1998 Juiced Baseballs

hiaspire · 01-04-2007, 11:53 AM

ESPN.com - MLB - Computer study claims 1998 baseballs were juiced

Baseball is the ultimate "numbers" game, but here is just another reason not to rely upon those numbers absolutely when judging across different periods in time.

If it is indeed the case that baseball juiced the balls for a more entertaining product in 1998, I don't think the effect on our own Rockies team was as great as it was throughout the game that saw records being shattered. There were other team and talent circumstances and issues that had larger impacts during that time of franchise transition.

The Blake Street Bombers were cooling down at that point in time (in Baylor's last season), and team HRs actually dropped fairly significantly for us in 1998 to 183 from a franchise high 239 the season before. The Rox hit 40 more team HRs in 1999, but I guess we'll await further computer testing on baseballs from those years. Not only were we unable to pound the juiced balls over the wall as often, but we were scoring less than usual with those 1998 balls. They averaged 5.10 runs/game compared to 5.7 the year before and 5.59 afterwards. Team batting average and OBP remained somewhat consistent, but SLG percentage fell from .478 to .461 in 1998.

Vinny Castilla benefitted the most in 1998, setting career highs with 46 HRs while hitting .319. He had just one more year in Coors before hitting .221 with 6 HRs for Tampa. Helton also got off to a very good start in his young career with a strong first full season in 1998.

The pitching was actually pretty decent in 1998 for us comparatively. The 5.28 runs/game was the lowest in franchise history until 2006 with our recent pitching improvements. Our staff also gave up far fewer HRs in 1998 than the previous or following season. The 5.00 team ERA was the second lowest in team history at that time - just a tick behind the playoff squad (3rd lowest now).

Overall, there was a jump in overall league HRs from 1997 to 1998, but things were just getting started with even more increases to come in 1999 and 2000.

Hopefully they get a chance to examine some baseballs from those additional seasons. I think they are going to need more evidence though, besides just a ball or two for each year to measure the full effect. At least if there is proof of some manipulation, then we can fairly question and reexamine the matter. But who knows if all baseballs were doctored uniformly or if some of the juiced ones were sporadically mixed in to the otherwise normal batch for a less noticeable impact. If so, that makes the recorded numbers for specific individuals and particular events in those impacted instances quite unfairly evaluated. We must also consider that if balls were altered, that they wouldn't benefit everyone equally, and that would play into the game of some more than others who were undeservedly valued higher due to circumstance.

Maybe this will be the start of some real evidence that places the offensive explosion in proper context (along with whatever medical evidence is uncovered in terms of performance enhancing drugs), and illustrates that you can't always trust the numbers.

01-04-2007, 11:53 AM	#1 (permalink)
hiaspire Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 479	1998 Juiced Baseballs ESPN.com - MLB - Computer study claims 1998 baseballs were juiced Baseball is the ultimate "numbers" game, but here is just another reason not to rely upon those numbers absolutely when judging across different periods in time. If it is indeed the case that baseball juiced the balls for a more entertaining product in 1998, I don't think the effect on our own Rockies team was as great as it was throughout the game that saw records being shattered. There were other team and talent circumstances and issues that had larger impacts during that time of franchise transition. The Blake Street Bombers were cooling down at that point in time (in Baylor's last season), and team HRs actually dropped fairly significantly for us in 1998 to 183 from a franchise high 239 the season before. The Rox hit 40 more team HRs in 1999, but I guess we'll await further computer testing on baseballs from those years. Not only were we unable to pound the juiced balls over the wall as often, but we were scoring less than usual with those 1998 balls. They averaged 5.10 runs/game compared to 5.7 the year before and 5.59 afterwards. Team batting average and OBP remained somewhat consistent, but SLG percentage fell from .478 to .461 in 1998. Vinny Castilla benefitted the most in 1998, setting career highs with 46 HRs while hitting .319. He had just one more year in Coors before hitting .221 with 6 HRs for Tampa. Helton also got off to a very good start in his young career with a strong first full season in 1998. The pitching was actually pretty decent in 1998 for us comparatively. The 5.28 runs/game was the lowest in franchise history until 2006 with our recent pitching improvements. Our staff also gave up far fewer HRs in 1998 than the previous or following season. The 5.00 team ERA was the second lowest in team history at that time - just a tick behind the playoff squad (3rd lowest now). Overall, there was a jump in overall league HRs from 1997 to 1998, but things were just getting started with even more increases to come in 1999 and 2000. Hopefully they get a chance to examine some baseballs from those additional seasons. I think they are going to need more evidence though, besides just a ball or two for each year to measure the full effect. At least if there is proof of some manipulation, then we can fairly question and reexamine the matter. But who knows if all baseballs were doctored uniformly or if some of the juiced ones were sporadically mixed in to the otherwise normal batch for a less noticeable impact. If so, that makes the recorded numbers for specific individuals and particular events in those impacted instances quite unfairly evaluated. We must also consider that if balls were altered, that they wouldn't benefit everyone equally, and that would play into the game of some more than others who were undeservedly valued higher due to circumstance. Maybe this will be the start of some real evidence that places the offensive explosion in proper context (along with whatever medical evidence is uncovered in terms of performance enhancing drugs), and illustrates that you can't always trust the numbers. Last edited by hiaspire; 01-04-2007 at 11:59 AM.