Watching a Red Sox game or listening to one on the radio is one of my favorite things to do on a warm summer night like we’re having tonight in Maine. During the pregame show this evening the broadcasters were talking about the launch angle of some of the homeruns hit by Red Sox players this year. That discussion of launch angle triggered my memory of some resources that I’ve shared over the years regarding the math and science of baseball.

Anatomy of a Pitch
ESPN’s Sport Science has a handful of little resources about the science of baseball. Currently featured on ESPN’s homepage is a Anatomy of a Pitch. In Anatomy of a Pitch seven pitchers from the Arizona Diamondbacks explain how they throw their signature pitches. Each explanation includes slow motion footage and the pitchers explaining the release points, finger positioning, leg uses, and rotations involved in each their pitches.

Science of Baseball
Exploratorium has a little feature called the Science of Baseball. The Science of Baseball is a bit dated in its looks, but it still has some nice resources that can help students understand how a bit of science and mathematics is involved in the game. The Science of Baseball includes video and audio clips of baseball players and scientists explaining how the weather affects the flight of the ball, the physics of various pitches, and reaction times to thrown and batted baseballs.

Physics of Baseball
This resource from PBS Learning Media is a lesson for students in high school. The lesson uses the context of baseball to teach about aerodynamics, energy transfer, and vibration.