Neil deGrasse Tyson is about the only truly famous astrophysicist we have these days, but boy has he taken off like a rocket (pun most definitely intended). Through countless televisions appearances and a strong online presence, the Hayden Planetarium director has gained quite the pop culture status.
Science is fascinating, fun, and invaluable. That’s what I take from Neil deGrasse Tyson.
As a fan of Tyson, you can imagine my delight when I noticed that he was about to live-tweet Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star game:
Tonight’s @AllStarGame compells me to Tweet what Baseball looks like through the lens of an astrophysicist…
So, let’s take a baseball journey – through the eyes of an astrophysicist…
In the 1960s, when we still dreamed, we named a dome, a baseball team, and even the artificial turf they played on “Astro”
If baseball reported averages to 4 decimal places instead of 3, then a three-hundred hitter would be batting “three thousand”
You can play baseball on the airless Moon, but only if you find a way not to suffocate & if you don’t care about curve balls.
In Baseball, if a pitch hits you on ball four, you should get to advance to second base.
Baseball should track extraordinary plays that fielders can bank, and then credit against errors they might later commit.
Never figured why the Foul Pole is called the Foul Pole when it’s entirely in fair territory. Should be called the Fair Pole.
Curious that intent is assigned by announcers when a batter gets a hit. Yet 70% of the time the player can’t get a hit at all
Does it disturb anyone else that “The Los Angeles Angels” baseball team translates directly to “The The Angels Angels”?
Slowest pitch in Baseball to reach catcher? 30 mph, thrown at 45-deg angle. Any slower and at any other angle hits the ground
FYI: Laws of physics show that it takes twice as much energy to throw a baseball 100 mph than it does to throw one at 70 mph.
Hand-stitched balls, rubbing mud, leather mitts, wooden bats, pine tar. Baseball: a game untouched by modern materials.
Careful observation reveals that players & coaches of 3hr Baseball games spit at least 6-gal (24 liters) of saliva onto field
This was probably the best thing on Twitter in quite some time. I hope that he makes a habit of this. I’d love to see the Super Bowl, The Masters, the NBA Finals, and even a Tennis tournament here and there through his eyes.