Stark: Stark: Home Run Madness — it can’t just be the baseballs … or can it?
From SABR member Jayson Stark at The Athletic on June 20, 2019, with mention of SABR member Meredith Wills:
All rise in the courtroom of Judge Phineas T. Long Ball, for the trial of one of the world’s most beloved spheres — the major-league baseball.
Today, the baseball stands accused of:
· Flying farther than it has ever flown.
· Soaring repeatedly over every wall ever erected by mankind, with the possible exception of the Great Wall of China.
· Fueling an explosion in home runs that is obliterating the greatest records in this or any sport — and has caused no less a distinguished author than Ken Rosenthal to compare this surge to the PED Era, in terms of its potential damage to the integrity of more than a century’s worth of hallowed statistics.
All right, now a couple of opening arguments. First, let’s quote the words of a current major-league coach, who can’t believe what he’s seeing.
“It’s like watching Home Run Derby,” he said. “We’ve always felt like the balls in the Derby were juiced up. Now it’s like we’re using the Home Run Derby balls in the games.”
Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/1037205/2019/06/20/stark-home-run-madness-it-cant-just-be-the-baseballs-or-can-it/
Originally published: June 20, 2019. Last Updated: June 20, 2019.