So, unless there's some new steroid out there that isn't being tested for, or every pitcher in the league was on some sort of amphetamine, maybe Hawk was onto something when he said the ball was juiced. Either that, or we're not the only ones who saw a few good pitchers struggle to start the year.

 

Hitters have had little trouble producing so far. The .270 major league batting average in the first week was the highest in an opening week since the expansion era began in 1961, the Elias Sports Bureau said Monday.

 

Home runs in the first week were up 10.6 percent from last year and scoring increased 5.3 percent.

 

Teams hit 216 home runs last week and the average of 2.40 per game was the highest in the opening week since 2001's 2.49. Runs per game (10.51) reached a level that hadn't been seen since 2000 (10.68).

 

 

Runs per game, home runs per game

and batting average through Sunday:

Year  R/G  HR/G  Avg.

2006  10.51  2.40  .270

2005  9.98  2.17  .269

2004  9.71  2.22  .267

2003  10.03  2.18  .261

2002  8.97  1.90  .251

2001  9.96  2.49  .261

2000  10.68  2.74  .267

Maybe the WBC has something to do with this

Hawk said the ball is juiced the other day, and watching the way the ball is carrying in all these games, he might be onto something. Actually Steve Stone was asked about Hawk's comment on the Score today and said he wouldn't be surprised if baseball tried to make up for less juiced players by juicing the baseballs themselves.

Another possibility is that it could a little warmer this April than in the past. But looking through the weather reports I can't say that for certain.