Alan Nathan
banner
pobguy.bsky.social
Alan Nathan
@pobguy.bsky.social
Professor Emeritus of Physics, U of Illinois. Physics of Baseball: baseball.physics.illinois.edu. Mostly post about baseball. Sometimes Con Law, basketball, physics, WW1, Twilight Zone, ...
Reposted by Alan Nathan
PSA: Examples of a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant. ICE cannot enter your home with only an administrative warrant.
January 11, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Here's a great story for these troubled times:
share.google/s6IPE19JdMNL...

I met Donell today. He's one great guy!
January 9, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
This is an incredibly interesting article, with incredibly important implications for how teams think about long-term deals for players.
January 9, 2026 at 2:55 AM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
"An analysis of footage from three camera angles shows that the motorist was driving away from—not toward—a federal officer when he opened fire."

Great video analysis of Minneapolis shooting from NYT. These frames show drawing of gun and exact moment of first shot.

www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
January 8, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
It’s a good time for nineteenth-century style political cartoons.
This one from the Toronto Star
January 7, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
Last night I wrote to you about Trump’s desperate efforts to rewrite history. Today, on the taxpayer funded WH website, he’s using our resources to pursue Orwellian 1984ish revisions. It’s our job to stop him. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...
The Dangerous Revision Of Jan 6 History On The Official WH Website
As I wrote to you last night, five years on from January 6, Donald Trump is trying to rewrite the history of the insurrection.
open.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
Re: the Phamgraphs article, in which I'm mentioned, and this sentence: "If WAM can measure this for homers, perhaps they can measure it for outfield fly balls, as well."

@weatherapplied.com does measure the wind impact of every fly ball. Also, for every pitch.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/694...
Tommy Pham makes his case for MLB’s next big metric: He calls it PhamGraphs
Pham proposes a statistical system that would account for how often a hitter faces high-leverage relievers and how defenders cope with wind.
www.nytimes.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:05 PM
January 5, 2026 at 2:22 AM
I bat and throw left-handed but write right-handed. Evidently not so unusual.
Fun Fact: Baseball legend Babe Ruth batted and threw left-handed, but he signed autographs right-handed! #MLB #History #NationalTriviaDay
January 4, 2026 at 3:22 PM
9*(54/40)^2=16.4
We don't publish IVB at Brooks. Only short form. IVB is from release, short form is from 40 ft
January 3, 2026 at 12:31 AM
As a quickee estimate, the movement scales with the square of the flight distance.
Not really, you need to do some standard equations of motion withthe 9 pt fit. But it's in our api which FG has access to, so you check with Appelman on how to use that hopefully
January 2, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Following up on your question: I suspect that others are also analyzing the 2025 data on torpedo bats. And I further suspect that, based on this analysis, the usage of these bats will increase in 2026. We shall see.
Yes, I have done some analysis. It is still in progress and not yet ready to go public. Also have done ( with my collaborators) lab measurements. Those results will be shown at a conference in June. Perhaps prior to that.
@pobguy.bsky.social I just reread your @fangraphs.com piece on torpedo bats from April. Curious if you've analyzed bat performance from the 2025 season or are aware of any good writeups? I haven't seen any academic or pop media articles with any data analysis
January 2, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Yes, I have done some analysis. It is still in progress and not yet ready to go public. Also have done ( with my collaborators) lab measurements. Those results will be shown at a conference in June. Perhaps prior to that.
@pobguy.bsky.social I just reread your @fangraphs.com piece on torpedo bats from April. Curious if you've analyzed bat performance from the 2025 season or are aware of any good writeups? I haven't seen any academic or pop media articles with any data analysis
January 2, 2026 at 8:21 PM
Watching the Twilight Zone Marathon on SyFy right now, a fitting way to start the new year.
This feels like a @pobguy.bsky.social rabbit hole! 🌀🚪🐇🕳️
January 1, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Looking forward to it. I've been watching the video for the past 3 hours.
Just finished reading the Jack Smith transcript. I've highlighted what I consider to be stand-out moments, and our team at MSW Media will be cutting together a highlight reel for you. Stay tuned!
January 1, 2026 at 2:51 AM
Full video of Jack Smith depo.

youtube.com/watch?v=lR-b...
Jack Smith Deposition
YouTube video by House Judiciary GOP
youtube.com
December 31, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
"We would have secured convictions at trial."

Supreme Court's immunity decision didn't exonerate Trump

"Eyes wide open" to potential retaliation from Trump

The investigation included members of Congress:
"I didn't choose those members. President Trump did."

www.rawstory.com/jack-smith-2...
5 eye-popping claims Jack Smith made during his deposition with House GOP
House Republicans finally released on Wednesday the long-awaited transcript of former special counsel Jack Smith's deposition before the House Judiciary Committee. The 255-page document was released o...
www.rawstory.com
December 31, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
The man taking over the Large Hadron Collider – only to switch it off
The man taking over the Large Hadron Collider – only to switch it off
Next head of Cern backs massive replacement for world’s largest machine to investigate mysteries of the universe
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
Join us in wishing Sandy Koufax a happy 90th birthday!

Some Hall of Fame advice from the legendary lefty: “I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.”
December 30, 2025 at 3:01 PM
The Guns of August, by Barbara Tuchman, about the buildup to and the first month of WW1. I read it a few years ago and am currently reading again. Much of the 20th century has its origins in WW1
In search of books to assign my U.S. History 1876-present class. The students will be mostly non-majors. Your recommendations please!
December 27, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Davy Crockett, Supreme Court justices, boxing
What do you collect beyond baseball?
December 25, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Chinese?
Thai food order has been placed. It's officially Jewish Christmas
December 24, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Anthony
He played a kid who terrorized his hometown on the Twilight Zone. I always think the kid was named Billy, but that's the actor's name.
December 23, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
High quality rip of the 60 Minutes CECOT segment: drive.google.com/file/d/1lKjJ...
cecot-60mins.mp4
drive.google.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Alan Nathan
BREAKING: WATCH the full 60 Minutes CECOT segment here. This was sent to me anonymously. It appears to be the segment CBS' Bari Weiss killed. www.muellershewrote.com/p/watch-the-...
WATCH: The 60 Minutes CECOT Segment
I was sent the CECOT segment anonymously in a group chat.
www.muellershewrote.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:46 PM