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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 11, 1968)
- 1 1 I ' 4 3 I 3 Poge 4 The curve ball: yes, By Charlie Green (Editor's note: Charlie is a veteran relief pitcher for the Nebraska baseball team and a senior in the School of Journalism. This is a technical report he did for a journalism class.) Can a human being actual ly make a baseball curve? Igor Sikorvsky, international ly famous expert on aerody namics, has seemingly ended the century-old dispute with a positive answer. In the earely 1670's, two major controversies stormed in the world of sports. It was California's Gov. Leland Stan ford who, in 1878, collected a $50,000 bet by proving that all four feet of a galloping horse are off the ground at the same time. The other controversy over the curve ball still rages today after nearly a century of scientific debate. Magazines disagree Two of the most recent tests of the curve ball dispute were made by two national picture magazines. Each of them used an elaborate photo graphic technique and the conclusions of both were re garded as authoritative. Life, in May, 1964, claimed .that its studies "raised once more the possibility that this standby of baseball is after all onlv an optical illusion." The other, Look, in the same month, insisted "that a curve ball actually does curve." Ernest Lowry, an outspoken scientist of the optical illusion school, said in Sports Illu strated, "The great injustice of the much publicized curve pitch is that of the manner inwheih millions of American boys have been misled on the question. They have been forced to delude themselves into thinking that their pitches actually do curve." Eddie Sawyer, former man ager of the Philadelphia Phil-j lies, said in Sport magazine in 1960, "I am not positive whether a ball curves or not, but there is a pitch in baseball much different form the fast ball that separates the men from the boys. If this pitch does not curve it would be well to notify a lot of baseball players who were forced to quit the game they loved because of this pitch, and may now be reached at numerous gas stations, river docks and mental institutions across the country." Ex-Cincinnati pilot Luke Sewell asked a Life reporter in 1964 a pertinent question: "Isn't it strange that the op- Coach Devaney pleased with week of spring drills; 1968 gridders ahead of '67 Cornhuskers' progress Nebraska football c o a c b Bob Devaney surveyed the results of one week of spring drills and smiled. It was a tip-off that the 1968 Cornhuskers were ahead of the 1967 pace be cause 6C0wls were frequent last spring as inexperience slowed the Scarlets. Asked about the smile, De vaney replied, "You can say our enthusiasm for football this spring is boundless." Pressed for additional ob servations about Nebraska's progress, the nation's win singest football mentor said: Offense improved "Our offense has shown definite improvement over 1967 and this is an area where we needed to im prove." What about the defense, in view of the fact that All America Wayne Meylan, All Big 8 Jim McCord and two year starter Jerry Patton have vacated the middle? "We lost some fine people, all right," Devaney said. "But our defense this spring has shown considerable signs that it will not be as far away as we were afraid it would be prior to spring practice." As usual a number of spots are still up for grabs, and ACADEMY AWARD fiiikiilATIOHS! HKLVDIN6 "BEST PICTURE CF THE YEAR!" MIKE NICHOLS LAWRENCE TUKMAW . Ti'iennoiiTi coat I Bob Feller, Igor Sikorsky agree ' 4 ' ' ' ' ' .. " ',"-. i t , ? ;.. .. " vLi -yj -V v-v n-hJ ' f Nebraska's Keith Winter one optical illusion coming up. tical illusion only happens when someone tries to throw a curve ball?" Feller says yes Bob Feller, former pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, said in his book on "How to Pitch"; "Periodically some one pops up with the old ar gument that a baseball really doesn't curve that it is an optical illusion. If this is so, I -have struck out a grest number of bitters with optical illusions." Earl Mack, former mana ger of the Athletics said, when asked about the curve by a Look reporter, "Are these scientific crack-pots crediting pitchers with the power of turning on optical illusions at will?" Thus the opinion raged on, but without scientific proof. Sikorvsky knew little about the game of baseball but he made up for it in scientific knowledge. He realized that a pitched balll traveling in a curved path, is an exam ple of aerodynamic action in everyday life. He realized, it's too early to assign all the starting berths. And in juries have hampered several veterans like halfback Joe Orduna and defensive back Dana Stephenson. But several candidates like halfback Mike Green, half back Mickey Ziegler, quar terback Ernie Sigler, quar terback Frank Patrick, full back Dick Davis, center Carl Ashman, end Tom Penney, guard Joe Armstrong and a host of others have sparkled during the early going. Three-deep lineups going into the second week drills will end on May 11 with the annual intra-squad game): Offense Tight End Paul Topllff. Jim McFarland, Bob Logan Left Tackle Glenn Pater son, Don McGhee, B e b Grenfell Left Guard Dan Dc- laney, Mel Brichacek, Dennis Ford Center Carl Ashman Joe Buda, Bob Mawhlnney Bight Guard Joe Arm- strong, Ben Beland, Ron Volberding Right TacUe Ed Hansen Gale Williams, Wally Win Sets from 1 .V; Ytw Officio! Orange too, that the force which caused a ball to move in flight is the same force known to engineers as the magnus effect Professor G. Magnus of Berlin started research in this field but his subject wasn't baseballs it was cannon balls. He was trying to find out why German artillery couldn't throw more strikes. How much stuff? Sikorsky's first problem was to determine how much "stuff 'or spin a pitcher can put on the ball in the regula tion 60-feet, six-inch distance from the mound to the plate. Careful studies were made in New ork of rapid-fire flash photographs showing the pro gress of a single pitch. United Aircraft's technicians, in 1965. experienced in observing the behavior of whirling propel lers, examined the change in the position of the ball's stitches from picture to pic ture. They figured that the ball was spinning at the rate of 1-3 revolutions during each 1-30 second between expo ters Split End Tom Penney, Rex Lowe, Guy Ingles Quarterback Frank Pat rick. Ernie Sigler, Tony Dvorsak Left Halfback Mike Green, Joe Orduna, Dan Schniess Right Halfback Mick Ziegler, Larry Frost, Paul Rogers Fullback Dick Davis Buster Vannon, Phil Vassar Defense Left End Mike Wynn Suerwiiin Jarmon, Dennis Gutzman Left Tackle Bob Liggett, Lonnie DeOrio, Mike Bur- dic S5 Traveling? Bios torn Art carved mi Columbia Oiomoad Dealer The Daily it rea sures. Since the entire pitch took less than 1-12 seconds, the rate of rotation was seen to be about five revolutions for the pitch, or about 600 per minute. The engineers then knew how much spin a human could put on a pitched base ball but they still had to find out whether that was enough to make it curve. Wind tunnel test Using officail National and American League balls, Si korsky put them on a slen der spike connected to the shaft of a small motor. Dur ing the next "standby time" between aircraft tests, the balls were inserted into a wind tunnel and rotated by the motor at speeds from zero to 1,200 revolutions per minute. The motor was mounted on a delicately-balanced scale which measured the direction and force of all pressures brought on the balls. The forward speeds of the air moving through the tunnel were varied between 80 and 110 m.p.h., which is about the average speed for a ma jor league pitcher. To observe maximum and minimum effects, the base balls were spiked and rotated at two angles. In one posi tion, four seams met the wind during each revolution. This produced the greatest amount of side force on the ball. In the other position only two seams met the wind, producing less friction and less side force. The wind results were plotted on conventional en gineering graph sheets. The results have so much signifi cance that they could cause changes in pitching and bat ting techniques. These are the four basic Sikorsky conclu sions: Yes, Virginia . . . 1. It can be concluded de finitely that a pitched base ball does curve, in addition to any optical illusion that may exist. 2. A pitched baseball tra vels in a uniformly curved path from the time it leaves the pitcher's hand until it reaches the catcher's glove. There is no such thing as a sharp-breaking curve. j 3. To an observer at or be hind the plate, it appears that the ball travels fairly straight most of the way and then breaks suddenly and sharply near the plate. Actually the curve ball arcs toward or Middle Guard Bill Horn- bacher, Tom Linstroth, Ed Periard Right Tackle Ken Kuss- erow, Dave WaDine, John Hopkins Right End Ron Drakulich, Karl Quinten, Jim Miller Strong Linebacker Dan Kobza, Jerry Murtaugh, Ervin naynes TRY PERKY'S BAR-B-Q Perky's 11 & Q 432-7720 Q CO mister DomxZ WmlT$ Bent Coffee 5121 O 45-9926 lifts fill sh:miMrita 4'.tmont ft new fclickts U grace yanr hand. See f! its' many tbr at Lincpin'i Jtwtlen for aver a half century. Sartor Biamann 1129 "V Street Nebraskan ly does away from the plate through out its flight; but the batter because he views the flight at an angle, cannot discern this. 4. The pitcher who learns to release the balll so that all four seams meet the wind each time it rotates will have the nearest thing to a "Jug handled" curve. If he can throw a ball over 80 m.p.h with a spin of 600 revolutions per minute a pitcher can make the ball curve as much as 19 inches. Sikorsky, then, has con cluded that the curve ball does curve but the batter because of his angular view of the pitch, experiences the optical illusion that the ball curves more radically than it does. Tourney scheduled by Chess League The first Midwest Intercol legiate Chess Tournament sponsored bv the Intercolleg iate Chess Leaeue of Ameri ca tICLA) will be held at the Nebraska Union on April 20-21. There will be a guaranteed prize fund of $100 including trophies The entry fee will be $5 and the student must be a mem ber of the United States Chess Federation and a school mem ber of the ICLA, or he may join at the tournament by pay ing the annual dues of $10. Tennis team tips Omaha U., 5-2 The Husker tennis team racked up its second win in as many days as they beat Omaha University 5-2 in Oma ha Wednesday. Bill Fink, Tom Wiese and Bob Hurlbutt each won their singles matches. The Husker? also won both doubles matches while falling in the Xo.s 3 and 5 singles. Bill Roehr, coach Higgln- botham's top single man, did not make the trip because of a sprained instep in his foot. Higginbotham is now look ing to his first Big Eight en counter next Wednesday with Oklahoma. This match is part of a southern swing by the netmen that includes meets with Oklahoma Baptist and Missouri. Weak Linebacker Adrian F i a I a, Dan Hartman, George Chandler Fullback Al Larson Wil fred Minor, Dave Morock Halfback Dana Stephen son. Tom Heller, Marlin TerwMiiger Safety Randy Reeves. Jim Jansen, Fred HoIIstein ATTENTION SENIORS GRADUATING IN JUNE 19B8 With a Non-Technical Degree Considsr Career Opportunities With The "COLLEGE LIFE 1. The most dynamic com pany in the industry, in taring only college trained people, hiring only college graduates. 3. Average first year earn fngs of $8,090. Can expect yearly increase of about $2,000. Earnings above this leve! limited only by your initiative. Tight weeks yearly vocation. 5. Gsograpbiral I sections mw available include: California; Wcshir-t-n, DC? Georgia; lova; Massachusetts; Nebras ka; Texas; and I'tch. For The rVI Story en "COU J Name USI lir" Moil Thi Attsubwd ' Ceoaft i J Addres Mr. Mol HsnweW J ' 140 Horth 48th J phone Suite o Lincoln, Nebraska 08504 j Major Olympic mat trials set for ISU Ames, Iowa The biggest wrestling invasion in its his tory is possible when Iowa State holds the final Olympic mat trials May 9-14. Those are the dates that all qualifiers and possibly a few others assemble in Ames to get down to the task ot making the United States Olympic team. If all district meets were held and all qual ifiers arrive at Iowa State, the total could reach 424. Add to this number the men who are outstanding wrestlers but who were unable to qualify for the meet and the total couia move up toward the 450 mark. The latter grouping is pos sible because a top performer might have been sick or in jured, and therefore unable to get to a district meet. It is the intention of the Olympic wrestling committee to have the best men available for the team. The too two or three men coming from the final trials at Iowa State will report xo Adams State in Alamosa, Colo., about three weeks be fore the Olympic meet in Mexico City. A series of matches at Alamosa will de termine the final makeup of the teams which will repre sent the United States. Season tickets for the final trials at Iowa State are on sale at the business office in the Athletic Department. Only season tickets, which are the only reserved seats to be sold, are on sale now. The season ticket price is $10. Husker Happenings Thursday Nothing scheduled. Friday Baseball Kansas, double header at NU diamond, 1 p.m. Saturday Baseball Kansas, NU dia mond, 1:30 p.m. Track Air Force and Oc cidental at Colorado Springs. Golf at Missouri. .!. J I Current Monies' 1 J Cum rornhdu4 kr ttnuu LINCOLN CooperLincoln: "Bonnie and Clyde', 7:00. :00. 'arsitT! 'Blackbeardi Ghost. 1:00, 3:06. 5:12, 7:18, 9:24. Stale: The Graduate'. t:00, J:0. 5:00. 7:00. 1:00. Stuart: 'Did You Hear The One About The Traveling Sales lady', 1:20. J:20, :20. 7:20, :20. Jovo: 'High Wild And Free, 7:15,' 9:15. Nebraska: 'Stay Away Joe", 1:10, J:05. 5:05. 7:05. 9:05. S4tb c O: In The Heat Of The Night. 7:30. 'Duel At Dearlo'. 9:25. Last complete show, S:30. Starvlew: Cartoon, 7:30, The Glory Stampers. 7:37. 10:50, 'Mary Jane', 9:20. OMAHA Indian Hills: 'Gone With The Wind', 9:00. Dundee: "Half a Sixpence. 9:00. Cooper 70: 'Dr. Doolittle. :00. INSURANCE CO. 2. Clientele guaranteed and proved by "College life" in the fastest growing mar ket in the country. 4. Early promotions avail able. Promotions based an merit alone ind made from within "College Life." Second largest indoors 10th annual rodeo planned for May The University's 10th annu al rodeo, the state's second largest indoors, is being pre pared for May 3 and 4 pre .ntatinns at the State Fair Grounds Coliseum by the Un iversity Rodeo CluD. accon ing to Tom Cunningham, pres ident Th vearlv event, previous ly attended by 7,500 or more rodeo enthusiasts, has be come a popular area attrac tion because of the uniqueness nf the events and because of its support of the Lancaster County Association for Re tarded Children, which re ceives a portion of total gate Such events as the eirls pajama game supplement the roping, dogging and riding, all of which are open to en trants who meet general Uni versity participation require ments. Nebraska has much at ctake in the upcoming compe tition, for Chip Whitaker and John Sennett rank first and third respectively in bulldog pine in the Great Plains Re gion, and may qualify for I Sastem Style Restaurant 1763 South St Serving Chinese, Indian, and American food. 1 423-8169 Closed TuestUyi I II M M M H w M M II II ! M l " ' HPS PAT PAULSEN of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour w ill appear with the Sandpipers Friday, April 26 in Pershing Auditorium K M mem Urketa n wle la Mm Nekratka tfalta ""3SsWfC 432-1465 13th IP Street "FLiU'ET OF THE APES' IS A DLOCKDUSTEIL )r. fc RQDDK McDOWALi MAURICE EVANS KIM HUNTER -JAMES WHflMORE JAMES DALY UNDA HARRISON"' PRODUCTIONS HORl ABRAHAMS HtANKUNJ SOttfflia MKtMa'wiLSON KJDSJiUNS nan mumT'nm 'ul' Mwmtor- CUM SOUS PARKING WA'iu. ' - ' iwyAMAMAu rP Eeisisfeiateins perfect N PH1SEEY BBSS Mm m. . s-gjr -m-inf.-. ..-; iMiiiil ii i i i 11JJ Thursday, April 11, 1968 the national championship fi nals. Further, all entrants wil be vying for over $1700 of trophies and awards. The rodeo, the third for the Great Plains Region (Kansas, North and South Dak6ta, Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska), is the primary fund-raising project of the ro deo club, with over 100 ac tive members selling adver tisements' and promoting the event This past year, the club joined the National Intercol legiate Rodeo Association which has boosted the pres tige of the rodeo. The call has now been giv en for girls of the University to apply as queen candidates. Organized living units or in terested individuals are be ing urged to select their re presentative who will be gen erally interviewed April 26. followed by a horsemanship contest April 28. The queen will b? crowned May 3 dur ing the first show on Friday evening. i CONTINUOUS FROM 1 PJH. TOMORROW FASCHlOTOr Liz Smith, Cosmopolitan ?0TH CENTURY-fOX PRESENTS CHARLTON HESTOM n m ARTHUR P. JACOBS prodgcUm 5u,e m m A jmmm , ,. , CONTINUOUS FROM 1 PJW. rrinTf Altli IUUAT '-, J. A, 4 , V i.7 3