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curve. The more power, the more curve and the farther it goes. It’s physics, but it takes years of practice to perfect.” “So what about a curveball in baseball,” Gordo asked. “Is it the same deal? At least that’s a sport I can understand!” “That’s about the same thing,” Buck said. “Instead of putting on spin with his foot, the pitch- er puts spin on the ball with his hand, wrist, and arm . . . the way he throws it. The faster the spin, the more the pressure lowers and the more the effect takes place. Softball pitchers can do it, too.” “Okay, that’s all pretty cool,” Gordo said. “But what about a real sport. You won’t see any curved footballs in our game today.” “Ah, but physics will play a big part in that,” Buck said. He led him over to another display . . . and another lesson.

Another Curving Pioneer The great soccer player David Beckham was not the first to curve a ball around a wall or a defender. No one really knows who invented this kind of kick; Beckham was just the one that made it famous. In baseball, a curveball

is a pitch thrown by the pitcher. Baseball legend says that one player did invent it. In the 1860s, righthander Candy Cummings (inset from Baseball Hall of Fame) was slinging some clam shells on a beach. He saw how the curved clam shell swerved when he threw it a cer- tain way. He wondered if the same would happen to the spherical baseball. After some experimenting, he made it happen. At first, people thought it was an optical il- lusion. But by bending a pitch around a fixed object, Cummings showed that the ball did change its path. Batters since have cursed that discovery!

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