October 25, 201015 yr I got my first baseball at a game in 1984. It was actually down at the old Arlington Stadium, and it was from Ron Kittle and a few other Sox players at the time who were playing pepper out in LF. A couple of months ago while at a Gary Railcats minor league game I got a foul ball, and ended up giving it to my oldest kid. So today I broke out my Ron Kittle ball to show the kids my first baseball. I was amazed at how far out the seams on the ball from the 80's were as compared to the ball from 2010. The new ball almost felt smooth on the seams compared to how far out they were on the old ball. Anyone know if something atmospheric could cause that big of a difference, or are the baseballs just that much more different today?
October 25, 201015 yr They have definitely changed the baseballs since then. Bigger seams give the pitcher more leverage for rotation and bigger spin on pitches. They have made the seams as small as possible now to benefit the hitter. Same as the lowering of the mounds and other such things they have done over history to "nerf" the pitcher.
October 25, 201015 yr The balls from high school to college have definitely had more subdued seams, and I agree from handling balls I've acquired from pro games that those balls have practically no seams. I hate those things. I'm a sinkerballer and the ball moves less when the seams stick out less.
October 26, 201015 yr QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 25, 2010 -> 06:50 PM) The balls from high school to college have definitely had more subdued seams, and I agree from handling balls I've acquired from pro games that those balls have practically no seams. I hate those things. I'm a sinkerballer and the ball moves less when the seams stick out less. That caused me to stop reading for a second to let out a nice, loud "HA!"
October 26, 201015 yr QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 25, 2010 -> 06:23 PM) That caused me to stop reading for a second to let out a nice, loud "HA!" I was just about to post the same thing. Funny stuff.
October 26, 201015 yr QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 26, 2010 -> 02:59 AM) Wow, back to lurking I go! Don't stop posting. I've been buried and lambasted before. They were just jokin with you. Post away. Just say no to lurking.
October 26, 201015 yr College baseballs have huge seams. It is pretty crazy, to this day whenever I throw with them I end up getting mad blistage action on my finger cause I'm just not used to those sort of seams.
October 28, 201015 yr QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 25, 2010 -> 11:28 PM) Don't stop posting. I've been buried and lambasted before. They were just jokin with you. Post away. Just say no to lurking. I was just joking really. I don't post much due to tremendous college homework load.
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