If you’re interested in the physics of baseball or you just like data visualization (I’m guilty of both), definitely check out Baseball Pitches Illustrated, a beautifully-rendered set of infographics describing the speed and trajectory of a whole list of common pitches.
[Lokesh Dhakar] picked twelve of the more common pitches:
- Fastballs: Four-seam, Two-seam, Cutter, Splitter, and Forkball
- Breaking Balls: Curveball, Slider, Slurve, and Screwball
- Changeups: Changeup, Palmball, Circle Changeup
Things to watch for that will help you identify a pitch:
- Speed
- Movement – the general direction the ball is moving
- Break – a sudden shift in direction
The graphics are clear and easy to understand, yet each one has enough information to spark a discussion or a brainy game of catch. Better yet, the whole set is available as a vector illustration in PDF, perfect for printing a poster for that baseball-infatuated geeklet in your life.
