The games lasts 3 hours, at least.
Four balls. Four balls until you walk. Not run… walk.
Guys come in from the bull pen, so let’s all pause. And, it takes three strikes to get rid of a batter. In the mean time how many foul balls will he hit before he succumbs?
On, let’s not forget conferences on the mound. Ho hum!
Then of course there’s the in-between the innings, with players on and off the field. Most don’t sprint off, or on the field, know what I mean?
I am talkin’ slow here. This game of baseball…. Sah-lowwwwwwwwwwww!
Don’t believe me? Think I am too cynical about baseball being too slow? Well, check the 25 second time clock. And relievers have to pitch to at least 3 batters now. Intentional walks are finger-point-and-go. Everyone is trying to make the game move along a bit more swiftly. After all, we have finite lives, our hearts only have so many beats, we all have things to do, places to be, people to yell at (or something).
Baseball is just too slow. Yawning must be the national past time.
Except…. well….
Some vital stats from a wonderful and recommended book Crack of the Bat, The Louisville Slugger Story, by Bob Hill:
“The meeting between the bat and the ball, that brutal, violent, beautiful collision of white ash and cowhide, lasts about 000.1 second.” (For the record, one-one thousandth of a second…)
And, there is as much as eight thousand pounds of pressure applied to the baseball upon impact by the bat, which in turn causes the ball to compress.
But, the bat itself only travels about an inch when in contact with the ball
So, let’s acknowledge: We are talking very very very quick, lightning fast…. And I have not yet mentioned how quickly the ball gets to the batter. It is 60 feet 6 inches from the mound to home plate.
At the release from the pitcher’s hand, the ball is actually closer. At 100 miles per hour (indeed that is very fast, but not unusual today), at 100 miles per hour, the ball covers 146.7 feet per second.
Are you ready for the full-on calculation, the mathematical conclusion?
It takes only about 0.412 second for the ball to get to the batter.
Less than half a second, Wow… wham… snap of your fingers!
Folks, can we find some balance here? Balance in life is crucial, the swami told me…. or the Ump… or the third base coach said “gotta have balance!”
Does anyone think this balance will ever be achieved?
I just saw a fan yawning when Justin Verlander threw a fast ball past a desperately swinging Giancarlo Stanton. Ah, I bet he just had one too many beers! The fan… the fan, not Stanton!