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Game Thread: Twins vs Oakland, 7/6/16, 12:10 PM CDT

spinowner

By spinowner
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spinowner Ft Myers Mighty Mussels

spinowner

Provisional Member
Posted
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Lineups:

 

ATHLETICS

Billy Burns (S) CF
Jed Lowrie (S) 2B
Josh Reddick (L) RF
Khris Davis [R) LF
Stephen Vogt (L) C
Billy Butler [R) DH
Yonder Alonso (L) 1B
Marcus Semien [R) SS
Tyler Ladendorf [R) 3B

 

Sonny Gray [R), 3-7/5.42 P

 

TWINS

Eduardo Nunez [R) 3B
Robbie Grossman (S) LF
Joe Mauer (L) 1B
Brian Dozier [R) 2B
Miguel Sano [R) DH
Max Kepler (L) RF
Eddie Rosario (L) CF
Juan Centeno (L) C
Danny Santana (S) SS

 

Twins: Ervin Santana [R), 2-7/4.50 P

 

Expected weather: Low 80's with a high probability of rain.

 

Greetings, all! I'm using the time-honored five point thread opener.

 

1.  PAY ATTENTION! This is the game thread for Wednesday, July 6.

 

2. Hanging breaking pitches.

As most of us know, the three factors which determine the trajectory of a thrown baseball are initial velocity (speed and direction), air resistance and the warpage of spacetime caused by the mass of nearby objects (often referred to as "gravity"). The first factor is controlled entirely by the person throwing the ball. The last factor is affected so little by the by the person throwing the ball that the effect is essentially zero relative to the effect of the earth. As for the second factor, while the person throwing the ball cannot affect the amount of drag the surrounding air imparts to a thrown ball he/she can use that resistance to alter the ball's trajectory by imparting angular momentum (often referred to as "spin") to the ball as it is thrown.

As a spinning baseball moves through air there is less drag on the side of the ball moving faster relative to the surrounding air than there is on the side moving more slowly. This has the effect of slowing the velocity more on the slower-moving side, causing the ball to curve (or "break" in baseball parlance) in that direction. That means a ball thrown with a lot of top-spin will break downward more than a ball with little top-spin.

The more energy used by a pitcher to impart spin to the ball, the less energy available to impart speed to the ball. This is why breaking pitches travel more slowly than fastballs.

In order to achieve the maximum break the axis of rotation of the ball must be perpendicular to the direction of travel. The farther away from perpendicular the axis is, the less break the ball will have. It is very difficult for a pitcher to consistently put enough spin on the ball with the axis close enough to perpendicular to cause maximum break.  If there is insufficient spin the ball will break less, and if the axis of rotation is too close to the direction of travel the ball will break less. It is usually the latter effect that results in a pitch with insufficient break. Such a pitch is often referred to as a "hanging" breaking pitch because it moves more slowly than a fastball and doesn't break much. As such it appears to a batter to "hang" in place. Skilled batters can recognize such pitches and very often impart a change in the trajectory of the baseball resulting in it making contact with the earth quite far away in a location not favorable to the pitcher's team.

 

3. Player names.

There are many internet sites which list every player who has played major league baseball. The lists I have found all list the players in alphabetical order by last name. And that's fine, unless one is also interested in first names. The reason for my interest stems from something my younger son told me once. He informed me that there are very few players who have both first names not held by any other player and last names not held by any other player. Two Twins on that list are Harmon Killebrew and Dustan Mohr. Prior to 2103 Zoilo Versalles was another, but the arrival of Zoilo Almonte removed our Zoilo. I was unsuccessful in finding a list of players alphabetized by first name.

 

4. PAY ATTENTION! This is the game thread for Wednesday, July 6.

 

5. It's not what you look like when you're doing what you're doing, it's what you're doing when you're doing what you look like you're doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y-il5RQPQc

 

Go Twins!

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wsnydes MVP

wsnydes

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

 

You are failing as a procrastinator, by the way.

Failing hard.  There's a cheap shot about fitting right in with Twins FO in there somewhere... :th_alc:

 

Is it too late to start the game thread for next season's home opener?

Squirrel GOAT

Squirrel

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted

So, um.....where is today's?

 

You are failing as a procrastinator, by the way.

SampleSize has today's. Hopefully he's not confused by this.

 

NOTE FOR EVERYONE: This truly is Wednesday's thread.

sampleSizeOfOne MVP

sampleSizeOfOne

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

...

 

As a spinning baseball moves through air there is less drag on the side of the ball moving faster relative to the surrounding air than there is on the side moving more slowly.

 

...

 

 

At first glance, this seems counter-intuitive, just because one would expect 0 relative speed to have 0 drag...

 

Now you got me more confused than the space time warpage of two pinned game threads.

 

Warpage... what is it good for?

Craig Arko Minnesota Twins

Craig Arko

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

 

At first glance, this seems counter-intuitive, just because one would expect 0 relative speed to have 0 drag...

Now you got me more confused than the space time warpage of two pinned game threads.

Warpage... what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing
Say it again, y'all

sampleSizeOfOne MVP

sampleSizeOfOne

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Absolutely nothing

Say it again, y'all

Thanks!

 

Still trying to figure out the exact spin -> tragectory change mechanism...

 

Is it some fancy bernoulli effect thing? I guess that might make sense, then...

Blake All-Star

Blake

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

 

Well, I did put a '?' at the end of that statement for a reason ... 

And your point is?

Squirrel GOAT

Squirrel

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted

 

Danny Santana starting in CF.  This is becoming laughable how they treat him compared to other players.  

Um, what? I see him starting at SS and Rosario in CF ... hmmm ... did the lineups change after I posted them?

rghrbek Draft Eligible

rghrbek

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

How is DanSan getting so much playing time?   He's playing shortstop today for the first time this year?

 

Is Buxton hurt?   Is Esko hurt?   Why does he love DanSan so much!!!   Ugh.

alarp33 FCL Twins

alarp33

Provisional Member
Posted
Posted

 

Um, what? I see him starting at SS and Rosario in CF ... hmmm ... did the lineups change after I posted them?

 

My fault, I just saw him in the lineup over Buxton and assumed it was in CF.  My comment still stands.  Its absolutely absurd the playing time being given to him at the expense of real players

Squirrel GOAT

Squirrel

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted

 

How is DanSan getting so much playing time?   He's playing shortstop today for the first time this year?

 

Is Buxton hurt?   Is Esko hurt?   Why does he love DanSan so much!!!   Ugh.

I thought Esco was nursing a hammy? And Bux took a hit to the fence again last night, after being sore already. Guess they decided to rest him, again.

Blake All-Star

Blake

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

 

My fault, I just saw him in the lineup over Buxton and assumed it was in CF.  My comment still stands.  Its absolutely absurd the playing time being given to him at the expense of real players

Maybe it's because Nunez is going to be traded? The All Star selection by Nunez probably won't hurt his value.

sampleSizeOfOne MVP

sampleSizeOfOne

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Thanks. The wikipedia article is where i eventually ended up.

 

So I think i choose to explain it with bernoulli... There is more drag where the relative speed is greater, slowing the airflow down, causing more pressure, as per the above mentioned bernoulli stuff...

 

But whatever it is theoretically, them smart pitching types have figured it out experimentally...

alarp33 FCL Twins

alarp33

Provisional Member
Posted
Posted

 

Maybe it's because Nunez is going to be traded? The All Star selection by Nunez probably won't hurt his value.

 

Whether Nunez is traded or not, I don't want to see DanSan playing.  A Nunez trade would hopefully only open up playing time for Polanco

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