Baseball Pitching Machine

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Have teams build pitching machines that would through balls to (or at) a batter. Teams would have to hit balls thrown by opponents machine (mechanical, no pressure cannons). Team with most hits wins!

-- (rjdoepker@cs.com), January 18, 2001

Answers

Do you think that any on the Nerds even know what an ERA is? If one team played softball together and the other didn't even play little leauge that would pretty much clinch it for the balplayers. the experts could be pro ballplayers to make it even. Maybe not Majorleaugers but Minor leagers could use the attention of a scout any way they could get it.

-- Stephen A. Binion (Stephenbinion@hotmail.com), January 18, 2001.

Damn you, i had the same idea at lunch today. It is a little small scale than what they usually do. But this is my idea: baseball/tennis ball pitching machine that is able to feed itself x number of balls and launch them in either a) the most in x minutes (this would allow for changes in power, number of throwing arms, etc.) b) distance c) accuracy i guess great minds, think alike

now here's my one request (in case anyone important reads these): please don't ever let JW get corporate like battlebots. we don't need fancy sponsors or big shot sports anouncers, or playboy models (okay it would be nice, but cathy kicks ass). Just keep it like it is, definently the most original show out there, more addicting than crack.

here's some other stuff: i miss the british male host, he reminded me of johnny rotten. but i'm starting to dig george. Also, keep it in the UK. i live in america, but i don't know.... i think there might be too many restrictions/rules, corporate ways. yuck. thanks for listenign to me rave and rant.

-- Brendon O'Brien (VFW666@aol.com), January 18, 2001.


It sounds kind of interesting (if you want to see a real man's pitching machine, see http://www.srl.org/yard/pitching/). Instead of having the opponents try to hit and facing the likelihood of nothing going out of the park, how about recruiting a real baseball player for the day? I'll bet somewhere out there a Major League player is a JYW fan. If not, there are thousands of professional Minor League players who would *love* the chance to hit for AFTRA minimums and a chance to be on television.

A simpler way might be to score the machine based on speed of pitch and accuracy (as measured by shooting baseballs through a tire or at some other target-thing). Half the score determined by the number of balls succeeding at the target challenge (out of 10 pitches each? 5?) and half by the average speed of the pitch.

Or, what the hell, build a two wooden sheds and the winner is the one who levels the shed first by shooting baseballs at it. (See the above Web site again for details).

Yours in junk,

-- Rick Tyler (rick@raf.com), January 19, 2001.


I like this idea with mods.

You would have to use a major league distance with a marked strike zone. Pitch 3 strikes before you pitch 4 balls and you win. Speed doesn't matter. Only accuracy.

It also fits well into the show's format with having two fundamental designs. One design could use the counter rotating rubber wheels. The ball is inserted in the small gap between them. The other would use the rotating and flinging arm approach. Those are the only two types of pitching machines that I know of. Are there others?

Cheers, D.

-- Doug Moseley (dugnjo@worldnet.att.net), January 20, 2001.


well, i can also think of the air cannon approach.

-- Brendon O'Brien (VFW666@aol.com), January 20, 2001.


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