Posted on 03/03/2018 8:51:46 AM PST by Mariner
The home run surge of 2017 (and before) has been a heck of a lot of fun, but there are many outstanding questions about what’s really behind it. And now we might have the most compelling answer yet. Rob Arthur and Tim Dix of FiveThirtyEight published the findings of CT scans and other experiments that had been done on new and game used baseballs from before and after the official start of the surge (the 2015 All-Star Game), and what they’re reporting is undeniable: the core of the baseball has changed.
Arthur and Dix reported the findings of experiments commissioned by ESPN Sports Science. A CT scan was done on eight different baseballs: one purchased new from Rawlings, four game-used balls from April 2014 through May 2015 (before the surge began), and three game-used balls from August 2016 through July 2017 (after the surge started). The CT scan revealed that the core of the newer baseballs are approximately 40% less dense than the older balls. Further testing of the chemical composition of the less dense baseballs revealed that Rawlings used a more porous substance to seal the core, which led to the decrease in density.
A less dense core means a lighter baseball, and the newer baseballs are an average of 0.5 grams lighter than the old ones. Arthur and Dix admit that a lighter baseball on its own wouldn’t cause a huge jump in homers. But when added to existing research on the new baseballs done by Arthur at FiveThirtyEight and Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer, it turns into something significant.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
You are conflating two different things.
Pete Rose is not in the Hall of Fame because he was banned from baseball for gambling. He can’t even appear on the Hall of Fame ballot because of being banned from baseball.
Barry Bonds is on the Hall of Fame ballot, but didn’t get enough votes to be elected, due to doubts about his alleged use of steroids.
“It will be raining baseballs in the Bronx this year.......”
They have a shot at the Mariners records.
But I don’t know if they have as many HR hitters. Remember, the 97 Mariners had Griffey, Buhner, Edgar and Tino Martinez, Alex Rodriguez. And a total of 9 players over 10 HR.
.485 team slugging percentage.
“Drugs don’t make you hit a ball like Barry bonds did”
Agreed.
“I would assume a weight shift to the outer portion of the ball would produce a more stable flight that takes just a little curve off the curveballs and other pitches.”
Very good. Also, for many years the “magic” to the fastball was not exactly the speed of the pitch as it was the movement. That was guided by seams more than gravity. The seems have been lowered also. And that not only straightens out the pitch, it also adds to the speed a pitcher can produce.
There used to be a hand full of 95 MPH pitchers in the majors, now it’s a bushel full. A major league hitter can hit a straight pitch at any speed. What made pitchers like Nolan Ryan, Sandy Kofax, Randy Johnson, and Bob Gibson so hard to hit was not because they threw hard. It was location of their fastball and the second or third pitch like a curve, slider, or change. If any got straighten out, it created a real problem.
Additionally, the parks they play in are not as big as they used to be. They have a better choice of bats and they all have them made for them specifically. You don’t see many .300 hitters anymore. In 2017 there were only 11 in the American league and 14 in the National league.
The emphasis, big money and the glamore comes from the guy who can hit 25 homers in over 500 at bats, not the guy who can go 2 for 3. The whole theory of the game has changed from a game to entertainment. And the long ball is a major part. As long as money dictates the production, it will be the deciding factor for who plays and who doesn’t. And the game will be modified to fit it.
I mentioned the stadiums and lack of average hitting, little things like speeding up the game between non-movement times, the changing of the strike zone, the DH in the American league, the lowering of the mound, the idiotic announcers that protect the player using foolishness, the almost complete disregard for defense inviting players to go the other way with shifts on players that could bat .850 on them if they just did what they were given. Instead, they hit .250 and 25 home runs. Not near as productive. (But it sells)
But home runs make money so everyone must hit them and, according to USA today, .280 is the new .300.
Not a game anymore. A business.
rwood
“he NFL suspends its most famous player for doctoring footballs”
No, they suspended him because they needed a scapegoat because they won, again. It had nothing to do with the air pressure in the ball. It had to do with trying the level the playing field.
rwood
“The higher ups want more offense in the game”
I played backyard softball/baseball for years before seeing a professional game. I was appalled because the professional game consisted mostly of watching the pitcher pitch.
We saw that integrity and traditions sometimes become incompatible opposites with the steroid issue.
The two have never been concepts that are necessarily welded together.
The ball might have been flat but the Babe was juiced lol.
And that book was written in 2003 or 2004, before the Yankees started playing on a Little League field. He probably hit 120.
And if Ruth wasn’t hung over, and using steroids, he would have hit 100.
I was fun watching those guys strikeout 10-15 guys, what's not fun is seeing a Mike Pelfy type pitcher go 4 innings, followed by 6 scrub relievers striking out the same 10-15 guys a night and the other 10-15 hit into the shift as the two teams exchange cheap solo home runs all game.
Sabermetrics has ruined baseball. 2017 they hit the most home runs ever but overall runs were still down. The 2nd most Homerun year was 2000 and that year they were scoring a full run more a game. Why, because they hit 25 point higher, struck out 75% less and actually stole bases.
Hi M. And they placed 3 guys on the sexual nickname all-star team! Jay (The Bone) Buhner, Alex (A-Rod) Rodriguez and Randy (The Big Unit) Johnson!
“Not a game anymore. A business.”
It’s always been a business and owners have always shifted the game to what sells best. For the most money.
At least since Boston sold Ruth to NY.
“It was location of their fastball and the second or third pitch like a curve, slider, or change. If any got straighten out, it created a real problem.”
Randy John and Bob Gibson had pretty straight fastballs with very good accuracy shaving the plate. Sometimes a little out or in. But as you said, it was the second or third pitch.
“Drugs don’t make you hit a ball like Barry bonds did”
True, but I ded see a study a few years back that detailed how drugs DID result in Barry’s fly balls traveling 15% further. HOW MANY of his “homeruns” would have stayed in the park before his 32 year old head grew six hat sizes?
I suspect, sans steroids, Henry Aaron’s career record and Roger Maris single season records would be intact.
This may also intensify research into finding new kinds of performance-enhancing drugs (PED’s) that the players may be illegally using.
yeah, but Drugs combined with that ridiculous elbow brace he wore can
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/barry-bonds-hr-record-tainted-by-elbow-armor/
“Chicks dig the long ball.”
More importantly, they do this kind of research and statistical analysis to make a name for themselves so they can be invited to the cocktail parties, salons, and soirées for coming up with an idea no one thought of before and become a name-recognized celeb.
It's selfish self-promotion signifying nothing.
“True, but I ded see a study a few years back that detailed how drugs DID result in Barry’s fly balls traveling 15% further.”
He regularly hit them into the Bay, 100ft more than required to a HR.
I never saw him hit one “barely over”.
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