MLB Daily Thread: juiced balls?

[Diamondeye]

We X-Rayed Some MLB Baseballs. Here’s What We Found.

It's probably not a coincidence, given the changes occurred amid a persistent decline in slugging percentages.

I'm not really sure why less HRs scared MLB so much.

For me, the steroid era, where everyone was just standing around the bases, waiting for some Paul Bunyan-looking drug addict to either crank a ball 500 feet or strike out was boring as hell.

Whether it's juiced players or juiced balls, the game loses something when HR totals are inflated, as base running and and defense lose a lot of emphasis.

 

[JohnU]

In reading this, it seems to me that Rawlings has found a way to cut a sliver off the cost of producing something that -- a million times over -- could result in a large savings. The effect is a juiced ball, but that seems to be a side effect of cutting costs. Unless MLB tells Rawlings to return to its older formula, the balls we see in play are going to be the same as before. Variables are not going to be changed. The half-gram is irrelevant until a pitcher is a half-gram stronger, then it becomes a whole gram.

Telegram.
Fangram.
Gramcracker.