Alex helped me practice pitching just before
the game.
Jon Hartman had given Ron pitching pointers
earlier in the week, and
Gail had helped practice too!
Thanks, Alex, Gail, and Jon!
Let's see... h(t) = h0 + v0 t - 1/2 g t^2 ...
Announcer:
"IT'S NOW TIME FOR OUR FIRST PITCH CEREMONIES.
EVERY FRIDAY EVENING THIS SEASON, WE WILL HONOR A MEMBER OF THE
MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AS OUR MEDICAL ALL STAR.
TONIGHT, WE WELCOME A LEADER IN CRYPTOLOGY FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY. THE CO-INVENTOR OF THE RSA PUBLIC-KEY CRYPTOSYSTEM WHICH
AIDS IN KEEPING MEDICAL RECORDS COMPLETELY PRIVATE, HE HAS BEEN
AWARDED THE TURING AWARD, THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARD IN COMPUTER
SCIENCE. PLEASE WELCOME PROFESSOR RON RIVEST."
So, g is 32 ft / s^2, but what is t?
Hmmm.. 60.5 ft to home plate... I probably pitch at
20 mph = 29.3 ft / sec...
It was cold! No wonder Pedro blows on his
pitching hand!
The moisture definitely makes the ball
less slippery...
Initial dh/dt = 32 ft/sec, angle is arctan(32/29) = 47 degrees...
Hmmm... that sounds like a fly ball...
I think I better forget the math and throw this thing!
Jon said point the left foot towards home plate...
I hope that cute ball girl is a good catcher!
Strike (close enough!).
The Red Sox folks let me keep the ball (which had been engraved...)
Thanks to Gail, Alex, Chris, Joe, Prabhakar, Becca, Ann, Arvind, Nisha, Jon, Jim, Beck for being there with your support!
That was both an honor, and very exciting!
Go Red Sox!
The Sox won, 6-2!