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This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。

Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros will start tonight's Major League Baseball All-Star Game for the American League. He's in the news for more than that, though. Monday, he told ESPN that the huge rise in home runs this season is due to the fact that the 2019 baseball is what he called "a f-ing joke." Many other players and commentators¹ have questioned whether the ball is "juiced" — that is, made so that it travels farther and faster.

休斯敦太空人队的贾斯丁·韦兰德将为今晚的美国职业棒球大联盟全明星赛开场。不过，有关他的新闻可不止这些。他在周一对ESPN表示，本赛季本垒打数量的大幅增加是因为2019年使用的棒球是个“该死的笑话”。许多其他球员和评论员也质疑棒球是否“被榨汁”，以便让其飞得更远更快。

"So, however they are making or creating the baseballs ... they're coming up with a rounder baseball."

“所以，无论他们如何制作或创造棒球，他们都在设计更圆的棒球。”

Sports data scientist Meredith Wills. With a doctorate² in astrophysics, her first studies were in publications like the Astrophysical Journal and Solar Physics. But her most recent research, on the 2019 baseball, appeared June 25th in the online sports publication the Athletic³.

体育数据科学家梅雷迪思·威尔斯说到。威尔斯拥有天体物理学博士学位，其早期研究发表在《天体物理学杂志》和《太阳物理学》等刊物上。但她最近关于2019年棒球的研究于6月25日发表在在线体育新闻平台Athletic上。

So how do you make a baseball that's rounder than other baseballs? Wills got her hands on 39 Major League baseballs used in 2019. Compared with last year's ball, "The laces are thinner... the leather is substantially smoother... any one of these changes will make the aerodynamics of the ball better, they will decrease the drag. So the way to think of it is that the ball doesn't slow down as quickly when it's traveling through the air, which means that it stays faster longer, which means it's able to travel farther."

那如何制作比其它棒球更圆的棒球呢？威尔斯拿到了2019年美职棒使用的39个棒球。与2018年的用球相比，“2019年使用的棒球缝线更细、皮革也光滑很多，这些变化中的任何一项都会将改善棒球的空气动力学，并减少阻力。所以我们对此的想法是，棒球在空中飞行时，减速的过程没有以前那么快，这意味着其快速飞行时间更长，飞行距离更远。”

Which could account for part of why the players are on pace to hit more than 6,600 homers this year, up from 5,585 last year. Hitters are clearly also changing their swing plane to try to hit more homers, which is probably also a factor. But another indicator⁴ of less drag on the ball is home run distance. Wills notes that 82 home runs went at least 450 feet in 2018. This year has already seen 84 of that distance, with almost half a season to play.

这可能部分解释了为何球员今年的本垒打数量，有望从去年的5585支上升至6600多支。击球手显然也在改变他们的挥棒平面，试图击出更多全垒打，这可能也是一个因素。而棒球阻力减少的另一个标志是本垒打距离。威尔斯指出，2018年有82支全垒打的距离至少是450英尺。2019年已经出现84支这种距离的全垒打，但赛季还剩下一多半。

The changes in the ball also make it harder for the pitchers⁵ to manipulate it. "There are two problems: one is that it becomes harder to grip the ball in a way that allows you to spin it enough to get break, and then the other one is that the height of the seams themselves can affect how much the ball does break, assuming you get it up to the same spin."

棒球的变化也使投手更难控制球。“有两个问题：其一，更难找到抓球方法，使你将球旋转到足以使其停下；其二，缝合线的高度本身会影响棒球停止的次数，假设你让球进行相同的旋转。”

Last year, Major League Baseball bought Rawlings, the company that makes the baseballs. So don't be surprised if next year's ball is once again ever-so-slightly less round—to give pitchers a square deal.

去年，美职棒收购了制造棒球的罗林斯公司。因此，如果明年的棒球再次稍微不那么圆了，也不要感到惊讶，这是为了让投手获得公平待遇。

For Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。