History and Physics

[weams]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A failed experiment, Today in Baseball History <a href="https://t.co/15eL0py4I7">https://t.co/15eL0py4I7</a> <a href="https://t.co/wLrglSrGoJ">pic.twitter.com/wLrglSrGoJ</a></p>— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) <a href="

">January 17, 2016</a></blockquote>

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[DrungoHazewood]

23 years later Gabby Street pulled it off.

[Chavez Ravine]

This thought is perhaps random enough to fit in this thread. Yoenis Cespedes' aversion to batting practice got me wondering about whether pitching machines have advanced much over the years. I found this example of a newfangled machine from a few years ago:

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v20481855

The Giants were using it to try to get the Panda to not swing at balls!

That machine looks fairly sophisticated, but it seems to me there should be even more advanced robotics these days that could be fully integrated with pitching data. I assume it would be an advantage to get 25 hacks at a simulated Dallas Keuchel throwing pitch sequences that he is actually likely to throw you; or in mid game be able to go into the cage and get a few hacks at a mechanical Betances.

On a related note, I also found this Jim Caple article on how batting practice has evolved:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11503846