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We X-Rayed Some MLB Baseballs. Here’s What We Found.

Accepted submission by canopic jug at 2018-05-27 07:36:56
Science

FiveThirtyEight takes a look inside the balls used in major league baseball using X-rays [fivethirtyeight.com] to see what has been pysically changed in recent times. The physical changes are probably the main cause of the upswing in home runs noticed. Multiple independent investigations have shown differences in the characteristics of the balls and the way they perform.

MLB and its commissioner, Rob Manfred, have repeatedly denied rumors that the ball has been altered in any way — or “juiced” — to generate more homers. But a large and growing body of research shows that, beginning in the middle of the 2015 season, the MLB baseball began to fly further. And new research commissioned by “ESPN Sport Science,” a show that breaks down the science of sports,1 suggests that MLB baseballs used after the 2015 All-Star Game were subtly but consistently different than older baseballs. The research, performed by the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and Kent State University’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, reveals changes in the density and chemical composition of the baseball’s core — and provides our first glimpse inside the newer baseballs.


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