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Show Chanc7With the Spit Ball There are no end of explanations of the famous "spit ball." and they are all wrong. The "spit ball." as everybody interested in baseball knows, has been the delight of pitchers and the despair of batters ever since it was introduced, about ten years ago. In throwing the "spit ball" the pitcher first moistens a portion of its ur-with ur-with saliva. The ball Is given such a direction that if the bat does 5S it the blow will fall on the Wstcued part, and this results in us raveling only a short distance But, as many batsmen can testify the "spit ball" takes such an erratic course that it is extremely hard to hit- . ,,,, , The reason the "spit ball is so hard to bat is because it has no w constant cause for Us behavior, It is thrown in such a way as to bo freed from all the controlling elements ele-ments which determine the "In," the "out" and "drop" curves. From the time it leaves the pitcher's pitch-er's hand to its arrival within range of the bat it is left to the laws or chance The batter must not merely outguess the pitcher he must outguess out-guess the laws of chance, Just as in a roulette game Theoretically, a "spit ball" should not move a hair's breadth to the right or left Theoretically, also a pointed stick placed carefully on Its point, should not fall down, because there is no visible reason why it should fall one way rather than the other. It does promptly begin to fall because be-cause there are a thousand Invisible reasons. Little vibrations of the air or the floor it stands on are enough to throw It out of equilibrium, and 1 down It goes. So with tlio "spit ball." the air, instead of dividing equally to the right and left, favors first one side and then 'the o(her. also l( tries to get under and then over the ball. When the air dodges to the left it creates a pressure on the left side which crowds the ball toward the right. Just as the sphere begins to veer to the right the air is likely to shift over to the other side and make the ball skid to the left. Aeroplane drivers have made it clear how uncertain the density of the air proves to be. Besides the occasional big "air-pockets" which are liable to send thorn plunging to the ground, little "holes"' and eddies keep tugging at the wings. The airman air-man must offset these differences by endlees warping of his planes and rudders. These variations of the air make the "spit ball" jump about in its own Irregular fashion. Even water has similar irregular action on a moving body. A marble or a shot dropped into a tank ought to proceed pro-ceed by a straight line directly to the bottom. As a matter of fact, the only sure thing about U9 couroe Is that It will follow a straight Hue. r - The curved ball is thrown with a spin or twist If the spin Is one Which makes the front surface move from left to right, it results in forcing forc-ing the dividing air to keep up on the right, side. This causes a constant con-stant air pressure on the right and a constant, partial vacuum on the left. The result of this unequal pressure forces the ball to the left. If these were the only forces caused by the spinning ball, curves would result exactly opposite to that which actually does occur. In reality, real-ity, the matter of friction more than offsets these forces. On one side of the ball the surface is traveling with the passing air current and helps to got out of the way ; on the other side it opposes and Interferes with its passage For this reason there is always more air pressure on the left side of a ball whose front is turning from left to right than on the other side Therefore the ball actually curves to the right and not to the left, in spite of the forces first mentioned. men-tioned. Irregular variations In the air hae a slight effect on a curved ball, but the spinning motion, if strong, will be the main and constant cause for its deviating from a straight course. The old smoofh-borr guns shot a round leaden ball which behaved exactly ex-actly like a baseball It was made Of lead because the necessary weight could be obtained in small compass This gave the air less chance to grip it and resulted In the bullet carrying farther The small bulk had a still more important result than carrying power. pow-er. It allowed the air less chance to pull the bullet out of its course. Had the bullet been a perfect fit In these old guns and had it left the muzxle wit hour any twist, it would have n ted like a "spitball." and our forefathers fore-fathers would have had a hard lime of it with (he Indians and the boars. As a niaitcr of fac(. the old "shooting "shoot-ing irous" had a habit of "pitching a curve." so to speak, and, for-tunatolv for-tunatolv it was always the same one. Some used "outs" and some "iua." and there were combinations of "in6" and "drops" and various twi3tcrs, but never a "spit ball. " It was necessary, of course. 10 get used to one's gun and allow for the curve. When a charge of shot is fired fiom a shotgun tie pellets leave the muzzle with an Kinus of cur es. This I is the reason that shotguns make f I such erratic "patterns" when fired at white paper. The ritle was devised (o prevent H all curves by giving the projectile a . r .' twist on the horizontal plane. This j "r twist or "under-spin. " as it is called, ' 'v, has no deviating field because it Is J .'!; ijerpcudicular to the direction oftbe H bullet and therefore docs not cause I friction 011 either side While the under-spin has no guiding effect on I the projectile, it is able 10 prevent any other twist appearing which I H might deviate the bullet It is iin- ' possible to revolve anythiug va ' .-'..-; more than one axis at a time. I I The long, thin sbapt of a ritle bul- ; V1'',, let gives the accidental air varia- lions small chance to throw it out H of line. A steady wind blowing H across a rifle range must always be H allowed for, or the bullet will strike 1 on the lee side of the point it is A round object, whether baseball fl ' I I or bullet, cannot be thrown or shot 47 accurately unless it is given a curve. H An elongated projectile, like a ritle H bullet, must have a twist perpeiulic- H ular to the line of flight to keep it H true to lie course I |