Advice on how to improve your turn at bat and become the best hitter possible.

Explains the science behind hitting a home run, including pitch types, different bats, and force.

Blending scientific fact and sports trivia, Robert Adair examines what a baseball or player in motion does-and why. How fast can a batted ball go? What effect do stitch patterns have on wind resistance? How far does a curve ball break? Who reaches first base faster after a bunt, a right- or left-handed batter? The answers are often surprising—and always illuminating. This newly revised third edition considers recent developments in the science of sport such as the neurophysiology of batting, bat vibration, and the character of the "sweet spot." Faster pitchers, longer hitters, and enclosed stadiums also get a good, hard scientific look to determine their effects on the game. Filled with anecdotes about famous players and incidents, The Physics of Baseball provides fans with fascinating insights into America's favorite pastime.

Paul Petricca draws on his experience as a coach, player, blogger, and student of baseball and softball to share what hes learned about hitting in this essential guide for players seeking dramatic results at the plate. The author presents easy to understand hitting mechanics highlighting how the engineering concept of torque can be applied to hitting and is often the difference between a weak groundball or a long home run. Topics covered include understanding where hitting power really comes from and the importance of increasing bat speed through the fundamentals of a repeatable and powerful rotational swing. Hitters of all ages who adopt his eight hitting keys will enjoy a dramatic increase in bat speed and power almost immediately. Hitting with Torque is more than a set of hitting mechanics---its a mindset. Readers will be challenged to look past the worn-out hitting theories and myths that have been holding back hitters from reaching their full potential. With an open mind and practice, all hitters can unlock the power and consistency that is Hitting with Torque.

Help students hit a home run on their science fair project or science test. Readers will learn about transfer of energy, friction and pressure, and more by playing their favorite sport of baseball or softball. Great ideas for science fair projects follow many experiments. Authors Robert L. Bonnet and Dan Keen explore the physics involved in baseball and softball.

The tape measure home run is the greatest single act of power in the game of baseball, and the tales of these homers are the most cherished legacies players and fans hand down through the generations. Fully illustrated with photos of the players and aerial ballpark photos showing the landing spots of each stadium's longest homers.

Coop DeRenne combines his personal experience as a third-generation professional baseball player with his professional expertise as the country's foremost baseball researcher to present The Scientific Approach to Hitting: Research Explores the Most Difficult Skill in Sport. The book challenges the traditional view that better hitters make better hitting coaches and theorists by applying a scientific analysis to the core components of the swing. DeRenne, in conjunction with Bio-Kinetics Inc., utilizes three-dimensional graphic imaging technology to break down the sequence of movements and balance shifts that must occur in order to create the ideal swing. Using over 600 players at varying levels of competition as test subjects, DeRenne's research has deciphered the subtle intricacies of hitting. The text introduces DeRenne's four absolutes to hitting: Dynamic Balance, Kinetic Link, Bat Lag, and Axis of Rotation. The four concepts are demonstrated graphically and with examples in picture of some of the MLB's all-time greatest sluggers, providing a chance for readers to better understand the science of hitting while applying it to their own swing. DeRenne's methods are used and praised throughout the world of professional baseball and give a competitive advantage to coaches and players at the high school and collegiate level. The Scientific Approach to Hitting makes sense of the hardest skill in all of athletics and will have readers running home to reevaluate and improve their game.

William Louis "Bill" Veeck, Jr. (1914-1986) is legendary in many ways-baseball impresario and innovator, independent spirit, champion of civil rights in a time of great change. Paul Dickson has written the first full biography of this towering figure, in the process rewriting many aspects of his life and bringing alive the history of America's pastime. In his late 20s, Veeck bought into his first team, the American Association Milwaukee Brewers. After serving and losing a leg in WWII, he bought the Cleveland Indians in 1946, and a year later broke the color barrier in the American League by signing Larry Doby, a few months after Jackie Robinson-showing the deep commitment he held to integration and equal rights. Cleveland won the World Series in 1948, but Veeck sold the team for financial reasons the next year. He bought a majority of the St. Louis Browns in 1951, sold it three years later, then returned in 1959 to buy the other Chicago team, the White Sox, winning the American League pennant his first year. Ill health led him to sell two years later, only to gain ownership again, 1975-1981. Veeck's promotional spirit-the likes of clown prince Max Patkin and midget Eddie Gaedel are inextricably connected with him-and passion endeared him to fans, while his feel for the game led him to propose innovations way ahead of their time, and his deep sense of morality not only integrated the sport but helped usher in the free agency that broke the stranglehold owners had on players. (Veeck was the only owner to testify in support of Curt Flood during his landmark free agency case). Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick is a deeply insightful, powerful biography of a fascinating figure. It will take its place beside the recent bestselling biographies of Satchel Paige and Mickey Mantle, and will be the baseball book of the season in Spring 2012.