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Show THE SPEED THE HARD BATTED BALL TRAVELS ASK any baseball enthusiast how " fast an average grounder travels during its first 100 feet from tho bat and his answer will bo anywhere from 20 to 200 miles an hour. Split second watches and careful timing of many S"iOiii6e6 bnSIs hae established, sas tho Technical World, the fact that tho average speed of ground balls-that balls-that Is, those struck by the bat of the batsman from a fair pitched ball, which strike the field before they land in a fielder's hands Is at tho rato of almost al-most sixty miles an hour. Sixty miles an hour is eighty-eight feet per second. The bases aro ninety feet apart. A man who can run 100 yards in eleven seconds, which is fast running for any one, particularly so for a man with baseball shoes and uniform on. can run ninetj feet In 3 3 seconds. Is It any wonder that a ball which is fielded in Its first 100 feet of travel usually reaches reach-es first Just a fraction of a second before be-fore or after tho runner sets foot upon It? Every fan knows that the many close decisions at first baso form ono of the fascinations of the game. Tho speed of the batted ball, the speed at which a fielder can trael from his position to tho point whero he can meet and field tho batted ball, the speed with which he can stop tho ball, pick it up, sot himself for the throw, the speed of the ball across tho diamond from his throw and tho speed of the traveling runner are so nicely balanced that It is always a question of whether or not tho runner will get there in time for tho crowd to see the umpire's hands go down or whether he will face a I thumb ovor a shoulder. ' |