The Fibonacci Factor

Every aspect of Twenty-First Century Townball is based upon what is known as the Fibonacci Sequence.

What is the Fibonacci Sequence?

The Fibonacci Sequence is found by adding two consecutive terms of the sequence to find the next term, starting with 0 and 1. Here are the first thirteen terms of The Fibonacci Sequence:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, …

What is unique about the Fibonacci sequence is that as the numbers get bigger, the ratio formed by any two consecutive terms of the sequence approaches a constant. This ratio formed by this constant and unity is known as the golden ratio.

Here are all of the ways in which The Fibonacci Sequence is used in the formation of Twenty-First Century Townball:

There is ONE ball, ONE field, and ONE out per inning.

There are TWO teams,

THREE strikes, and

FIVE stakes on the field. A team must be leading by FIVE runs to win. The batter stands in a FIVE

by EIGHT foot box when batting. A team must score at least EIGHT runs to win.

There are THIRTEEN players per team, and there is a run cap at THIRTEEN runs to win.

The batter must run twice TWENTY-ONE feet to first stake, and

twice THIRTY-FOUR feet to second. The zone is half THIRTY-FOUR inches wide

and half FIFTY-FIVE inches high. The rest of the stakes are all twice FIFTY-FIVE feet apart.

The playing field, the zone, and the batter’s box all make “golden” rectangles.

The playing field makes a “golden” spiral. The pitching line is a part of that spiral. The height of the zone above the ground is also found using a golden spiral.

The zone is proportional to the human body according to the golden ratio. Take the average male height (about 72 inches) and divide it by the golden ratio and get 45 inches. Dividing again gives 27.5 inches. Dividing one more time gives 17 inches. The Fibonacci zone is thus 27.5 by 17 inches (twice 27.5 and twice 17 are both Fibonacci numbers). Three inches are subtracted from each dimension of the Fibonacci zone to get the physical dimensions of the zone (24.5 by 14 inches) to account for the size of the ball (3 inches in diameter).

Incidentally, the width of home plate in modern baseball is also 17 inches.

As is shown in the diagram above, dividing the average male height of 72 inches by the golden ratio twice also gives you the distance between the navel and the hallow beneath the kneecaps. Thus, the vertical dimensions of the zone is equal to the approximate distance between the navel and the hallow beneath the kneecap of the average person, and the horizontal dimensions of the same is equal to that between the hallow beneath the kneecap and the bottom of the feet.