48 Home Runs today. Juiced Ball? Media HR hype?

[ThePenguin11]

After today's games I think it's getting pretty obvious that something is afoot. I was listening to Dan Patrick's show earlier and there were 9 homers hit in the first 43 minutes of the show. Instantly, it got me believing the juiced ball hype. After seeing Arroyo hit two and Mark freaking Mulder take one yard the other day, I'm pretty much convinced.

 

To me It would make sense, knowing MLB, if they revisited a Juiced Ball in order to make it seem like steriods never really had an effect on baseball. I figured it would be just a matter of time before baseball officials or MLB suck-ups started using this as a smokescreen to take our attention away from the severity of performance enhancing drugs in baseball.

 

Then I turned on ESPN to see them glorifying the great day of homeruns towing the mlb company line saying crap like it's "for the good of baseball." I nearly vomited.

 

Why can't baseball glorify pitching? If stolen bases are a lost art where does great pitching fit in? Baseball just thinks its fans are mindless homerun craving idiots and force feeds us this garbage once again. Who here of the great baseball fans wouldn't take a 1-0 pitching stalemate over a game with three grand slams?

 

Sometimes baseball really makes me sick. It makes me want to watch videos like "When it was a Game" or movies like "For Love of the Game" and "Field of Dreams" to help me believe that baseball is or was America's truest, purest pasttime.

[srbin84]

Yeah, and I wouldn't doubt if certain games were played with the juiced ball and others without.

 

S.F. Giants.-30th in home runs

 

It's not like they don't have any power hitters at all either. Bonds, Niekro, Alou, Feliz...

[Andy]

Yeah, and I wouldn't doubt if certain games were played with the juiced ball and others without.

 

S.F. Giants.-30th in home runs

 

It's not like they don't have any power hitters at all either. Bonds, Niekro, Alou, Feliz...

AT&T Park is one of, if not the, worst home run park in all of baseball. Alou did not hit 20 last year, Bonds is well over 40 and juice-less now (presumably), Niekro is in his first season as a starter, and Feliz is a supersub pressed into starting duty.

[srbin84]

Yeah, and I wouldn't doubt if certain games were played with the juiced ball and others without.

 

S.F. Giants.-30th in home runs

 

It's not like they don't have any power hitters at all either. Bonds, Niekro, Alou, Feliz...

AT&T Park is one of, if not the, worst home run park in all of baseball. Alou did not hit 20 last year, Bonds is well over 40 and juice-less now (presumably), Niekro is in his first season as a starter, and Feliz is a supersub pressed into starting duty.

 

Bonds did pretty well in spring training though. I think more than half of his hits were home runs. Feliz is a consistent 20 hr guy. Alou actually has 3 of the 4, so he is doing well.

[erik316wttn]

I'm sure the smaller ballparks of today have something to do with it.

 

What are you comparing it to? Five years ago? Twenty years ago? Fifty?

[dalgreen]

After today's games I think it's getting pretty obvious that something is afoot. I was listening to Dan Patrick's show earlier and there were 9 homers hit in the first 43 minutes of the show. Instantly, it got me believing the juiced ball hype. After seeing Arroyo hit two and Mark freaking Mulder take one yard the other day, I'm pretty much convinced.

 

To me It would make sense, knowing MLB, if they revisited a Juiced Ball in order to make it seem like steriods never really had an effect on baseball. I figured it would be just a matter of time before baseball officials or MLB suck-ups started using this as a smokescreen to take our attention away from the severity of performance enhancing drugs in baseball.

 

Then I turned on ESPN to see them glorifying the great day of homeruns towing the mlb company line saying crap like it's "for the good of baseball." I nearly vomited.

 

Why can't baseball glorify pitching? If stolen bases are a lost art where does great pitching fit in? Baseball just thinks its fans are mindless homerun craving idiots and force feeds us this garbage once again. Who here of the great baseball fans wouldn't take a 1-0 pitching stalemate over a game with three grand slams? Sometimes baseball really makes me sick. It makes me want to watch videos like "When it was a Game" or movies like "For Love of the Game" and "Field of Dreams" to help me believe that baseball is or was America's truest, purest pasttime.

 

Actually, and it's probably bad to say, but I think most fans are mindless homerun craving idiots. There are more "casual" fans than "great" fans, and the "casual" fan is the one I think is mindless. I guess whoever said, "Offense sells tickets......" was right.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

We aren't even 2 weeks into the season, let's not rush to judgment.

[snoodmonger]

48 Home Runs today

 

And Glendon wasn't even pitching.

[Wilson A2000]

I am not sure if the article is online, but the Chicago Tribune has a huge special today on whether the ball is juiced.

[Wilson A2000]

Here it is

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-0604130232apr13,1,3796473.story?coll=chi-sportsnew-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Actually, and it's probably bad to say, but I think most fans are mindless homerun craving idiots. There are more "casual" fans than "great" fans, and the "casual" fan is the one I think is mindless. I guess whoever said, "Offense sells tickets......" was right.

 

That is absolutely correct. The vast majority of "fans" would rather see a 16-12 game than a 1-0 game, and that's who MLB execs will try to appeal to. After all, it's all about the money.

[Derwood]

Does anyone have a list of who yesterday's starting pitchers were? Could have a little something to do with it

[minnesotacubsfan]

you know, I have to say, at least with a juiced ball, the playing field remains level. hr's might be up, but they're up across the board and not just 5-6 meat heads. non-the-less, I would still prefer a deader ball.

[cubweiser03]

Ive been hearing juiced ball for over 15 years. Every so often this turd floats to the surface, must be this years time.

[snoodmonger]

I believe there's been a juiced ball rumor about this time every season for as long as I can remember.

[Gunned]

Actually, and it's probably bad to say, but I think most fans are mindless homerun craving idiots. There are more "casual" fans than "great" fans, and the "casual" fan is the one I think is mindless. I guess whoever said, "Offense sells tickets......" was right.

 

And I personally think that's okay. A lot of fans say that they'd rather see a great pitching duel, but a lot of them only say it because that statement seems quaint and makes them sound like a real baseball purist. Those people aren't any more astute than the folks who ooh and ahh at a long home run.

 

I'm not ashamed at all to say that I like seeing home runs. If you gave me a choice between seeing a 2-1 pitcher's duel between Peavy and Pedro, or a Red Sox-Yankees game where A-Rod, Manny, Ortiz and others combine to hit seven home runs, I'm probably going to opt for the homers. Call me a stupid baseball fan if you wish, but that's just my preference.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

And I personally think that's okay. A lot of fans say that they'd rather see a great pitching duel, but a lot of them only say it because that statement seems quaint and makes them sound like a real baseball purist. Those people aren't any more astute than the folks who ooh and ahh at a long home run.

 

I'm not ashamed at all to say that I like seeing home runs. If you gave me a choice between seeing a 2-1 pitcher's duel between Peavy and Pedro, or a Red Sox-Yankees game where A-Rod, Manny, Ortiz and others combine to hit seven home runs, I'm probably going to opt for the homers. Call me a stupid baseball fan if you wish, but that's just my preference.

 

And I can watch either. A 16-12 game is fun, a 1-0 game is exciting.

[fromthestretch]

After seeing Arroyo hit two and Mark freaking Mulder take one yard the other day, I'm pretty much convinced.

 

Juiced ball or not, that home run that Arroyo hit at Wrigley would still be a home run. He hammered that ball.

[UMFan83]

My conspiracy theory is that the MLB is juicing balls in order to compensate from a drop in HRs in the post steroid era. This makes the steroids era seem over dramatized, and makes it look like it was not as big of a deal as people make it out to be.

 

I don't really believe that, but it sorta makes sense.

[rocket]

it's impossible for the players of today to do things that the older players could do with a level playing field, there must be a reason!

[Banedon]

This is a theory with nothing to back it up, so let that be a disclaimer...

 

What if there were a bunch of pitchers that were on the juice that now have lost enough off their fastball that they're getting hit? Perhaps that would account for the increase in homers?

[Chocolate Milk]

Honesly, couldn't this be proven/disproven pretty quickly? I'm sure that a ball from this year could be tested and compared to balls in previous years. It's can't be that hard to do. Are they just not doing this so they can have something to talk about on sports radio?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Honesly, couldn't this be proven/disproven pretty quickly? I'm sure that a ball from this year could be tested and compared to balls in previous years. It's can't be that hard to do. Are they just not doing this so they can have something to talk about on sports radio?

 

Yes and yes.

[K-Town]

I'm not going to go so far as to say that there's no such things a "juiced ball" and that there are no players using steroids. However, I do believe that there are other reasons that balls fly further. Personally, I think that athletes today are better conditioned and more prepared than athletes of the past (steroids or not). There are more perfectly legal "enhancers", better fitness technology, better equipment, video equipment for analyzing what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong, etc., kids learning the intricacies of hitting at younger and younger ages...... and so on. I think it's just a more advanced game than it used to be.

[K-Town]

Honesly, couldn't this be proven/disproven pretty quickly? I'm sure that a ball from this year could be tested and compared to balls in previous years. It's can't be that hard to do. Are they just not doing this so they can have something to talk about on sports radio?

 

Who do you mean by "they"? Surely some Ordinary Joe could round up a ball from last year and a ball from this year, do some testing, and confirm or put to rest the "juiced ball theory".