Baseball Experts List

April 27, 2009

Baseball Experts List

Professor takes swing at history of baseball, scandals

Randy Roberts, distinguished professor of history, can talk about the history of baseball and government's role in policing the baseball steroids scandal. He also has written a book about Boston sports, which highlights the Red Sox. Roberts, who is an American pop culture historian, also is the author of 12 other books on history and sports.

Roberts' homepage: https://www.cla.purdue.edu/history/directory/?personid=48

Contact: 765-494-0040, rroberts@purdue.edu

Perception of ball size related to performance

Jessica K. Witt, an assistant professor of psychological sciences, studies the relationship between perception and athletic ability in golf and softball. Witt can talk about her research that shows how the correlation between batting averages of softball players and how big or small they perceive the ball to be. Her research also shows golfers who play well are more likely to see the hole as larger than their poor-playing counterparts.

Witt's homepage: https://www1.psych.purdue.edu/~jkwitt/

Contact: 765-496-1916, jkwitt@purdue.edu

Play ball: Professor pitches science of baseball

Howard N. Zelaznik, professor of health and kinesiology, can talk about the science of baseball. Zelaznik, who has taught Purdue's "The Science of Baseball," is an expert in human motor control and director of Purdue's Motor Behavior and Control Laboratory. His course covers the science of hitting and ball flight, including the illusion of the rising fastball, as well as understanding the mind of the hitter based on cognitive and sports psychology.

Zelaznik's homepage: https://www.cla.purdue.edu/hk/faculty/zelaznik.html

Contact: 765-494-5601, hnzelaz@purdue.edu

Physics professor can talk about catching fly balls

Nicholas J. Giordano, the Hubert James Distinguished Professor of Physics and head of the Department of Physics, can talk about the physics of catching fly balls. He also has studied the physics of pitching, curveballs and knuckleballs. Giordano specializes in the physics of condensed matter and focuses on the electrical properties of materials at low temperatures, as well as musical acoustics and the physics of the piano.

Giordano's homepage: https://www.physics.purdue.edu/people/faculty/ng.shtml

Contact: 765-494-6418, giordano@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: The Purdue University experts below can talk about topics related to baseball. Journalists who have questions or want to make arrangements to speak with the experts can contact Amy Patterson Neubert, Purdue News Service, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

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