Despite Research that Shows Otherwise, MLB Insists There Were No Changes to Postseason Baseballs

Hopefully there's something to this and we can get back to playing baseball next year. The postseason (aside from the Twins) has been filled with really good BASEBALL so far and it's fun to watch.

The ball is back to what it was?

The Twins record has a chance of standing for many years?

Cool.

Well Ruth would probably strike out 300 times having never seen a modern slider or a 95 MPH fastball in his life.

But that obviously just reinforces the same point.

Good take, but I suspect that Ruth would have grown up with the same advantages as today's athletes and would have enjoyed sending those 95 mph fastballs out of numerous stadiums and might have put the HR record into outer space.  

Sue for lost wages? The Twins were outscored 23-7 in the series, and hit one HR less than the Yankees. Were both teams' batters facing the same baseballs?

 

We need to move on from this.

I'm still convinced they should have kept the pine trees...

Totally expected something like this to come next year (though it seems a bit too much), but it can’t happen between the regular and post season.

Why? As long as they use the same balls for both teams I don’t see the problem.

By comparison, Manfred is a baseball lifer (20-30 years now) and MLB probably doesn't have the same kind of silent, behind-the-curtain committee controlling things behind him. Not to mention the difference in size/scope of MLB and NPB, or the USA and Japan.

Committee? No. Behind the scenes stuff that never sees the light of public? Absolutely.

Gabe Kapler should be sitting in prison right now and should never work again in baseball, but things told to the commish's office were never moved beyond there and nothing was ever pressed legally, so here we sit.

Executives still are intentionally excluding applicants due to race/gender/other social groupings. The game knows it, but until someone goes to a private lawyer and the civil courts on the issue, nothing will happen as complaints to the league office tend to end with hush money or a position with another team that's more welcoming.

This stuff happens in the game constantly and doesn't get out simply because there's not enough there to really do a full expose style story on it. One thing I have had confirmed from other viewers of the same program is that MLB Network's morning show leaked that the ball would be different in the playoffs in a discussion about what ball would be used in the Arizona Fall League. While the majority of the show repeats in the second hour, that particular segment oddly did not, and it was cut off in a weird way as it happened as well. I've searched and searched for any clip of that segment to no avail, but two fellow watchers of the same program confirmed seeing the same segment, so it's not just my conspiracy brain at work.

I do struggle with even using that word, though. When the commish has made enemies of the owners and the players because of unilateral moves to the game emanating from his office, is changing the ball without notice really a conspiracy or simply the next unilateral move?

We'll never know, but I believe Ruth had the talent to adapt to such pitches and succeed. He was far superior to every other batter of his time and I think the same would be true if he played in the modern game.

Those who faced Ruth and players of color in the era stated that while Ruth was among the best in the game at the time, there were multiple hitters whose skin never allowed them to play in the major leagues that were superior hitters, especially when reviewing Ruth's performance against similar Negro Leagues pitchers.

Why? As long as they use the same balls for both teams I don’t see the problem.

Teams construct their roster based upon how the ball played in the regular season. A team that couldn't buy a hit in the regular season (Cardinals) got numerous hits on sub-70 MPH exit velocity balls that had very odd hops down the line. Teams whose offense focused around the lively ball suddenly had balls dying that scored runs a week prior. It essentially negates all the regular season was as far as team-building.

I've been able to secure two pitchers who said the ball moved significantly different for them on the mound in the playoffs versus regular season. Neither is ready to go on record yet about it, but in the 2017 postseason, the same ball that would suddenly start flying out of stadiums in mid-2018 caused Verlander to gripe publicly and Darvish to go from the Dodgers' savior for the final two months of the year to completely useless in the World Series as his slider wouldn't break due to what he and Verlander both reported were lower seams.

Changing the ball that significantly for the postseason is akin to telling teams that their work in team construction is all useless.

Sounds like baseball's version of deflate gate. You would think that the balls would have to meet a very specific measurable standard period. The fact that evidently they don't speaks for itself. All that is needed would be an Iron Byron baseball batter to hit different balls off a tee and observe the results.

Early in the season I stumbled on a link concerning a professor at Washington State, IIRC, who was asked to do research on the 2019 ML baseball. (No, sorry, I don't have the link). While testing was not complete, and results not to be made public until complete and turned over to the MLB powers that be, early returns suggested lower seams that produced less drag, thus greater hitting/travel distance.

Baseball itself made comments earlier in the year there was no altering of the baseball, but they felt better, more consistent manufacturing techniques could create small variations in the construction. A more centered pill, tighter-lower seams, etc.

So is there a conspiracy? Or is it a different ball for the playoffs due to weather, a different batch made at a different time and stored differently?

Personally, I don't see a conspiracy. I see variations of factors creating variations in performance. You'd think, if anything, MLB would want the HR ball while so much attention is being focused on them for exciting ratings purposes.

Early in the season I stumbled on a link concerning a professor at Washington State, IIRC, who was asked to do research on the 2019 ML baseball. (No, sorry, I don't have the link). While testing was not complete, and results not to be made public until complete and turned over to the MLB powers that be, early returns suggested lower seams that produced less drag, thus greater hitting/travel distance.

 

Baseball itself made comments earlier in the year there was no altering of the baseball, but they felt better, more consistent manufacturing techniques could create small variations in the construction. A more centered pill, tighter-lower seams, etc.

 

So is there a conspiracy? Or is it a different ball for the playoffs due to weather, a different batch made at a different time and stored differently?

 

Personally, I don't see a conspiracy. I see variations of factors creating variations in performance. You'd think, if anything, MLB would want the HR ball while so much attention is being focused on them for exciting ratings purposes.

Or... The mlb feared the Twins lineup so much they had to change the balls. Don't underestimate how much everyone hates the twins.