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Baseball on the Moon
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We want to adapt baseball to be played on the moon. Is there any way
to make it work?
My first impression is: no, for several reasons.
The pitched ball will go a little faster (no air resistance) but
breaking balls are impossible (ditto). So the batter will find it
easier to get a solid hit. We can’t fix this by moving the plate
closer to the pitcher’s rubber; that would expose both batter and
pitcher to unacceptable danger. I think we also can’t fix it by making
the plate much wider.
Once the batter hits the ball, it will go a long long way, six times
as far as a batted ball on Earth. In order for every hit to not be a
home run, the outfield fence will have to be about six times as far
way, so the outfield will be !!36!! times as large. I don’t think the
outfielders can move six times as fast to catch up to it. Perhaps if
there were 100 outfielders instead of only three?
Fielding the ball will be more difficult. Note that even though the
vacuum prevents the pitch from breaking, the batted ball can still
take unexpected hops off the ground.
Having gotten hold of the ball, the outfielder will then need to throw
it back to the infield. They will be able to throw it that far, but
they probably won’t be able do it accurately enough for the receiving
fielder to make the play at the base. More likely the outfielder will
throw it wild.
I don’t think this can be easily salvaged. People do love home runs,
but I don’t think they would love this. Games are too long already.
Well, here’s a thought. What if instead of four bases, arranged in a
!!90!!-foot square, we had, I don’t know, eight or ten, maybe !!200!!
or !!300!! feet apart? More opportunities for outs on the basepaths,
and also the middle bases would not be so far from the outfield.
Instead of throwing directly to the infield, the outfielders would
have a relay system where one outfielder would throw to another that
was farther in, and perhaps one more, before reaching the infield.
That might be pretty cool.
I think it’s not easy to run fast on the Moon. On the Earth, a
runner’s feet are pushing against the ground many times each second.
On the Moon, the runner is taking big leaps. They may only get in
one-sixth as many steps over the same distance, which would give them
much less opportunity to convert muscle energy into velocity.
(Somewhat countervailing, though: no air resistance.) Runners would
have to train specially to be able to leap accurately to the bases.
Under standard rules, a runner who overshoots the base will land off
the basepaths and be automatically out.
So we might expect to see the runner bounding toward first base. Then
one of the thirty or so far-left fielders would get the ball, relay it
to the middle-left fielder and then the near-left fielder who would
make the throw back to first. The throw would be inaccurate because
it has to traverse a very large infield, and the first baseman would
have to go chasing after it and pick it up from foul territory. He
can’t get back to first base quickly enough, but that’s okay, the
pitcher has bounded over from the mound and is waiting near first base
to make the force play. Maybe the runner isn’t there yet because one
of his leaps was too long and to take another he has to jump high
into the air and come down again.
It would work better than Quiddich, anyway.
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Once the batter hits the ball, it will go a long long way, six times as far as a batted ball on Earth.
I don’t think the outfielders can move six times as fast to catch up to it.
Having gotten hold of the ball, the outfielder will then need to throw it back to the infield.
I don’t think this can be easily salvaged.
People do love home runs, but I don’t think they would love this.
We want to adapt baseball to be played on the moon. Is there any way
to make it work?
My first impression is: no, for several reasons.
The pitched ball will go a little faster (no air resistance) but
breaking balls are impossible (ditto). So the batter will find it
easier to get a solid hit. We can’t fix this by moving the plate
closer to the pitcher’s rubber; that would expose both batter and
pitcher to unacceptable danger. I think we also can’t fix it by making
the plate much wider.
Once the batter hits the ball, it will go a long long way, six times
as far as a batted ball on Earth. In order for every hit to not be a
home run, the outfield fence will have to be about six times as far
way, so the outfield will be !!36!! times as large. I don’t think the
outfielders can move six times as fast to catch up to it. Perhaps if
there were 100 outfielders instead of only three?
Fielding the ball will be more difficult. Note that even though the
vacuum prevents the pitch from breaking, the batted ball can still
take unexpected hops off the ground.
Having gotten hold of the ball, the outfielder will then need to throw
it back to the infield. They will be able to throw it that far, but
they probably won’t be able do it accurately enough for the receiving
fielder to make the play at the base. More likely the outfielder will
throw it wild.
I don’t think this can be easily salvaged. People do love home runs,
but I don’t think they would love this. Games are too long already.
Well, here’s a thought. What if instead of four bases, arranged in a
!!90!!-foot square, we had, I don’t know, eight or ten, maybe !!200!!
or !!300!! feet apart? More opportunities for outs on the basepaths,
and also the middle bases would not be so far from the outfield.
Instead of throwing directly to the infield, the outfielders would
have a relay system where one outfielder would throw to another that
was farther in, and perhaps one more, before reaching the infield.
That might be pretty cool.
I think it’s not easy to run fast on the Moon. On the Earth, a
runner’s feet are pushing against the ground many times each second.
On the Moon, the runner is taking big leaps. They may only get in
one-sixth as many steps over the same distance, which would give them
much less opportunity to convert muscle energy into velocity.
(Somewhat countervailing, though: no air resistance.) Runners would
have to train specially to be able to leap accurately to the bases.
Under standard rules, a runner who overshoots the base will land off
the basepaths and be automatically out.
So we might expect to see the runner bounding toward first base. Then
one of the thirty or so far-left fielders would get the ball, relay it
to the middle-left fielder and then the near-left fielder who would
make the throw back to first. The throw would be inaccurate because
it has to traverse a very large infield, and the first baseman would
have to go chasing after it and pick it up from foul territory. He
can’t get back to first base quickly enough, but that’s okay, the
pitcher has bounded over from the mound and is waiting near first base
to make the force play. Maybe the runner isn’t there yet because one
of his leaps was too long and to take another he has to jump high
into the air and come down again.
It would work better than Quiddich, anyway.
