October 16, 2018 9:36 pm

Gary O’Reilly and Chuck Nice Talk Juiced Balls, Broken Bats, and Record Breakers with Shawn Green

Oh ‘tis the season. Not Christmas, but to the baseball world, it’s basically the same thing. The MLB playoffs are underway and pretty soon we’ll see another team rise to the level of World Series champion. But, before then, we’re going to look at the science behind baseballs, bats, and breaking records.

On this episode of Playing with Science, hosts Gary O’Reilly and Chuck Nice sit down with a slew of baseball experts to discuss the intricacies of the game. We welcome Alan Nathan, physicist and Chairman of the MLB Commission Report, James Sherwood, Director at the Baseball Research Center, and Shawn Green former MLB player and one of 18 people in baseball history to hit 4 home runs in a single game.

Find out why the increase in home runs and number of breaking bats created unrest in Major League Baseball and resulted in research on both baseballs and bats. Investigate whether the baseball changed, if at all, during the explosion of home runs. Explore how balls and bats are created and monitored with certain parameters.

You’ll learn more about the sweet spot in a bat and why certain hits can sting your hands. We also discuss which wood is most commonly used to make baseball bats. James tells us why the aluminum or composite bats will never be used in the MLB.

After that, Shawn takes us through his record 4 home run game and you’ll hear about the slump he was dealing with right before the record-setting game was played. Discover more about the importance of “training your focus.” You’ll also find out why it’s easier to predict pitches from top-tier pitchers than from mediocre ones. All that, plus Shawn tells us about how playing a version of Home Run Derby during pre-game batting cage sessions helped him train himself to hit better.

Please join us tomorrow night for Juiced Balls, Broken Bats & Record Breakers, with Shawn Green right here on our website, as well as on our Playing with Science channels on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen