Three Point Shot - November 2016

 Who's First in Ownership of the "Sweet Spot" Remains Unclear

Baseball is often called a "game of inches," whether one is describing the strike zone, a close play at the plate, or a liner past third base that just kicks up the chalk to stay fair.  Indeed, hitting is truly about inches.  Pitchers try to locate their pitches on the edges of the plate or have them run just out of the strike zone to prevent the batter from making contact with the "sweet spot" of the bat – a ball struck just off the main part of barrel might result in a soft fly to shortstop, while the same swing where the ball contacts the sweet spot of the bat might result in a smash to the outfield gap.  In wooden bats, the sweet spot is generally located in the area above the manufacturer's label, about 5-7 inches from the end of the barrel (essentially, the node on the bat that results in minimal vibration when striking a ball).  Employing the physics principle of Coefficient of Restitution (COR),