Concussions in baseball catchers are not like concussions in football. For years, researchers had wondered why — under totally different conditions — they were still happening. Now, the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab has a new theory, which may revolutionize helmet design: news.vt.edu/articles/202...

Yes, the wind at Wrigley giveth and taketh away. Just like the Green Monster at Fenway.

But to answer your question, I do think higher launch angle is more affected by wind, since wind speed is usually greater when ball is above the various obstructions in the park. @kenarneson.bsky.social: what say you?

My issue is that the no-wind distance is only ~390 ft whereas actual is 422, a difference of only 32, not 65. BTW, in my "analysis", I did a linear extrapolation of D-vs-EV for LA=41 and EV>90. See data below.

Interesting. When I look at Statcast data for the distance of fly balls with a launch angle of ~41 deg and EV~111 mph, I find the mean distance is about 390 ft. I have no way of knowing effect of wind on that distance. The Cruz HR was 422 ft, which is 32 ft above average.

Thanks JD. Go talk to Netanyahu next.

It took ~20 months to negotiate the JCPOA. Is Vance giving up after 1 day?

Who plays the Ernie Moniz role in the current negotiations?

Best Red Sox game so far. And I was there with great seats (see picture of the view from my seat), courtesy of my friends in the Cards organization. Other pic shows a closeup of one set of Hawkeye cameras. Lovely evening for baseball.

Picture of the century. 😍 📷 credit: Science Tube

Notice how the most celebrated and successful space mission in *decades* was run by at least 50% “DEI hires”—not all white men? And not even all Americans. Maybe diversity *is* strength . . .

There is, quite simply, no better or easier way to get your work seen by just about every team in the league. Do it!

Great stuff from Patrick

I must have missed why Jaylen Brown is sitting tonight

“We have already given in example one effectual check to the Dog of war by transferring the power of letting him loose from the Executive to the Legislative body, from those who are to spend to those who are to pay.” TJ to J. Madison, 9/6/1789— Or so they thought…

If air drag is responsible, in part, for the variation of bat speed with temperature (see @lephysichien.bsky.social ), the it might be good to compare Coors with other venues. Drag is reduced at Coors altitude ~9x more than a 10F rise in temperature.

I am wondering what the effect of air drag is on bat speed. The drag reduces the acceleration, resulting in lower bat speed. Drag is greater at lower temperature. This is worth doing a simplified calculation to see if the effect on temp-dependence is "in the ballpark".

First torsional mode for a free-free bar

Third bending mode for a free-free bar

I agree.

I did an analysis (others probably did the same analysis) showing the Hendricks had two different changeups (4S and 2S). Same spin axis in both cases. The 2S had a big ssw effect; not so for the 4S.

Just crazy that this is the background for possible Armageddon.

I read everything Vik Amar writes. He's my go-to guy on constitutional law issues. His latest is about Trump's EO about main-in ballots. verdict.justia.com/2026/04/06/i...

Mike, if I am remembering correctly, you were the first to realize that the Garcia pitch broke in the "wrong" direction. You told me, and I told Rod, leading to his experiments and my analysis and article.

I'm looking forward to reading all about it.

The Grape of Wrath

One Angry Man

Better link to the weather interview: baseball.physics.illinois.edu/video/Weathe...

In the past two weeks, I've had several interview requests from people wanting to know the effect of weather on baseball. Here is one I did with ABC/Channel 7 in DC: sbgi-my.sharepoint.com/personal/vjo...

On Opening Days, we wear pink.

Looks like "Analyzing Baseball Data with R" got a new edition right before the new year. Great book, strongly recommend.

No, but we pored a glass of wine and left open the door for Ted Williams.

Just attended my first baseball-themed Passover seder.

I want to put this as plainly as possible: This site has way too many self-righteous, underinformed assholes looking to pick a fight. We need fewer of them and more people with Mark's expertise.

Looking forward to listening to the oral arguments tomorrow in Trump v. Barbara, the birthright citizenship case. I have prepared by reading briefs by the principals as well as many of the amicus briefs on both sides of the issue. I'll also be following on scotusblog.com

I am currently taking a 1L course on ConLaw. An essential feature of the course is to discuss the analytical reasoning used to arrive at the opinions and dissents. We inquire whether the analysis is sound, regardless of whether or not we agree with the ultimate decision. That is how it should be

My latest project. I have already read the Rhodes book on the making of the atomic bomb. This book is much more technical, although quite accessible given my nuclear physics background.

My contribution:

More from Urbana ...

At the Urbana No Kings rally