Baseball is one
of America’s proudest traditions. It is America’s sport. Therefore,
whenever a change in the game occurs, the fans often react in extreme.
Such has been the case too often within the past ten years. The explosion
of offense in recent years has caused riots within the newspapers across
the nation. Numerous articles have been written about how the balls
are juiced, the athletes are drugged, and the pitchers are weak.
Indeed, all of these responses may hold some merit; however, the results
pretty amusing. If there hadn’t been change over the years, the nation
would be salivating over a twelve-team league that is comprised of white
athletes, and little exposure. However, baseball has changed.
It is no secret that the majority of today’s fans enjoy power hitters,
and homeruns, in particular. Heck, even a Nike commercial focuses
on two of the game’s best pitchers admitting, “Chicks dig the long ball.”
The evolution of the
high-scoring games has been exaggerated. Usually there are one or
two high scoring games per day. The epitome of a typical day in baseball
occurred June 20. The attention of most baseball fans was on the
Yankees’ rout of the Red Sox. The Yankees scored 22 runs, on 19 hits
and five homeruns. The screams were heard across the nation about
how 22 runs are unacceptable and proof of the deterioration of America’s
sport. This could not be further from the truth. After all,
the Red Sox were held to a single run. Scores around the Majors that
day included 2-1, 2-0, 6-1, 5-2, and 3-2. On June 20th the Yankees
played a great game. Boston made a few errors, and young pitchers
made rookie mistakes. The next day, the Yankees treated the nation
to a 3-0 win over the Red Sox. Although the scoring trend has undoubtedly
gone up the past decade, the balance of high-scoring games and pitching
duels, have still maintained a comfort levehe upward scoring trend can
be attributed to six logical reasons that demonstrate baseball’s adaptation
to the new millennium. Many critics point to the Major League Baseball’s
as being “juiced,” and for that reason sail out of ballparks like Tiger
Wood’s golf balls. The noise surrounding the possibility of juiced
baseballs forced Major League executives to investigate the situation.
The results have been noted as recent as June 21, when Sandy Alderson,
the commissioner’s executive vice president of baseball operations said,
“The balls today are at the upper end of the spectrum.” Alderson
refers to Rawling’s Major League baseballs being livelier than those in
the past; however, they still fit the Major league restrictions that have
been used in the baseball-making industry throughout the past two decades
may be the result of this jurisdiction. Machines that manufacture
the baseballs are more precise. Therefore, all baseballs are nearly
identical. Orel Hershiser said that in the previous decade he remembered
throwing baseballs of different size and weight. Pitchers chose baseballs
that had thicker stitching, and therefore could put movement on the pitches.
The livelier and more precise baseballs used give an advantage to the hitters.
Technology has
also hurt the game in another facet. The gadgets used today often
give hitters more practice than it does for the pitchers. In fact,
some of the pitching tools have a negative affect on Major League Baseball.
Such is the case for the invention of the radar gun. In the 1950’s
pitchers were hired and drafted because they simply had the ability to
get batters out. In today’s game, pitchers are groomed to throw in
the high 90s. In doing that, pitchers are more apt to injuries than
ever before. In addition, velocity doesn’t necessarily translate
into wins. There are many pitchers in the game today who throw in
the upper ninties but still cant get batters out. The consistent
Rick Reeds and Ramiro Mendozas are often passed over in drafts for the
Dave Mlickis and Mark Wohlers.
The expansion
of America over the previous century led to the expansion of baseball.
Within the past forty years, the Major Leagues grew from 16 to 30 teams.
In the 1960s nearly every team had a dominant ace pitcher who would make
up part of a four-man rotation. In 2000, there are many teams who
lack a solid pitcher. An example is the Detroit Tigers whose leading
pitcher has nearly 3 times fewer wins than the leading pitcher in the league.
In addition, the teams who have solid aces such as the Boston Red Sox with
Pedro Martinez, are left to vie for four others pitchers who can start
the other games of the week.
The complete
game has become a rarity in today’s age because of the vast amount of injuries
and the more distinct roles of pitchers. In the 1940s, ball clubs
had starting pitchers, and some relievers to pitch if the starter got injured
or struggled. In today’s game, managers assign a starter to go six
to seven innings. Then there are middle relievers in charge of the
seventh and eighth innings. The ninth inning is left for the team’s
closer who often throws the hardest on the pitching staff. All of
these duties ask for too many role players. It is tough enough to
find five solid pitchers for the starting rotation. Finding several
talented relief pitchers and closers is impossible for 30 teams to fulfill.
The expansion of baseball is simply too great for the talent pool of pitchers.
This is why you’ll see Major League teams scout in other nations more than
ever.
In the current
era, being fit is a social desire. Therefore, the evolution of workout
facilities has been introduced in nearly every community. These facilities
can be used by athletes to further take advantage of their natural athletic
talents. The prosperity of muscle supplements in recent times has
also enhanced to fitness of today’s athletes as well. Creatine and
Androtesterone, to name a few, have been publicized because of the its
use by big name power hitters, such as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
The strength of today’s hitters has led
to an increase in two major batting statistics. The homerun has certainly
risen in recent years, as twenty homeruns no longer makes a batter a power
hitter. In fact, prior to the halfway mark, 33 batters had twenty
homeruns. The other statistic on the rise is the strikeout.
Having 100 whiffs in a season is no longer an embarrassing statistic.
In fact, Sammy Sosa often has 170 whiffs per season. The high salaries
for these power-hitters are proof that the 30 homers are more important
to baseball fans than the 150 strikeouts.
The fan’s enjoyment of the homerun has
led to baseball clubs doing everything in their ability to increase the
amount of homeruns. Therefore teams have deserted the stadiums that
reached 360 feet down the right and left field lines for 310 and 320 feet
fences. This is most obvious in Houston where the pitcher-friendly
Astrodome was deserted for Enron stadium. Pitchers have different
ways of relying on outs. There are the groundball pitchers who thrive
on the infielders to make plays. There are also many pitchers who
rely on the outfielders as much, by challenging hitters with pitches in
the high strike zone. Such is the case for Houston’s Jose Lima who
last year won twenty games while pitching in the Astrodome, but this year
is struggling to avoid twenty losses while pitching in Enron Stadium.
The routine high pops that some pitchers hope for, are leaving the yard
at a greater pace than ever before. With the routine high pops clearing
the fences, pitchers face a great disadvantage.
Another factor in favor of the power hitters
of our time, is the ever-shrinking strike zone. Umpires are an underrated
facet of the game. The most talented pitchers have an uncanny ability
of placing the ball exactly at the corners and at the top and bottom of
the strike-zone. If the umpires refuse to call those pitches as strikes,
the batters have a clear advantage. Once the batters have the count
in their favor, they can zone a pitch and swing for the fences. The
strike zone has shrunk so much that in these days throwing inside is nearly
outlawed.
All of the above
clearly prove that baseball has changed within the past twenty years.
However, change is not a bad thing! The power hitters such as Mark
McGwire and Sammy Sosa fill the stands with fans who clearly appreciate
the game. At the same token, ace pitchers such as Pedro Martinez
and Randy Johnson draw millions of viewers who are amazed by their dominance.
Baseball is America’s pastime. Like America, Major League Baseball
has gone through many positive changes throughout the twentieth century.
There is nothing wrong with watching an exciting 9-7 game.