Posted on 09/28/2022 8:19:43 PM PDT by bitt
Here's an article that contradicts that and discusses the other 60th homers hit by Yankees
Maris' 60th blast came in his team's 158th game of the 1961 season.
Judge needed 11 fewer games to get to 60 than Maris did, as he collected his 60th long ball of 2022 in his club's 147th game.
Judge even got to 60 home runs faster than Ruth did. Ruth hit 60 in 1927, back when the regular season was 154 games long.
Article written before Judge's 61st.
Understood—I would like to see a lot more detailed analysis on this topic. You make good arguments.
Hitting a baseball is uniquely difficult—many small players have become great home run hitters over the years and there are a lot of big brutes that never make it to the majors because they can’t hit a curve ball or slider.
Baseball has been trying hard to sweep this issue under the rug—when transparency and serious study is where they should have gone.
Look, Bonds, Sosa and Mac could always hit the ball. That isn’t in question. But what is in question is, were they always that prolific? The answer is no. When you are a HR hitter, it is a question of squaring up the ball. Don’t square it up and unless you are uber strong, it will not carry.
With those three and anyone taking muscle building steroids, what ever exertion they make probably has more force behind it. I’d guess some of the long fly balls that resulted in long outs would probably make it over the fence with more force in the steroid using batter’s swing.
29 didn't exactly set the sport on fire but the following season (1920) he hit 54, and that definitely set tongues to wagging.
There was no real asterisk in the MLB record book after 1961. The league simply listed the home run records for a 154-game season and a 162-game season separately in the record book.
Before Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa came along with their PEDs in the late 1990s, the National League record for home runs in a 154-game season (Hack Wilson's 56 in 1930) was HIGHER than the record for a 162-game season.
MLB didn't formally ban steroids until 2005. So their use through the 2004 season -- which covers the heyday of the Bash Brothers -- wasn't 'cheating.'
Steroids don't help questionable hitters hit a curve ball but they do help with recovery from a hard day's batting practice. You can practice longer and harder without it wearing you out, which gives the marginal batter a better opportunity to "up" his game.
And if you started a out good batter, some of your shots that would have died out at the warning track become gopher balls.
It's clear from Bond's track record that he was a much better homerun hitter after steroids than before. That is beyond dispute.
I believe human growth hormones (HGH) had a much bigger impact on baseball than steroids. I had seen reports indicating that they no only improve strength, but can enhance vision and hand-eye coordination. That would explain why Jason Giambi lost 65 points off his batting average and led the AL in strikeouts the year in the early 2000s when he showed up for spring training looking like an emaciated waif compared to his prior build.
PEDs not only improve your bat speed, but they also allow for faster recovery, game to game. You are more fresh for the next game. This is crucial to a long 162 game season. Especially late in someone’s career (Bonds).
“PEDs not only improve your bat speed”
You can’t find the studies anymore. But Nicotine does slightly improve reaction time just outside the statistical noise range.
Enough so that a .250 batter might get to say .260. Also helps shortstops, etc. get a better jump on a hit ball.
So I wonder if chewing tobacco was the original PED.
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