The thought was that Bunny had thrown a ball with deceiving slowness and then somehow accelerated it, through vocal compulsion. Since this introduces either new concepts in physics or a proof of psychokinesis in a scale never before seen I must state great concern for its validity. I present a third option as to yet unexplored, which, while still grand, does not introduce any special physics.

Since we do not see the actual trajectory of the ball from release to catch we do not have to make assumptions as to its path. For this reason I conjecture that the ball did not follow a traditional “straight line” trajectory. Instead, because of the Magnus effect imparted by extreme upwards spin on the ball, it looped upward and around on the way to the plate. A large enough looping trajectory would allow time for Bunny to move into position, and also preserve much of the imparted energy on approach to the plate because of gravitational acceleration. It also has the benefit for allowing the pitch to appear “straight” when crossing the plate since angular momentum would eventually lessen to the point where gravity equals/defeats any airflow pressure differences.

This is an absolutely brilliant, innovative, inspired piece of work. The premise was fantastic alone; the fact that you maintained the deadpan scholarly humor throughout such a long piece is quite a feat. This is a gem the likes of which I’ve never seen … anywhere.

Keep writing. You’ve got a gift, my friend.

Scott

http://www.rangerfans.com/archives/2007/02/baseball_bugs.html

In the late 30s, a group of the Gas House Gang put together a stage show traveling through the Midwest, capitalizing on their reputations for goofiness. My father took me to see the show when it reached Dayton. They told corny jokes and stories, played “musical” instruments like the wash tub base and “sang”. My father was a little disappointed because they used the word “hell” a lot which in the 30s was pushing the envelope a bit, even for a cosmopolitan city like Dayton, Ohio.

Someone might want to send this to the tedious William Safire over at the NYT Magazine; a few months ago, in his grammar and usage police column, he cited the Bugs Bunny Change Up, and said the name came from the legendary contest between the tortoise and the hare. What a dink! Anyway, apparently hundreds of us emailed him with the correction that it came from this cartoon, and he was forced to acknowledge his error in print. But out of the literally hundreds of replies he received, he thanked one person for setting him straight: A NEUROPHYSICIST FROM STANFORD!! God forbid he admit he learned anything from a cab driver or billing clerk…

For my two cents, I believe the Gashouse Gorillas are the St. Louis Cardinals, weren’t they the Gashouse Gang??? And I THINK I have a dim memory of someone explaining to me long ago that the Tea Totallers were a jab at a team who had a player that was some holier-than-thou Prohibitionist…

And one other thing…the electrical discharge thing, and the scoreboard going nuts and proclaiming TILT? The whole thing is supposed to be a pinball machine, that’s what happened when you pushed a pinball machine to the max, it tilted and the control panel went kablooie…you kids…..anyway, my congrats again, this is a stitch.