Bloom: MLB is on a record home run pace, but why?
From SABR member Barry Bloom at Global Sport Matters on August 9, 2018, with mention of SABR member Alan Nathan:
Major League Baseball’s record home run pace was on full display at the July 17 All-Star Game at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. The American League and National League combined to hit 10, shattering the All-Star Game record. The previous mark was six.
The AL won the game, 8-6, and 13 of the 14 runs scored on homers.
Through the break, the two leagues had 3,286 homers – 1,711 by the AL, 1,575 by the NL – on a pace to equal or surpass last year’s total of 6,105.
The AL hit a record 3,170 homers last season. The NL record, 3,005, was set in 2000, during the height of baseball’s infamous steroid era.
There were 25 homers hit in last year’s World Series, won in seven games by the Houston Astros over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros hit 15 of them.
Was the World Series ball juiced?
Read the full article here: https://globalsportmatters.com/science/2018/08/09/mlb-on-record-home-run-pace-but-why/
- Related link: Listen to Alan Nathan’s presentation at the SABR 48 convention on MLB’s home run surge
Originally published: August 9, 2018. Last Updated: August 9, 2018.