Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Israel Baseball League Field Work

Using Google Earth and Emap I tracked down pre-renovation satellite photos of the baseball fields at Gezer, Tel Aviv and Petah Tikvah.

While doing the research I noticed that the altitude above sea level of the fields are as follows, Gezer - 395ft, Baptist Field (Petah Tikvah) - 78ft and Sportek (Tel Aviv) - 24ft. It got me wondering, how much more will the ball carry at the Gezer field as opposed to the Sportek Field which is right on the Mediterranean Sea?

I found this information from the book titled the Physics of Baseball. A ball that would travel 400 feet in "normal" conditions goes:

  • 6 feet farther if the altitude is 1,000 feet higher

  • 4 feet farther if the air is 10 degrees warmer

  • 4 feet farther if the ball is 10 degrees warmer

  • 4 feet farther if the barometer drops 1 inch of mercury


Using the information above, with all other relevant criteria being equal, a ball hit 400 feet in Tel Aviv will travel approximately an additional 2.5 feet at Gezer. So if you see a home run clear the fence at Gezer field by a foot or two you know there was a reasonable chance it would have been caught at the Sportek
Field.

Click the images to view a larger photograph

Gezer Field



Baptist Field



Sportek Field


See the map below to view the field locations in the context of the country.
Israel fields

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