ESPN MLB Conversation

buddythebowler

IMHO, the biggest loss to hitters and, to a lesser extent, pitchers has been the testing for amphetamines rather than steroids. In years past if a player got to feeling beat up by a 20 games in 20 days stretch he could get a little help from a greenie or two - but not now. Now he faces a 50 game suspension. If the schedule makers could (or would) allow for more off days so players could rest we might see some changes in offense. The other option might be to increase the 25 man roster to, say, 27 thus allowing for players to keep their batteries charged.
328 Days ago

induril

the soriano teaser was great. i'm dying to know what he's done in that situation. figured stark would give he answer at the end but no...
329 Days ago

NYRTb4Life

Great article and great read. Jayson Stark is a phenomonal writer. Always backs his points up with csome cold hard facts.
337 Days ago

banzai51

I'd like to highlight the stupidity of baseball PED-denialists from the late 1990s/early 2000s. "Steroids don't help you hit a baseball" The numbers say they do.
337 Days ago

lawcane04

Do Chicks dig the Shut-out as well?
339 Days ago

CET62

Stark didn't mention an obvious point, which is that baseball has finally absorbed the effects of the last expansion. There has always been an offensive explosion after every expansion, which was helped this time around because one of the new teams was in Colorado.
339 Days ago

junmengo

how about a crazy theory? maybe we're around a really talented pool of pitchers like never before? i know mindblowing
339 Days ago

Spirt of Saint Louis

lol yu darvish instead a person like weaver on the cover come on
340 Days ago

golfingary1111

Awesome article attendance is up for baseball as well. Apparently not everyone loves to attend a 5 hour game.
340 Days ago

obsessivegiantscompulsive

These are all very good data points. One you missed is the possibility that baseball ordained this by changing the composition of the baseballs. See Eric Walker - of the Sinister Firstbaseman and A's stats guru fame - explanation of what his analysis has found regarding both the offensive explosion and PEDs. http://highboskage.com/juiced-ball.shtml http://steroids-and-baseball.com/changing-baseball.shtml http://steroids-and-baseball.com/ Basically his analysis shows that the offensive rise does not make sense given a PEDs gradual usage scenario, plus his research shows that steroids did not help anyone play baseball better anyway, so that could not be the reason. Therefore, one could conclude that the MLB juiced the ball in the 1993-4 time frame. His analysis hasn't dug into the drop in offense, but given the above, one could conclude that baseball decided to switch the ball's composition back to it's original composition to return offense to prior levels. And basically, it started happening after baseball instituted its PED policy and started to crack down on usage, which coincidentally, makes it look like baseball's crackdown led to the downturn, not that they caused it themselves by switching the ball.
340 Days ago

ImSmartherThanYou

Why is Yu Darvish pictured?
340 Days ago

Bigrigtex

His record 8-4 his era 3.57 SO 88 thats why!
337 Days ago

Spirt of Saint Louis

exactaly
340 Days ago

absolutevotta

great article. fantastic way to pass the time at work as a cubicle monkey. i haven't decided whether or not i like the new baseball. i like some aspects and dislike others. how rare is it to be bat .300, hit 40 homers, and 125 rbi now? has anybody done it recently? Joey Bats came close, but his stats look suspicious: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bautijo02.shtml .
340 Days ago

hawk2316heels

when you cant use steroids anymore of course the home run numbers are gonna go down and the pitching numbers are gonna go up
340 Days ago

bigfat1972

well, maybe not if the juice is more effective at building muscles that help you hit the ball far vs. throwing hard big muscles and throwing hard do not necessarily have much to do with eachother, though there has certainly been a strong legs/stocky build among many power pitchers over the years (seaver, clemens, schil, kindah had the same build), but then the big unit didn't throw hard because of any muscles in his body, tim lencencum doesn't have a muscle in his body and neither did pedro during his prime. of course hitting the ball out doesn't require huge muscles either (aaron, mays and more recently granderson, soriano -- "wirey" strong guys), though it probably doesn't hurt and helps for tape measure shots.
340 Days ago

ImSmartherThanYou

Uh... wouldn't you expect to see a similar dropoff in pitching numbers, and pitchers throwing fewer innings?
340 Days ago

bigfat1972

wow, what an overblown article. yes, we have moved out of the era of absurd offensive numbers where all but a few elite pitchers were getting pounded out there, but we aren't even close to 1980s numbers (except maybe 1987). in the AL alone there are 15 guys on pace for 30 or more HRs, 6 guys on pace for 40 or more, 14 on pace for 100+ RBIs, 13 on pace for 100 runs. I haven't looked at the NL, but the #s are probably similar. For more of the 80's regularly hitting 20 or more HRs a year got you classified as a power hitter (what did George Brett average, for example?). I'd need to run the numbers, but I wonder if there might be 50-75 guys in the AL on pace for 20+. seriously, unless you are really high OBP guy, a speedster or a gold glove calibre defender, nowadays basically 5 (not including the DH) are basically off limits to you as the expectation is 20+ HR pop out of those positions. heck, 4 regulars in baseball are hitting over .350! there's plenty of offense, not withstanding the fact that some teams like the As may only have 2 or 3 viable major league hitters.
340 Days ago

bigfat1972

i had actually thought stark might be better than most. schoenfeld drives me nuts as do both the espnNY writers, who are really idjits
340 Days ago

ImSmartherThanYou

You're expecting an E!SPN baseball writer to actually understand baseball history. All they're expected to do is write sensationalist talking pieces so that they have something to discuss when they appear on Baseball Tonight later on.
340 Days ago

Wizards and Dragons Guy

Baseball needs hitters and charismatic players if it ever has a chane of getting back to its glory in par with football. Monday night football had more viewers than a game of the world series which is sad. On top of that basketball is seeing its highest viewed playoffs currently. Baseball needs some sort of modern revival or a player like Barry bonds and McGuire who get people to turn on the tv.
340 Days ago