A major topic of conversation around baseball this year has been the increased home run rate and what the baseballs used have to do with it, with some believing that MLB is manipulating them to make them fly farther.
Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon wasn’t going to fling wild accusations around. But on Sunday, he not only joked about their resemblance to golf balls in a certain way, but also suggested that there wasn’t always consistency with the baseballs used in games.
Joe Maddon on the difference in the baseballs: “You could just have stamped Titleist on the side of these things.”
— Jared Wyllys (@jwyllys) July 7, 2019
He also said that the baseballs feel smaller to him, and in one case, two game balls felt like they were different sizes.
— Jared Wyllys (@jwyllys) July 7, 2019
There’s no specific evidence here, and it’s simply a matter of what Maddon thinks he felt. It’s interesting all the same, and it would be intriguing to learn if any pitchers felt the same way.
MLB has admitted that there may be something about the baseballs making them fly further, but commissioner Rob Manfred suggested it has more to do with the manufacturing than any action on MLB’s part. That won’t stop some within the game from feeling that there’s far more at work.
