MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Are Softballs Called Softballs?
There’s nothing soft about the 6 or 7 ounce, 11- to 12-inch ball at the center of the sport of softball. But, if it’s not soft (which it isn’t), why is a softball a softball?
It actually all goes back to the “ball” that the game began with. In 1887, a group of Harvard & Yale alumni were socializing inside a club in Chicago, IL, keeping tabs on the football game that was being played between the two schools. After Yale won, one of the Yale’s supporters picked up a boxing glove & playfully threw it at a disappointed Harvard guy, who, in turn, swatted it away with a stick.
At that moment, a light bulb went off in the head of a reporter who also happened to be there watching the horseplay. George Hancock was his name, and he cinched up the boxing glove to make it more aerodynamic & then encouraged other club members to start up a baseball game there inside the club.
That softer version of baseball actually caught on & eventually made its way from the inside of a club to the great outdoors, while other versions of the game developed with people using a small medicine ball. The game, itself, had various different names along the way, including “indoor ball”, “diamond ball”, “playground ball”, and even “kitten ball” (because the ball was sometimes made of leather-wrapped yarn). In 1926, at a meeting of the National Recreation Congress, an official of the YMCA officially recognize the game. And it was at that time that the game received its now official name…“softball”. And by the 1930s, there were hundreds of softball leagues enjoying the new sport across the country.
Earlier versions of the game may have featured softer & more cushioned balls, almost all softballs today are usually made with polyurethane or kapok fiber or some other similar firm material (or cork for youth league balls) and covered with either a synthetic or natural leather skin. So, from those soft yarn-stuffed balls, improvised by some guys in a club, to our hardened modern softball, the centerpiece of the sport simply adopted the name of the game itself.
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MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Are The Numbers On Gas Pumps?
Whenever you gas up your car, you’ll always see a certain set of numbers on each pump…usually 87, 89, and 93. What are those numbers? And what do they mean?
Those numbers on the yellow buttons on the gas pumps actually denote each fuel’s “octane rating”. The Regular 87 octane rating gasoline is what most folks typically buy. The Mid-grade’s gas rating is usually either 89 or 90. And then, for Premium gasoline, the rating will usually land somewhere between 91 & 94.
Basically, octane ratings measure each fuel’s stability. To make your car run, the engine’s spark plug lights a flame that generates what’s called a “controlled combustion”, whereby it gradually burns all the fuel in the cylinder. Under certain conditions, however, rising temperatures & the combustion’s pressure can lead unburned fuel to ignite without the spark plug flame. That “uncontrolled combustion” raises the pressure in the cylinder & could potentially damage your engine. Uncontrolled combustion, or “knocking”, isn’t really a problem nowadays, though, since almost all commercial fuel now is made with an oxygenate that keeps it from prematurely igniting.
Octane ratings specify how high the fuel’s oxygen content is, with the lowest digits being the ones most likely to experience uncontrolled combustion. To measure a fuel’s R.O.N., or “research octane number, the gas gets tested in an idling vehicle with low air temperature & slow engine speed. Then, to measure the M.O.N., or “motor octane number”, the gas gets tested under high temperature & high engine speed. Then, those two numbers get averaged together & that gives you the octane rating.
The combined effects of oxygenated fuels, computerized ignition, and knock-detecting sensors have all pretty much helped to rid today’s vehicles problems with uncontrolled combustion. So, for most folks, the Regular 87-octane gas is perfectly fine. However, certain cars genuinely do need premium gas, meaning high-grade fuel is the most efficient choice if you have a high-performance vehicle. In any case, whether your car is luxuriously lavish or a middle-of-the-road model, it’s usually going to be worth it to pay a little extra for the gas that’s least likely to mess up your motor.
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