Is there an ideal weight for a ball to be thrown? [baseball physics question, sort of]

Factual Questions
1

Say you throw a baseball as far as you can and manage, say, 100 ft. If you used the same throwing mechanics but the ball was much lighter–a tennis ball for instance–the air would slow the ball down much faster and it clearly wouldn’t be able to go as far. On the other hand, if you were throwing a put (the 16 pound ball in shot put), it would be far too heavy to generate a significant initial velocity, and you’d be lucky to make it 10 ft. So when you test out the extremes, lighter than a baseball is bad, and heavier than a baseball is bad.

If you keep the size of the ball constant, is there an ideal weight for how far (or how fast, for that matter) a ball can be thrown? Does it depend on the specific throwing mechanism? I imagine it would, because I think putting a baseball wouldn’t work very well, and under-arming might require a lighter ball.

Or is fluid mechanics such a hopeless mess that it depends on the pressure, temperature, humidity, etc. and no real answer can be given?

2

You’d be able to throw a golfball a hell of a lot farther than you could a baseball. But part of that has to do with the aerodynamics of the golfball. Its dimples create lift, which keeps it in the air. If you threw a smooth ball of the same mass and shape, it wouldn’t go as far (this is assuming that you create backspin when you throw the ball).

But if we’re just talking about baseballs, with their size and everything else constant, my guess would be that some people would throw a heavier ball farther and some people would throw a heavier ball not as far.