Does temperature have an affect on the ball?

...We know that cold temps, below 55ish, create problems for bats. i.e. breaking. We also know that temps, summer type stuff, have allowed some type bats to have a little more pop. How does temperature play a role in how a ball reacts to a hit? Any? Some? I'd like to hear some opinions and better yet, factual stat stuff if possible.

 

found this.....

A colder ball will have a lower coefficient of restitution (COR) (bounce/spring/elasticity) which is a measure of its ability to retain kinetic energy after a collision. A lower coefficient of restitution will result in more energy loss at contact, and therefore less distance travelled by a batted ball. Conversely, a warmer ball will have a higher COR. Adair reports that a batted ball that would go 375 feet at 70 oF will travel 3 feet farther for every 10oF increase in temperature and will travel 3 feet less for every 10oF drop in temperature. Remember this the ball's temperature. It will take some time for the ball to achieve ambient temperature.

 

Thinking back.....

.....to my pre-brain cell killing days,.....I remember pulling the cover off the baseball and unwinding the strings all the way down to a ball the size of a golfball, and it was rubber and filled with some kind of liquid. As time went on, my brothers and I noticed that the "core" of the ball changed to a hard gig, something like what we used to call a "superball". I know that compression differences/properties in golf balls apply in the type of wind, temp. conditions. And not too long ago, maybe 3 or 4 yrs, the NFL went to EACH team providing their own ball while on offense. OK, the NFL example is obvious to keep the home team from inserting a "cold" ball to the game....bam just as the visiting team lines up for a field goal. Hey TBR, help me out! BMac, Wndmllr, Guru, Abbey, Fpitch, Comet,.......

 

Oddly enough, I think more home runs are hit in the spring and fall when the temps are colder? Maybe this has something to do with the air, or maybe it's my imagination?

 

Just happened to catch the edge of a ball cutting the grass at the field one day. Peeled back the leather cover to find nothing but a solid hard rubber core. The outside was very hard but seemed the farther inside the ball you went the softer it seemed to be. I guess colder temps could make the outside of the core harder and warmer temps softer. JMO. SIFan's find would make sense, don't understand it but it makes sense. The lower the COR,( 50,47,44 ) the softer the ball, the more power it takes to get distance.

(Boy, that water sure is muddy)

 

Thanks Cheeze but I am a WOman

 

Worth Article

This is one article from Worth Sports. I don't agree with the 70 degree thing, but the article does mention the fact there is proof cold softballs are tough on bats.

Don't keep softballs anywhere that's below 70 degrees F (at least until you're ready to play with them).

It's now common knowledge that modern day aluminum bats tend to dent more readily when temperatures are low. However, there remains a great misconception that this is caused by the bat becoming weaker at lower temperatures. FALSE! The strength of modern day aluminum alloys used in bats is very stable over an extremely wide range of temperatures (well below 0° F). Then, what's the deal? The deal is that ball hardness increases as temperature decreases. In fact, tests show that for every 1° F reduction in temperature below 72° F, the ball compression (hardness) increases 5 lbs. For example, a ball with compression of 500 lbs at 72° F would have a compression of 600 lbs at 52°.

So, when we bat manufacturers caution against using our bats below certain temperatures, we are giving the incorrect impression that something about the bat is changing as temperature goes down. The message should be: "Don't use this bat with softballs which have been stored below 72° F prior to the game." As you can imagine, if softballs were left in the trunk of a car overnight, and the temperature dropped to 40° F, the ball hardness the next morning would be greatly increased. Since it takes quite awhile for the balls to warm up, even if the morning temperature rose to 60° F, the balls would be substantially harder than if they had been stored overnight in a heated space (72° F).

Thus, the rule of thumb is: Keep the ball temperature up and watch bat denting go down.

 

ROTFLMAO GOOD ONE CHERI I couldn't get there fast enough

 

Now thats......

....gonna leave a bruise! lol.