In baseball, how come...?

Question

In baseball, the ball is throw at an average of around 90 miles per hour (for a fastball). When that 90 MPH fastball hits the dirt, the pitcher almost always gets a new ball from the umpire. Why is it that when that ball is coming at an average of 90 miles an hour, and comes off the bat at approximately 120 MPH and is beaten into the ground, the pitcher gets the same ball after getting it back?

Well yea, but I mean sometimes the pitcher deliberately wouldn't want a new ball, because if the pitcher knows his illegal pitches, he could easily throw all sorts of junk with a scuffed ball.

Answer 1

Very few baseballs "come off the bat" at 120MPH...A baseball traveling 120MPH struck at a 35 degree angle travels 450FT, under normal circumstances...If the wind is blowing out/in, heat and altitude these all have an effect...

Answer 2

For every MLB game, the umpires bring 12 dozen (144) new balls. Dozens end up in the stands as foul balls or home runs. A lot of the balls that get scuffed by getting thrown in the dirt are given to the ball boy, who between innings wipes off the smudge marks and most of these balls are put back into play later in the game. Otherwise, with an average of 250 pitches per game (both teams combined), no balls would be left after around six innings.

Answer 3

The umpire inspects the ball for scuffs and abrasions that can alter the ball's aerodynamic properties after any contact with objects other than the pitcher's and catcher's gloves, including the ground, the bat, home plate, the catcher's mask, shoes, shin guards, etc.

Major league umpires throw out all balls that have come in contact with the batter's bat, irrespective of whether it was a foul ball, a fair hit, or was hit to a fielder for an out.

The reason is that, on August 16, 1920, New York Yankees; pitcher Carl Mays struck batter Cleveland Indians' Ray Chapman in the head with a pitch. The ball fractured Chapman's skull, causing significant trauma to his brain, and he died the next day. Until that time, baseball did not regulate the condition of the baseball used in play. Spitballs, greaseballs and scuffing were weapons commonly employed by pitchers to change the ball's aerodynamics.

But the pitchers' alteration of the balls' aerodynamics wasn't why Chapman was killed; it was, rather, the COLOR of the ball: as the balls got dirtier throughout the game, the color darkened to the point that the batters had trouble seeing the seams on the ball, and that made it nearly impossible for them to pick up its rotation and trajectory. Chapman, in effect, never saw the ball that was about to kill him coming. (Many historians cite this as the beginning of the modern era in power-hitting, since batters would now be able to pick up the rotation on each and every pitch, with pitchers having decidedly less of an advantage than they did before 1921. If one charts the rise in the 1920s of the earliest sluggers, like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Hack Wilson, and Mel Ott, it lends credence to this theory that the game changed from a singles-and-doubles hit-and-run contest into one of the long ball and brute strength.)

Baseball never wanted to change the rules; using a ball for practically every play would add up to a significant cost over the cost of a season (the Major Leagues now use over 120,000 new balls each year), but having to defend itself from the public scandal that continued indifference to players' safety was considered a greater liability, so the new-ball rule was imposed.

Of course, it was an incomplete measure, since batting helmets didn't become mandatory for Major League players until 1971.

Answer 4

Well being a pitcher myself I would know that, when you throw the ball in the dirt, it was a bad pitch, which of course is the result of the ball being bad. So you would obviously want a new one. Now as you said the ball was hit on the ground so this could possible be taken as a ground ball out, so this ball will now be labled as a good ball, in which case you would want to keep pitching with....This all sounds very superstitious, but it is the truth, pitchers, and baseball players in general are very superstitious and this happens to be one of them.

Answer 5

When it into the dirt I am guessing you are referring to a wild pitch? The ball is given to the umpso he can inspect it make sure no rocks or tears are on the ball, sometimes when the catcher blocks it, it is scuffed. When the ball is hit and the pitcher gets it back if it scuffed or wet or anything like that the pitcher will get a new one.

Answer 6

A pitcher is not allowed to deface the ball by using any foriegn substance. Dirt is considerd a foriegn substance. A pitched ball in the dirt is removed to comply with that ruling. Many of those balls are rubbed up again by the ball-boy, and returned to the game. If a pitcher were to rub the ball in the dirt, or rub dirt on the ball, the ball also would be removed and a warning issued to the pitcher.

Answer 7

He gets the ball back and then checks it to see if it's ok. If it's not, you'll often see the pitcher throw it back to the umpire and get a new ball. In baseball, the ball should never be a problem. You should use fresh, new balls if something happens.

Answer 8

because the ball might be out of round you when the ball hits the dirt at 90 mph it leaves a flat spot on the ball