It was confirmed nearly half a decade ago that, just as Dizzy Dean claimed in the obligatory title quote above, the curveball is not an optical illusion. In fact changes in horizontal direction of up to 17.5" were measured during the ball's 60' 6" trip to home plate.
In a story similar to last month's post on the visual challenges soccer linesmen make when trying to make the offsides call, a Bucknell professor claims that while yes, the ball can curve, it does so in a very smooth and even manner. He claims the reason a curveball is difficult to hit is that an optical illusion causes the ball to appear to change directions suddenly:
Shapiro said the brain processes objects it sees in peripheral vision
differently than things it observes looking straight on. So a batter
tracking a pitch from the corners of his eyes might throw himself a
curve.
The good professor developed a computerized illustration of his point that won the title of world's best visual illusion (see the illusion and a few of the runners up at the link) which in addition to scoring him a sweet eye-tricking trophy
is sure to get him much attention from the ladies.
The old Frank 'Banana' Tanana lollipop-like curve used to look soooo gentle on television I figured that the camera must compress depth and create the illusion of a gently sweeping trajectory...turns out the hitters' own eyes may be playing the trick.
Speaking of optical illusions check out this delivery
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