Posted by: Jerry Ridder (jerryridder@excite.com) on Tue Oct 12 11:37:32 2004

I use this methodology to calculate equivalent speeds from various distances:
The basic premise is to find the speeds at which the reaction time is the same from various distances so I convert the MPH into feet/sec which is 1.466667 ft/sec for each MPH. Step 1 is to multiply your MPH by 1.466667 to obtain ft/sec. Divide the distance over which that pitch was made by the number in Step 1 to get reaction time (ball flight time) in seconds for Step 2. Divide the distance in feet for the second distance by the number obtained in Step 2 to get the speed the ball would have to travel from the second distance to be equivalent to the first distance for Step 3. For Step 4, multiply the number in Step 3 by 0.6818182 to obtain the speed in MPH for the second distance.

Example:70 MPH from 43 feet would be:
Step 1 70 * 1.466667 = 102.6666667 ft/sec
Step 2 43 / 102.666667 = 0.41883116 sec.
Step 3 60 / 0.41883116 = 143.2558 ft/sec
Step 4 143.2558 * 0.6818182 = 97.67442 MPH

So, I guess what they say is correct. She pitches at an equivalent of 100 MPH. I know I can't hit that. How about you?

I hope this helps.
Jerry