“The same motion that describes roller coasters, that describes rocket ships, that describes your car when you’re accelerating and when you brake really comes down to the same physics of hitting, catching and throwing a baseball.”

So you thought the Chicago Cubs success this year was due to Anthony Rizzo’s career year or the impact of rookie Kris Bryant?

NIU physics professor Jahred Adelman says whether players know it or not, give a big assist to science.

“The same motion that describes roller coasters, that describes rocket ships, that describes your car when you’re accelerating and when you brake really comes down to the same physics of hitting, catching and throwing a baseball,” he said.

Improved play this season has earned the Cubs nine more wins than at the same point last year.

“A lot of people who deal with data analysis in the same way that a physicist or scientist would really try and figure out the small differences in performance or signals from huge data sets of every at-bat, swing or ground ball,” Adelman said. “We have a general manager and manager in Chicago who adhere to this a lot more than the previous people running the team.”