A Curve with Verve

Dr. Lyman J. Briggs, 84, is director emeritus of the National Bureau of Standards. He is also a longtime baseball fan. His scientific mind was drawn to the great curve-ball controversy. How much does the ball curve--if at all? This week Dr. Briggs made his answers. The ball curves all right, and the biggest jug handle a pitcher can expect to throw is 17.5 in. Ideal curving speed: about 100 ft. per sec. Optimum amount of spin: some 1,800 r.p.m. But, Dr. Briggs adds, ''the speed of the pitched ball has little effect on the amount it curves. The important thing is the spin."

An outfielder in his college days at Michigan State, Dr. Briggs left nothing to chance in his experiments. He measured speed and spin in the National Bureau of Standards wind tunnel. For live experiments, Dr. Briggs measured the curve-throwing ability of the Washington Senators' staff in Griffith Stadium, found the best of them could break off a curve at 1,600 r.p.m. Presumably, better pitchers on other clubs could approach 1,800 r.p.m., achieve the maximum curve. As for speed, 100 ft. per sec. is well within the range of a big-league pitcher. Fastest pitch ever recorded: 144 ft. per sec. (98.6 m.p.h.) by the Cleveland Indians' Bob Feller in 1947.

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