
Superman vs. Baseball - Red_Tarsius
https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/weekend-diversion-superman-vs-baseball-47f413777361
======
ansible
The article is drastically underestimating how far Superman can hit a
baseball.

The trick is to not swing the bat like a human. Instead, Superman should hold
the bat orthogonal to the pitcher and have the ball make contact with the bat
as soon as possible. Then, using his skill and reflexes, he can gradually
decelerate the ball towards the back arc of his modified swing. All the while
holding the bat orthogonal to the pitcher. He is essentially catching the ball
with the bat, which you can with super speed and reflexes.

He then will "swing" the bat forward, now smoothly imparting the maximum force
both the ball and bat can deliver. Still keeping it orthogonal to the pitcher.

Basically, because the contact time is longer, more delta-v can be applied to
the ball. With a smooth enough increase in the loading, it may be possible to
exceed the conventional burst strength of the baseball.

~~~
dTal
Wouldn't that kill the pitcher?

~~~
ansible
Superman would still aim up at a slight angle to maximize the distance. Also,
I'm sure he'd avoid intentionally hitting anyone in the park (or outside,
checking with his x-ray vision).

------
bbcbasic
And if you enjoyed that, you will enjoy this

[https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/](https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/)

------
ericdykstra
In the same vein: "Bugs Bunny, greatest banned player ever"

[http://www.ussmariner.com/2006/03/12/bugs-bunny-greatest-
ban...](http://www.ussmariner.com/2006/03/12/bugs-bunny-greatest-banned-
player-ever/)

~~~
Retra
My favorite part:

>Even if we consider that this demonstration is the only time this happens, it
still raises other questions: 1\. How is this possible?

It is an excellent question.

------
thret
Related:

A Unified Theory of Superman's Powers
[http://www.qwantz.com/fanart/superman.pdf](http://www.qwantz.com/fanart/superman.pdf)

How does Spider-Man Move So Fast?
[http://www.qwantz.com/fanart/spiderman.pdf](http://www.qwantz.com/fanart/spiderman.pdf)

~~~
lifeisstillgood
I would recommend to you also the funniest book ever published, "How to be a
Superhero", which discusses many of the downsides of super senses, such as
super hearing.

------
fsk
Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex:

[http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html](http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html)

~~~
spdustin
I just came on to comment that. Larry Niven was a favorite of mine.

Another great short story of his: Inconstant Moon (turned into an Outer Limits
episode) about a man who notices the moon is /unnaturally/ bright one night,
and comes to the only rational conclusion: something has happened to the
sun...

~~~
ableal
Larry Niven himself was somewhat like an imagination burst in the SF field,
back in the 1970s. There was all this gloomy, word perfect "new wave" prose
mopping up the critical praise, and there was Niven pitching hard SF idea
balls. Flash crowds, tides around neutron stars, Bussard ramjets, organ
transplants gone wild, direct brain stimulation as a drug, ring worlds ...

------
tomasien
Waiting for Superman is not written by Iron and Wine, it's written by the
Flaming Lips and is from one of the greatest albums of all time - "The Soft
Bulletin". I correct this not because I like correcting things but because any
opportunity to introduce people to TSB is one worth taking.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitin%27_for_a_Superman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitin%27_for_a_Superman)

------
callmeed
Fun post. Only nit-pick is that a majority (70%) of MLB hitters use maple bats
now, not ash. I know maple is a harder wood but I'm curious to know if it can
handle more than the 15,000 lbs of force ash can.

Also, the home run tracker is a really cool site if you like stuff along these
lines: [http://www.hittrackeronline.com/](http://www.hittrackeronline.com/)

------
nikbackm
I wonder how far Superman could throw a baseball instead under the same
restrictions. Should be a fair bit longer I guess.

