Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/917

 Popular Science Monthly

��901

���At lelt : " Shine " hands. At right : ' plate. The least shiny patch, has

���most cases, the thumb, is touched or held on a spot that is covered with moisture or has been made smooth and shiny with some substance. It stands to reason that the ball will slide away here with less friction than where it is held with a natural flesh- grip. It follows there- fore that this artifi- cial release must have considerable influence in determining the amount of spin im- parted to the ball, and it would seem a rea- sonable deduction that the amount of spin and consequently of curve must vary considerably to cor- respond with the de- gree of slipperiness of the patch on the ball and whether it was on top of the ball or on the bottom.

If anyone thinks that the curve or swerve in these balls is obtained from the effect of the shine or the spit, apart from the action of the spin, he may speedily disabuse his mind of the idea by put- ting a number of '^ " shine " or spitballs

in a driving ma- chine, such as those used by golf-ball makers, and propelling them violently.

If, as is quite

conceivable, the

patches had any

effect, it would

not be consistent

and persistent,

for, if the wet

retarded one side

of the ball enough

to be appreciable,

the wet patch

would speedily go

Russell, of the behind the ball

White Sox, just, ,

after delivering a ^^^ ^^^y ^nere, or

powerful "spitter" swmg across and

��The " shine " ball and the spitball

Shine ^^ ^ 5Kir\e

���ball leaving pitclier

Shine " ball going over

resistant portion, the

gone to the front

��Moisture Mcisivjre

��At left : Spitball leaving pitchers hands. At right : Spitball going over plate. Moist- ure having gripped the atmosphere, that portion goes behind the ball during its flight, which it does not do in practical baseball

���show on the other side, when it would produce a return swerve!

Then baseballers would in that case have a new ball, the zig-zag!

The effect, if any, on a similarly-pro- pelled " shine" ball would probably be opposed to that of the spitball.

The erratic flight of these balls, and, comparatively speak- ing, the lack of con- trol over them that the pitcher has, lend color to the idea that their production is, as I have indicated, largely adventitious.

Many prominent players think that any attempt artificially to alter the natural flesh- grip should be stopped by law. This must al- ways be diflficult ; but if pitchers would only understand that, to a very great extent, the spitball and the "shine" ball are myths, they would do much better with a natural delivery, backed by a little more practical knowledge as to what it really is that they are trying to do; and batters would lose a bogey.

���Nerve Shock Due to Detonations Less Wearing Than War Strain

THE term shell shock has misled many persons to believe that it is due to the profound impression or shock pro- duced on the nervous system by the detonations of high explosives. No doubt, there are cases of actual brain or nerve injury due to concussion of the air ac- companying shell explosions, but these mechanical causes are a great deal less frequently responsible for war neuroses than the mental effects of general war strain. It is remarkable that these war neuroses, common" as they are among privates and officers alike, are seldom found in men who have been' actually wounded. Perhaps this seeming anomaly is due to the actual wound shock offset- ting the mental impression affecting the controlling nerve-center in such cases.

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