Influence of a humidor on the aerodynamics of baseballs

We investigate whether storing baseballs in a controlled humidity environment significantly affects their aerodynamic properties. We measure the change in diameter and weight of baseballs as a function of relative humidity in which the balls are stored. The trajectories of pitched and batted baseballs are modeled to assess the difference between those stored at 30% relative humidity versus 50% relative humidity. We find that a drier baseball will curve slightly more than a humidified one for a given pitch velocity and rotation rate. We also find that aerodynamics alone would add 2 ft to the distance a wetter baseball ball is hit. This increased distance is compensated by a 6 ft reduction in the batted distance due to the change in the coefficient of restitution of the ball. We discuss consequences of these results for baseball played at Coors Field in Denver, where baseballs have been stored in a humidor at 50% relative humidity since 2002. © 2008 American Association of Physics Teachers. DOI: 10.1119/1.2955796