Take Me Out to the Brain Game
August 15, 2015 9:11 PM Subscribe
The player’s neuronal curve was shifted backwards, Muraskin explained. In other words, he was late recognizing certain pitches and therefore late in deciding whether to swing.
The silence on the other end of the line told the scientists all they needed to know. Finally, one of the coaches said, “We never understood why he’s not the best player on the team.” Now they had a clue.
As if the batting average didn't already provide some clue. The pitcher's ability to confuse the batter by throwing different pitches, or the same pitch at a different speeds, and the batter's ability to pick this up is one of the fundamentals of baseball. There's no new invention here. Hank Aaron used to sit in the dugout with his cap over his face peering through the sweat holes in order to pinpoint the release points of the pitcher he would soon be facing.
posted by three blind mice at 12:07 AM on August 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
The silence on the other end of the line told the scientists all they needed to know. Finally, one of the coaches said, “We never understood why he’s not the best player on the team.” Now they had a clue.
As if the batting average didn't already provide some clue. The pitcher's ability to confuse the batter by throwing different pitches, or the same pitch at a different speeds, and the batter's ability to pick this up is one of the fundamentals of baseball. There's no new invention here. Hank Aaron used to sit in the dugout with his cap over his face peering through the sweat holes in order to pinpoint the release points of the pitcher he would soon be facing.
posted by three blind mice at 12:07 AM on August 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Battica, here we come.
posted by Literaryhero at 3:46 AM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Literaryhero at 3:46 AM on August 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Gatticaball
Literaryhero got to that line of thinking first 😜
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:02 AM on August 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Literaryhero got to that line of thinking first 😜
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:02 AM on August 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Actually, more than Gattica this reminds me of a docu I saw some time ago on Russian fighter pilots & High-G blackouts; At high speed maneuvers, the blood rushes from the brain into the legs & the pilot can black out.
They showed US fighter pilots training in a centrifuge like the one out of Moonraker, teaching them to clench their butts/legs & other techniques to prevent losing consciousness.
FIRST thing the Russians did/do with a pilot who wants to fly high-speed jets it put them in the centrifuge. The ones who don't pass out at high-G get forwarded on for jet-fighter training. The ones who tend to pass out get sent to cargo plane or helicopter school; they put the effort into the ones who are already ahead of the curve.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:32 AM on August 16, 2015
They showed US fighter pilots training in a centrifuge like the one out of Moonraker, teaching them to clench their butts/legs & other techniques to prevent losing consciousness.
FIRST thing the Russians did/do with a pilot who wants to fly high-speed jets it put them in the centrifuge. The ones who don't pass out at high-G get forwarded on for jet-fighter training. The ones who tend to pass out get sent to cargo plane or helicopter school; they put the effort into the ones who are already ahead of the curve.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 9:32 AM on August 16, 2015
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posted by clorox at 9:29 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]