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Those who get the print edition of Sports Illustrated will find this fascinating. Starting on page 48 is a story "The Ball" that contradicts the "official" comments by MLB.
For the past several years scientists have been getting balls surreptitiously from people in baseball and off of EBAY. These are certified game balls. A lot was done undercover because people feared for their jobs.
The scientists took them apart, weighed each component, measured diameters and found differences from year to year but the most dramatic change came last year in 2020. They found two completely different balls which they called 2020N (for normal) and 2020L (for lighter). They were also able to break the manufacturers code found on the inside of the horsehide covering to determine exactly when each ball was made.
It's really interesting.
There were significant home run rates in 2020 then "suddenly" those rates dropped dramatically in the post season.
The reason? The "normal" balls were found to be used more often then.
Highly recommend reading it if you aren't to turned off by scientific terms.
Quotes Justin Verlander and Andrew Miller among others including a MLB spokesman who's comments, as the story notes doesn't address the scientific findings nor really answer any questions.
For the past several years scientists have been getting balls surreptitiously from people in baseball and off of EBAY. These are certified game balls. A lot was done undercover because people feared for their jobs.
The scientists took them apart, weighed each component, measured diameters and found differences from year to year but the most dramatic change came last year in 2020. They found two completely different balls which they called 2020N (for normal) and 2020L (for lighter). They were also able to break the manufacturers code found on the inside of the horsehide covering to determine exactly when each ball was made.
It's really interesting.
There were significant home run rates in 2020 then "suddenly" those rates dropped dramatically in the post season.
The reason? The "normal" balls were found to be used more often then.
Highly recommend reading it if you aren't to turned off by scientific terms.
Quotes Justin Verlander and Andrew Miller among others including a MLB spokesman who's comments, as the story notes doesn't address the scientific findings nor really answer any questions.
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