Company Claims '98 Baseballs Were Juiced

AP ^ | 4 Jan 07

[xzins]

Company Claims '98 Baseballs Were Juiced

January 04, 2007 12:13 AM EST CLEVELAND - A company that uses computer imaging claims baseballs had a larger rubberized core and a synthetic rubber ring in 1998, including the ball Mark McGwire hit for his 70th homer.

Universal Medical Systems Inc. said Wednesday that with the assistance of Drs. Avrami S. Grader and Dr. Philip M. Halleck from The Center for Quantitative Imaging at Penn State, it took images of 1998 baseballs.

"Examining the CT images of Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball one can clearly see the synthetic ring around the core - or 'pill' - of the baseball," UMS president David Zavagno said. "While Mark McGwire may or may not have used illegal steroids, the evidence shows his ball - under the governing body of the league - was juiced."

But Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said the core of the ball has been unchanged for decades. Rawlings has been the exclusive supplier of baseballs to the major leagues since 1977.

"All of our balls are subject to rigorous quality control standards and testing conducted by Rawlings," DuPuy said. "No changes have been made to the core of the ball through the entire time they have manufactured it."

UMS specifically examined the ball McGwire hit for No. 70 - a record surpassed when Barry Bonds hit 73 homers in 2001. Zavagno said the company tested about 35 baseballs in all.

McGwire is on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year, and results will be announced Tuesday by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

"The synthetic rubber ring of the modern-day baseball, in this case that of Mark McGwire's prized 70th home run ball, acts as both a spring and a `stop,'" Zavagno said. "Much like a sling shot pulled back 10 or 20 degrees farther than normal, the subsequent restitution or rebound allows an object to fly faster and farther."

Baseball spokesman Rich Levin said what UMS calls a rubber ring is more like a cardboard washer.

"We are satisfied that the ball comports with all major league specifications," DuPuy said. "Beginning in 2000, we have had annual independent testing done by UMass at Lowell, baseball research center, under the direction of Dr. James Sherwood, and those tests have showed full compliance with standards."

[traditional1]

"the balls being made in Central America were being wound too tight"

I think I've found the cause of "moonbatism".....

[johnny7]

It was wise to give the paying fans what they wanted, more excitment and suspense.

Real entertainment would be replacing the baseball with a golfball... and playing on pavement.

[wagglebee]

The owners who were willing to ignore the rampant cheating in the game would surely not be above tweaking the equipment to increase their revenue.

I don't think the balls were altered, but I agree that the major problem with baseball is the owners. They have ignored every problem simply to generate higher profits -- don't get me wrong, I'm all for higher profits, but when the cheating becomes widespread enough, baseball will no longer be a sport, but simple entertainment like "professional" wrestling.

I've said for years that the only chance baseball has to restore its credibility is to get a legitimate commissioner. Bud Selig is a de facto owner who was appointed as "acting" commissioner and then after a few years baseball just dropped the acting portion since they never intended to even look for a truly impartial commissioner.

[TankerKC]

... baseball will no longer be a sport, but simple entertainment like "professional" wrestling.

Then they can join the NBA, NFL & NASCAR.

[wagglebee]

LMAO!

[Mr. Jeeves]

While player doping may have been widespread in 1998, it is doubtful that the distribution of the increase in home runs would be so uniform across all batters, and shouldn't the pitchers have shown some sort of improvement from doping to counteract the hitters? A juiced baseball is so much more likely the cause as it is the one constant used in all games by all players, and it is the easiest change to accomplish.

Exactly, and it also explains all the faux outrage by MLB over steroid use - just an attepmt to redirect attention away from the juiced balls. Steroids keep players off the DL, but they don't improve bat speed or hand-eye coordination.

[wagglebee]

Maybe someday the only "true" professional sport will be hockey! It's nearly impossible to juice a hockey stick or a puck and it's played by medium-sized white guys who are wearing too much clothing to show off multiple tattoos or gaudy jewelry.

[xzins]

The only pure sport is track and field.

The clock or tape tells the tale.

[wagglebee]

I would put golf in pretty much the same category.

[dfwgator]

It's nearly impossible to juice a hockey stick

You can as long as the other team doesn't find out and orders a "stick check," to make sure the stick isn't curved too much. That was a huge factor in the Stanley Cup Finals back in 93 between the Kings and Canadiens.

[discostu]

Except of course that juicing has been rampant in track and field since before the major American sport leagues could even spell steroid.

[wagglebee]

That's true, but it's a lot easier to spot than a corked baseball bat.

[discostu]

You can juice a hockey, in fact within the rules it's already done. Check out a super slow-mo of a slapshot, notice how the stick bends because the player actually hits the ice with the stick behind the puck, then the straightening of the stick adds force and speed to the slapshot. Players seek after sticks that can bend further and snap back to straight faster while breaking less. So far for the most part those are mutually exclusive goals (harder snap backs usually result in increased fragility), but eventually somebody is going to find the super material.

[xzins]

That's a given. The difference with track and field is in the competition itself.

The sport is the athlete.

[Right Wing Assault]

The construction of the ball, though, could still be checked. Just saw some in half and look. Time in an attic wouldn't change construction would it?

That's true. That's why I started my post by saying that I knew they were just imaging (looking at structure rather than physically hitting them). I was just tossing in the heat factor in reference to those people actually smack them and see how fast they go.

[labette]

I still like to consider the endless variables when these discussions come up. {ball park dimensions, overall quality of MLB pitching, lack of "knockdown" pitching, batting order arrangement, the DH rule, etc, etc}

We were hearing "juiced" ball and "corked" bat stories back in the mid eighties, and for good reason IMO.

"Apparently so were the players. "

Of course, you're quite right. I searched for the most "muscled up" photo I could find of Roger Maris. Here it is.

Perhaps players conditioned more for flexibility instead of maximum strength back then? Maybe.
But then I look at pics of Barry Bonds taken a few years apart.

Not only is his body obviously bulkier, even his face looks like it belongs to someone else.

[riverdawg]

"I would put golf in pretty much the same category."

I've played golf off-and-on for 45 years. The present-day equipment technology (graphite shafts, oversized titanium club heads, etc.) has made golf a very different game, at every level, than it was in the past. Anyone who watches college baseball, with its aluminum bats, knows how very different it is than MLB or even the Cape Cod League.