MLB: did they change the ball again?

October 16th, 2019 at 9:02:51 AM permalink
odiousgambit
Member since: Oct 28, 2012
Threads: 154
Posts: 5055
That the ball that was used during the season was juiced is pretty much acknowledged it seems.

Now we are hearing that they switched back to the previous ball for the play offs! This chart is going around showing the apparent increased drag on the ball [the new juiced ball was shown to have reduced drag and thus went further]



image from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryandavis/2019/10/12/did-major-league-baseball-really-switch-out-the-baseballs-in-october/#1108c55de508
I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me]
October 16th, 2019 at 10:58:20 AM permalink
Mosca
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 22
Posts: 730
Quote: odiousgambit
That the ball that was used during the season was juiced is pretty much acknowledged it seems.

Now we are hearing that they switched back to the previous ball for the play offs! This chart is going around showing the apparent increased drag on the ball [the new juiced ball was shown to have reduced drag and thus went further]



image from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryandavis/2019/10/12/did-major-league-baseball-really-switch-out-the-baseballs-in-october/#1108c55de508


From what I read, the ball wasn’t juiced, but the seams were flattened, which decreased resistance and made it harder for some pitchers to get spin on the pitch. Some guys adapted to it, others didn’t and still others weren’t affected at all.

But what do I know, all I know is what I read and I didn’t read everything, so there you have it.