Quote:
Originally Posted by Syd Thrift
They did dejuice the balls prior to the season so now HR rates are merely at the rate they were in the early 2000s.
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Yes and no. HR per 9 innings are the same as they were in 99 and 00, but back then the ratios were 1.2 HR vs 9.4 Hits and now it's 1.2 HR vs 8.1 Hits. If strikeouts start going down I wouldn't be surprised if new HR records were set every year. Maybe not individual ones since we haven't had an expansion since 98, but league wide there are going to be a ton. Or not, I don't really expect MLB's changes to do much. Supposedly the focus on spinrate and using grip to enhance that only started about 5 years ago, and the K/9 rate was already over 8 at that point.