Dosent count the ball got lighter when Aaron judge and pujols homerun chases made mlb a lot of money so the made it easier for the players to hit the homeruns
Manfred changed the balls multiple times and didn’t do anything about the Astro’s cheating it’s ridiculous this man should be fired without a doubt get a new commissioner that cares about baseball
Ever since MLB purchased Rawlings (the official ball supplier) in 2018, the ball has changed quite more frequently, from juiced, to dead, to mixed ups rather than consistently balanced.
I did not know that. Seems like a complete conflict of interest right there. MLB can clearly dictate what they want as proven since the purchase. Very interesting.
they probably juiced up some of the balls at some point last season because the ball was definately leaving the ballpark less frequently at the beginning of the season
It's like MLB has three different baseballs. Pre-Season, Season, the juiced Postseason ball. Then MLB shifts attention on the pitchers for adjusting to the different balls with new sticky ways to keep the spin rate up.
I agree. Even with Puljos and the chase for 700 home runs. He was at 698 when the Cardinals came to San Diego. I believe MLB used flat balls during the Padres vs. Cardinals series to ensure that Puljos would get to 700 in LA against the Dodgers. The Dodgers were the next series and Puljos launched 2 home runs the next game against the Dodgers. I also think the games against the Padres were very low scoring. We know how everything is manipulated nowadays, everything that we consume from food, medicine, entertainment, politics, reality shows, everything is manipulated or managed. I sick of being lied to by every corporation trying to squeeze every nickle and dime out of us consumers. Same baloney happens in the NFL. Why won't they let fans keep game balls that go into the stands? It doesn't happen that often and it's not like the NFL can't afford it. Plus what a great experience for a fan to get a NFL football. I think a Raiders fan got arrested because he would not give back the game ball. Everything is manipulated.
Great video as always, but one major omission. MLB purchased Rawlings in 2018. That’s damning evidence in itself. How could Manfred not know exactly what was going on with the baseballs.
I’d say if the baseballs are to do with it, it says more about the league than Judge They did juice the baseballs in 2019 for power hitters as well because I think pitchers like Starsburg (Gerrit Cole too) were on the market A bit of an asterisk but there’s always an asterisk to everything
For Babe Ruth: pre integration* For Barry Bonds: Steroids* For Aaron Judge: juiced balls* At this rate, we are just going to be calling the sixth place on the leaderboard the “true home run king”
Are you as a fan okay with the fact that they juice balls to control the market? I like the idea of keeping costs low, but it's deceptive as fuck. I ask because I'm a skeptical guy, and I'd hate for a league (NFL, MLB, etc.) to be manipulating games like that. Some people don't seem to mind tho
@@981zASDF it also seems counterintuitive. Like if batters do well, their value goes up and pitchers go down. If pitchers do well, their value goes up and hitters go down. It just doesn’t make sense. There’s almost always just as many big names in pitchers as there are hitters every off season. How could this even help manipulate the market?
@@TheIcecreamtaco I'm not saying it's a sure thing. Just saying I've seen it done before. And maybe their are just as many big names, but these things would be happening in different years, so that's where the manipulation comes in. I will say, I know I look kind of stupid for saying this, seeing the massive 10 year contracts these guys are getting. But, I've seen evidence enough to believe there COULD be manipulation going on
Would not surprise me if some of those balls were used during cardinals games to help Pujols reach 700. Albert is the best 1b of all time, but I found the run he went on last year to get to 700 mighty suspicious
Strikeouts are at an all time high, batting avg is at an all time low. The past 2 AL batting champions both hit under 320. Besides Lemahieu who hit 364 in half a season, the last time the AL batting champion hit under 320 was Rod Carew in 1972. The point is, im sick of hearing about the baseballs. If they weren't juiced and the homeruns went down, every game would be a pitchers duel because there'd be no offense. Too many home runs ppl complain. Not enough people complain. It's ridiculous. How about flatten the seams so guys can't throw sliders with 19 inches of break? I'm not suggesting they actually do that but you don't hear anyone talk about what can be done about the horrible batting averages and dominant pitching.
This checks out, Gardner hit 28 HRs in 2019 in 141 games. Gardner's previous career high 21 HRs in 2014 took Gardner 151 games. More HRs in less games.
You can pretty much pick anyone in the league and look at their career stat-line and 2019 has about 8-15 more HR than their 2nd best career highs in other years. It's insane. Even Christian Vazquez hit over 20 HR. I'm pretty sure it's the only year in his career he even hit double digits, let alone 20+
It IS entertainment. It is supposed to be enjoyable to watch... that is all. There is no true goal here, all of the rules have. been created by human beings to make the game either fun to play or watch. You are watching a bunch of guys hit a ball and running around a field between some arbitrarily place safe areas.
I just want to drop a comment saying thank you. As a baseball fan, you give me more knowledge than I can get from consuming mainstream MLB media and you do such a great job giving context to older situations influencing what's happening day to day. Thank you iTalk - The 28%
@@_carta44bro literally just scroll down his videos. I’d say around every 3 videos he’s hating on the Yankees. Literally in the midst of judges home run chase he posts a video saying that barry bonds 73 home run season. He makes videos about other players mocking the Yankees, went crazy about the possibility of judge not signing with the Yankees, posts videos of the Yankees “cheating” all the time, etc. and yes I do watch his videos. Literally watch his only TH-cam shorts video. Bros a clown
Interesting to say the least, having grown up through the steroid era and knowing the reality of what MLB is already capable of I put nothing past them no doubt. Shame on them if this is true, only because if anyone doesn't deserve the controversy its Aaron Judge. Class act all day as far as I can tell, and this is coming from a Mets fan. LFGM
I agree. Astros fan here. Judge has shown nothing but class and true MVP athleticism on both sides of the ball. He lets his actions do the talking, and all he did was mash the balls that were pitched to him.
Glad to hear that some fans are reasonable and aren't holding it against a player for what the league might have done. I'm a Yankee fan and can say, having watched just about every game he's played in mlb, he is exactly the guy every fan should want on their team. Great with fans in every city, great with media, always holds himself accountable and never accepts the glory without passing it to he teammates first. You guys both got it right he's a class act.
100% agree, I like the guy even if I hate his org and fans lol. Sucks that the league has to do shit like this to sway outcomes the way they want it, instead of letting it happen organically. Which I'm sure Judge could have done without the help, even if it wasn't last year.
My interest in baseball didn't die, it was murdered by Rob Manfred. Between juiced balls, the ghost runner, and the universal DH, major league baseball is beginning to embrace things I would have thought were stupid in an elementary school playground game.
@@tylermort2925 keep removing any personality and differences from the game and see what happens. Next people will be calling for standardized outfield dimensions lol
Exactly still had 19 more home runs then the next closest guy And most guys were hitting the same balls Judge is just the best power hitter in the game today idk why people need to take away from what he has done
Curious if it also has to do with every pitcher basically throws as hard as Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson. Plus the analytics players now have access to even in between at bats. Plus modern hitting techniques and training.
Didn't even think of that. Maybe part of the plan is to keep dudes like Verlander (In this prime) from throwing 110 mph and having his arm fly off lmfao In all seriousness, I'd agree that the intensity of the pitchers might play a part
Back in Nolan Ryan's heyday, pitches were gunned @10 feet from homeplate. WIth Statcast, they're gunned as soon as they leave the pitcher's hand. In the documentary "Fastball", they adjust Nolan Ryan's fastest recorded pitch. If it was measured by Statcast, it would've been just shy of 109 mph. So it's not that pitcher's these days throws as hard as the Express and The Unit, it's the methods of measurement have changed
@@99bimmer Right you are! They aren't throwing harder, they're just clocking them from a different point. It's all about getting the fans to believe what they are seeing is better than anything they've ever seen before.
Judge changed his swing considerably last year since it seemed like every pundit was dissecting it. He reverted to his old swing towards the end of the season, I think partially because he wanted the Triple Crown so badly. And just to touch on the division with Baltimore and such in 2022, it's been my experience in the case of a round robin tournament where all of the teams are good, or stronger than usual, the best hitters get the lion's share in the stats column, and come out lopsided in regards to the rest of the team.
All sports is just entertainment. Let them use steroids, juiced baseballs, GPS guided basketballs, whatever. It all stopped being truly fair sporting competitions many decades ago. At least wrestling admitted it, but the rest have not. If I watch a sporting event, it will be an extreme sports event, like the X Games, X Trials, or the Dakar Rally. I don't care if they cheat or not, I just like the spectacle of it.
There is one variable that is more important than these hitter friendly implications. HR numbers coincide with Strikeouts because hitters swing for the fences more. Total strikeouts are also higher in 2019 than any other year.
I'm really curious about the sample size. 30 teams * 162 games / 2 = 2430 Games * 250 pitches per game estimate 607500 / 6 pitches average per ball. This equals 101,250 balls through a season. Sampling 36 balls = .000356% of balls. Correct me if my math or assumptions are unreasonable. This just seems too small to draw any conclusion about differences with balls. I certainly agree they exist, though how widespread is tough to know. I like the content and appreciate the analysis. Also, Judge isn't exactly known for his wall scrapers.
Actually turd face we do not know that Barry Bonds cheated. He was never convicted of anything. Nothing was proven. Even if it were true it wouldn't matter anyway. Intentional or not the results would be the same.
@@TheJ7gonzales yes but he’s right. If the balls were juiced in yankee games you’d see power numbers go up for the team. Not once did he mention it and those happened to be the Yankees worst offensive months…especially august.
@terencefestoria5527 wouldn't offensive stats go up for their opponents during this time too? Was there a difference in opponents slugging percentage during this time?
Thanks for your great coverage of the game. Would be helpful if you could provide some links to your source in the details so people could read more about the doctors research.
Judge led the AL in Hrs by like 22 over Trout fan. He led the league in Ops, WRC+, bWAR, fWAR, RBI, damn near had the triple crown coming in 2nd place in Avg in the AL.
Unrealistic comparison. Mike Trout only played 119 games in 2022 due to injury. Judge played in 157. Judge had 133 more at bats and 197 more plate appearances than Trout.
Coming from a guy who doesn't like Aaron Judge, it's not his fault. Putting an asterisk on him isn't right. He played the game. He didn't use steroids, he just put wood on the ball. He did his job. He is as much a victim of the bs as the pitchers. Now people will associate his name with an asterisk. That isn't right. I love watching my team strike him out, and hate the Yankees, but he didn't do it. Blame the league.
Yeah, it’s just not plausible that it made a difference anyway. With the amount of balls they found (not a lot) and the fact that out of all the balls used during a game (around 96-120), Judge hits a juiced one, AND it makes a difference? The chance is just way too low. The balls are also random, so no one can feed Judge juiced balls, let’s say. And he hits bombs Judge hits what, maybe one home run every 2.5 games on average last season? So that’s one ball out of 240-300 balls. Keep in mind these balls were only found at Yankee stadium in August and September (well there were other games in the league but Judge didn’t play in them) so away games don’t count. He also hit a lot more homeruns in away games towards the end. All things considered, the chance is just too low
I can't say for certain that the findings isn't true but looking at the statistics, there doesn't seem to have any statistical evidence to show that this is the case. If it is true, since Judge's home ballpark is Yankees Stadium, we should see Yankees Stadium be more conducive to home runs than other parks that year and be more conducive in 2022 compared to itself in previous years where the ball was "dead" (2021 and 2020). This year, according to Statcast Park Factors, Yankees Stadium had a park factor for homeruns of 103, which means that hitters that played at both Yankees Stadium and elsewhere were about 3% more likely to hit a home run at Yankees Stadium than not at Yankees Stadium. This made Yankees Stadium the 13th best ballpark to hit a home run in 2022. Yes this does make Yankees Stadium a slightly friendlier park to hit home runs in but if they had the so called "juiced" balls and other parks didn't, you would expect it to be much more significant. If you compare Yankees Stadium home run park factors to previous years where they were confirmed to use the "dead" balls, we should expect the Yankees Stadium home run park factor to be much higher than in 2021 and 2020. In 2021 Yankees Stadium had a park factor of 113 which ranked 7th that year and in 2020, it had a park factor of 124 which ranked 4th that year. This doesn't disprove the findings of Dr. Wills, but it shows that there is no statistical evidence to make the conclusion that Judge's home run chase was rigged.
I have no problem with the Homerun Derby balls being different. Put on a show. Just give everyone the same ball to hit. I remember things got weird during that Yanks vs. Sox game in the UK. The score was like 6-6 by the 2nd or something. Odd.
Yeah those international games, MLB or otherwise, usually have some weird shit going on to get the international crowd interested. These leagues market to two kinds of people: Stupid people and children The NFL has been marketing to stupid people for years, you know what other channel the NFL has started broadcasting on over the past couple years?
Football is the same way. Remember when the NFL BEGGED that fan for Tom Brady's "Final" touchdown ball? Also idk if you are a fan of football or anything, but I've been noticing a thing with extra points and FGs being missed. There was something I read about "Kicking balls" vs "Playing balls" Makes me think it would be reeeeeeeal easy to throw a playing ball in at the last minute and have the kicker shank the kick
Did they only use the baseball's during Aaron Judge's plate appearances? The Yankees as a whole from the start of August through the end of the year only had a 104 wRC+. That's not terrible, but was only 11th in the league. As a collective team, they batted just .235/.314/.394. If the Yankees were consistently given jucied balls, their power numbers were not out of the ordinary during this stretch. A .160 ISO is only eight points above the league average. Judge was also the only Yankee to have a wRC+ of 120 or greater in 100+ PAs. The rest of the leaderboard includes Andrew Benintendi (114), Oswald Cabrera (111), Anthony Rizzo (108), Donaldson (104), Torres (102), IKF (92), Stanton (83), Trevino (76), and Aaron Hicks (54), and LeMahieu (49). None of those numbers really scream the Yankees were as a team given juiced balls during games. Now if it was Judge and only Judge, then I could see it.
Rigged is a little too strong of a word. I would say Judge was maybe given extra help. To be fair he still had to hit the ball. But I think the main the main thing people should take note of is all the holier than though “clean record” a-holes that were talking all that smack need to take all that crap back and admit that his record isn’t any more legitimate than any other players.
Yeah, it’s just not plausible. With the amount of balls they found (not a lot) and the fact that out of all the balls used during a game (around 96-120), Judge hits a juiced one, AND it makes a difference? The chance is just way too low. The balls are also random, so no one can feed Judge juiced balls, let’s say. And he hits bombs Judge hits what, maybe one home run every 2.5 games on average last season? So that’s one ball out of 240-300 balls. Keep in mind these balls were only found at Yankee stadium in August and September (well there were other games in the league but Judge didn’t play in them) so away games don’t count. He also hit a lot more homeruns in away games towards the end. All things considered, the chance is just too low
@@Ryan-cb1ei that’s irrelevant, how many balls did bonds hit that were only home-runs because he was on steroids? 5-10, 10-20, 20-40? There is no way of knowing. If judge hit just one homerun from a juiced ball then anyone claiming it’s the “clean record” would be wrong in my eyes. He did hit homeruns in yankee stadium in august and September.
@@bigbrad6828 Bonds used steroids, he had an advantage 24/7, you can’t make these claims, and yeah we don’t know how many homeruns he’d hit without them but we will never know, so it’s not worth guessing. Bottom line is he had a massive advantage (reaction time, strength, recovery…) over other players who didn’t violate the rules. You can prove steroids does that, you cannot prove anything about this Goldilocks balls and Judge’s homerun outcome. Even then you’re not understanding that it’s statistically insignificant, the chances judge saw one of those balls, made contact with it, hit it out, and it made a difference. There were 13 Goldilocks balls I believe that were found at Yankee stadium… Obviously there could be more but just stop.
@@Ryan-cb1ei you just stop. You’re claiming statistical insignificance and that’s fine I really don’t care if it is or it isn’t. I’m saying there’s a chance however small that he hit at least one home run with a juiced ball. It’s not as if after this came out Yankees fans are going to be jumping at the chance to give up any of their balls for testing especially a judge home run ball. So we have no idea how many balls were actually used. I’m not saying judge did anything wrong, I’m not saying mlb did anything wrong, I’m saying that it’s no more of a “clean record” than any other home run record because it will always be impossible to know exactly how many, if any, of the home runs were hit specifically because of the either the juiced balls or the steroids.
@@bigbrad6828 Yankees don’t control any of this, not sure what you’re talking about. Anyway I’m discrediting your entire comment because I can’t be bothered to argue with this guy’s dumb viewers and because this comment is so silly that it’s not worth it
What your saying is judge broke the record with the most fair balls. Goldilocks ball would be fair for pitcher and batter hence the name. The bouncy balls were said to be hitter friendly. Maybe they didn't want his record to be tainted at all so they ministered the quality of the ball
It's crazy because in the Dominican Republic Baseball league, they hardly hit HOMERUNS!!! And the distance is shorter. I believe that in the USA the baseballs are for sure ALTERED.
yes. this exactly. i remember following Starlon Castro is the DRBL and he was considered a hard hitting prospect. Nobody had the ball speed off the bat that he did. Then he came to the MLB and he talked about him and others from back home being completely shocked about how far the balls fly on mis hits. talking about how pop ups would carry 300ft. line drives never dove, they just stayed up and carried.
It's sad that EVERYTHING is tainted with controversy these days. Nothing is simply what it is at face value and cynicism runs deep. Would be cool to see how things were in the 50s and 60s when a lot of these original records were set.
As much as I dislike the Yankees, please do not post videos with such little evidence. It unnecessarily shines a negative light on the sport. I don't think you are one to post clickbait videos just for views, but this is kinda what this video feels like. Just my personal thoughts.
I'm a Yankee Hater and I don't buy into that crap....Aaron Judge had 62 next guy was at 46....only 4 guys in the entire LEAGUE had over 40 HR's......One of them being Mike Trout, which is unbelievable with all the games he missed AGAIN this season he played in 119 games. Judge was just that good this past season.
The MLB balls fly way further than any other balls I've used before. I play home run derby with friends and bought about 20 MLB balls and mixed em in with my other college type balls and when we would hit Homer's we could tell which balls was a MLB ball. When we picked up after each set the balls we hit over MLB balls were guaranteed to be the furthest of our home runs. So yea something is up with them balls
2022 seemed like a dead ball year to me. Maybe it's just that I'm a White Sox fan. It consistently looked like there was a lot more warning track power than usual. It felt unnatural. The team leader in HR was Andrew Vaughn with 17, a guy who was having his AAA year at the MLB level. That's kind of ridiculous. Around 2000, your 2B or platoon LF would hit 17 home runs. Those were just extras that you didn't count on. The game is better when there's more offense. Pitching I think has advanced a great deal so imo the use of somewhat lively balls is called for. It wasn't just that in 2000 there was rampant steroid use. I don't believe any White Sox were using, and they nearly scored 1000 runs. But when you look at clips from 20 years ago, the pitchers are throwing soft stuff and they were also going longer into games. The difference in pitch quality is astonishing. So in the steroid era you had lively balls, endurance-based pitching, and more steroid use. Pedro Martinez of 2000 was that much more impressive, historically speaking, because he looked like he was pitching in his own era. He looked like he was pitching in 1968 in the year 2000. Similarly, Judge in 2022 appeared to be hitting in the year 2000. On another topic, I think the superior pitching of today actually sucks in practice. Dylan Cease, in terms of his arm and stuff, is just head and shoulders better than anyone on the 2000 White Sox, but it's just not impressive to see him throw that stuff for 5 innings. I kind of hate the new game. There are a lot of guys now who are basically as good or better than peak Pedro in terms of velo, movement, etc, but without Pedro's command obviously, and without the IP.
Wow probably the best comment on you tube being it's not an opinion and based on real world experience, something lacking on most arguments now a days unfortunately.
Think about it this way: in 2017, playing home games in Marlins park, Stanton hit 59 in 4 fewer PAs than Judge had this year. And a few years before that, Bautista hit 54. A couple years before THAT, Ryan Howard hit 58. It's honestly not that unusual for someone to get close. Eventually SOMEONE was gonna do it. Hell, if those seasons had all been at somewhere like Yankee stadium or GABP (or Coors, obvs), all 3 would have hit 60. Stanton and Howard would have been running down BONDS, not Maris. I just don't see what's hard to believe about this season.
I’m all for hitter friendly baseballs. Pitchers already dominate, and now that there’s an emphasis on relief pitching and starters no longer pitching deep into games, it’s even worse. MLB needs more offense
I don’t know if it was rigged per say, He plays in Yankee Stadium that is more then hitter friendly. I think that’s one reason he turned down the Giants. He does not get a lot of cheap HR though.
Honestly I wish there was more testing for the Angels commemorative balls that they used all season for 20 year, World Series anniversary baseball. I think MLB try to have a home run race between trout, Ohtani and Judge this past season., but it backfired due to trout getting injured he played like 120 games with 40 home runs. Imagine if he had a full season
I don’t distrust Verlander or have any reason to not believe what he’s saying. But the man is putting up the best numbers of his career while the balls are supposedly juiced. I mean, if they’re juiced, why are his numbers so good in the twilight of his career?
@@kevinbergin9971 nope what. the babe hit 29 home runs with a sponge ball. he also pitched and played outfield in the same season and it was cut short do the the war and pandemic. he would of hit more. he would hit 100 with these golfballs of today
@@albundy8192 Baseball has always attempted to liven up the game with more offense. The notion that Babe Ruth, or any era before our own, is somehow the baseline for a fair baseball is false.
@@kevinbergin9971 nothing ever done before is as as bad and at the level of cheating than what bonds and other roiders have done to disgrace themselves and the game.
If true, I’m done thinking any record in baseball is 100 % legitimate and will question everything from now on. Judge’s AL HR record will be tainted, Pete Alonso’s rookie HR record is already tainted, Betts 2018 season is tainted. Stanton’s 59 is slightly tainted. Tired of this crap & Manfred. What a corrupt sport
Especially HR records. The fact that ball park dimensions are different is such BS. That’s like altering a basketball court in certain arenas. Totally unfair to compare home runs when it come to individuals. Baseball records are the most tainted in history. Hard to say any record is legitimate like you said.
I think the 2015-2017 balls were unintentional, but 2019 and late 2022 balls were definitely intentionally juiced. However, the 2019 balls definitely go much further. I wouldn’t say that the 2022 balls were enough to boost Judge’s total a drastic amount.
@@whoishec7615 This makes no sense. Juiced balls don’t all the sudden make you hit 52 homeruns, and being a rookie doesn’t matter… Judge hit so much more and clearly he’s proven he’s capable by hitting 62
@@Ryan-cb1ei (2017 Juiced)52!!**,...27, 27, 9, 39,...62!!**(2022 Juiced)..Stats don't lie, even considering Judge injury years!!! Just look at the two outliers!!! Even the 39 HRS in a FULL 2021 season is not even close to 52!! PLUS, 2022 was supposed to be "DEAD BALL" Season and ALL the top hitters in the league numbers dropped EXCEPT JUDGE!!! 🤔🤔🤔
@@loganwalker8038 Nothing is that shocking there, what are you trying to say? Had Judge played full seasons those numbers would be higher. The projections would be in the 40’s, excluding the shortened season
@@Ryan-cb1ei If you use Judges AB/HR numbers to figure out how many HR he'd have per 570 ABs(this years total): 2017: 55*** Rookie Record, but Juiced Balls 2018: 37 2019: 41 2020: 51 (Covid, 28 games 9HR, sample size too small to extrapolate) DISCARD! 2021: 40 2022: 62*** AL HR Record, but Juiced Balls Thus, average IS 39HRS (37,41,40)...NOT "would be IN the 40's"!! Outliers 55, 62 Records both with Juiced Balls vs 40 Average is Shocking!!! Don't need a Stats Degree to see this....(In Stats, outliers 55 & 62 are discarded in calculating the Average especially if those numbers are with asterisks)
I miss the days of baseball where emphasis was put on batting average, solid pitching & defense. Twenty years ago, if you were a player below the Mendoza Line, you were sent down to the minors. Hitting homers is nice and all, but ABC baseball has taken a backseat. I understand the sport itself has to evolve as time goes on, it's just feels alien to me to witness guys hit for 50+ HR in their rookie season for example.
@@silkyjohnson7599 Wait this season Judge hit .311 but he also struck out 175 times. WTF how did that happen? Looking at his career stats he strikes out a ton but actually has a good batting average, for example in 2017 he struck out over 200 times but still hit .284 that year. How is he doing this?
The Mendoza Line used to be a .200 batting average. Now it means having an OPS+ of 75. There's just a different way to measure whether someone is MLB-worthy. Oh, and you can measure whether someone's defense cancels out their offense. Greg Luzinski had some seasons where he had positive offensive value, but his defensive ineptitude made him replacement-level.
You mean official asterisks in the mlb books? Because unofficially the vast majority of people I’ve talked to don’t consider the 2017 Astros title as legit, and let’s be real the official books don’t mean shit otherwise bonds would be in the hall 😂
@Ron Mexico does Bonds deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? Yes. Even if he did use steroids, he never failed a test. But I heard he was also rude to reporters and MLB writers who are now voters for the HOF.
@@Quanic2000 Maybe I was unclear but I don’t care about any “official” MLB records or the HOF, anyone who was around during the Astros cheating scandal or the steroid era can have their own opinions on these specific issues
I am CONVINCED the giants didn't get their batch of juiced balls until the 2020 season. SF had severl 29-32yo players falloff cliffs 2016-2019 with season HR leaders failing to hit at least 20HR. Then in 2020, so,e of those same players who hit 14HR in 150 games were hitting 12 in the shortened season, and SF led ALL OF BASEBALL in EVERY HR category, including breaking their own franchise record. That record had a guy hitting 70+HR, so it was definitely an outlier. SF had at least 3 players earn MVP votes en route to their franchise record 107 wins. 2022 its back to bottom of the league in HR's
2 things. 1. Ohtani should have been MVP. That can color things so I dropped it first. 2. Along the same lines, I may suggest that Judge (whose HR record is sacred IMO) has been fast-tracked to be “the face of MLB.” What may have been done to facilitate such an event is largely up in the air, but it would not color me shocked if juicing the balls at Yankee Stadium were part of “the process.”
First blister ever?? The middle finger on my left hand would always get a massive blister. It would be where the ball was released but then turned into an even bigger callous from getting it in the same place every year. I think that huge callous was part of why I had such nasty movement
For those of us who watched Bonds do what he did. Remember how he was lucky to get one pitch in the strike zone an entire at bat. I like Judge, but the way the pitchers were grooving balls to him no matter what the count or game situation was a joke. There is no doubt the balls were "funny" last season and not stand-up comedians.
Honestly he still had to “see” the pitch and have the power to still hit it out and not strike out a ton LIKE HE DID or just fly out so him beating the record in a single season “clean” then that’s better than previous and shows talent. You still have to make contact on whatever ball it is, juiced or not, and he did. I say glass half full, great job Aaron and cheers for many more, even though I HATE the Yankees
@Disgruntled Simp Mod Yeah no, it’s just not plausible. With the amount of balls they found (not a lot) and the fact that out of all the balls used during a game (around 96-120), Judge hits a juiced one, AND it makes a difference? The chance is just way too low. The balls are also random, so no one can feed Judge juiced balls, let’s say. And he hits bombs Judge hits what, maybe one home run every 2.5 games on average last season? So that’s one ball out of 240-300 balls. Keep in mind these balls were only found at Yankee stadium in August and September (well there were other games in the league but Judge didn’t play in them) so away games don’t count. He also hit a lot more homeruns in away games towards the end. All things considered, the chance is just too low, don’t be silly.
@@Ryan-cb1ei exactly what I’m trying to say. Even if juiced he can easy strike out or fly out. How many hits total did he have vs HRs easy to tell if “juiced” he did an AMAZING job this last season and able to do that making Ohtani and Trout to step up there game. That means all teams had these “juiced” balls in play at some point of either team’s games so everyone had a chance as well unless the catcher told ump for the bouncers for only Aaron.But if it’s in cycle for all games seems fair just sucks who the batter is and strikes out not being able to have that HIGH % of it being a homer. I say good job Aaron and high hopes for him and others coming out of college to be like him and trout just being so dominant defensively and offensively.
@@Ryan-cb1ei he had a MASSIVE strikeout ratio to hits let alone a crowd roarer and last month to 2 months he missed a ton of pitches that could of been “juiced” especially when he was in the 50s and way too much baseball to play to make this possible, he popped out and struck out a ton over home runs hit. Great job but he’s also a massive beast of a man and somehow is playing “clean” looking the way he does. Play every sport seems like. But back to the balls, that’s like the home run derby and you get the golden ball or whatever star ball and many players pop out and lose there chance to hit a baseball like that again. So unless he took vitamins too
i think at first judge was hitting regular balls but when the league saw that he was closer to breaking the record they made sure he did by throwing in those balls in the later part of the season
Every time someone breaks some type of record there is always a theory that tries to disprove it or down play it. Aaron Judge broke the home run record not because of a baseball but because he's a beast at the plate. It wasn't rigged, he just crushed the ball plain and simple. Verlander (I hope that's spelled right) complained about the baseball but as I remember it he beat the Yankees using that same ball in the play-off series. Give this whole damn thing a rest!!!!!!!
As much as I hate the Yankees I don't know how it would be implemented without having alot of ppl knowing it. Now Luis Rengifo hitting like he did late in the season? That might of been a bunch of goldilocks
Another issue that hasn’t been talked about much has been issues with consistency of mud rubbed on baseballs last year. Before the Angels vs Mariners brawl the game where both teams “threw at each other” pitchers on both sides complain about no mud on some of the balls
Just finished. I like the commentary. I like that you are a real fan, and are willing to push against the narrative. ESPN doesn't do that and the more corporate TH-cam channels are turning into them. Keep researching!
There is a very good interview with her online where she says the balls were used in YS and provided zero help to Judge because the balls were not juiced and therefore were less susceptible to HR. If anything the theory presented is the juiced balls were used with bad teams to keep em relevant longer, the dead balls were used to keep the good teams from running away and the just right balls ended up in YS for an unknown reason but. She also points out there were leftover balls from 21 in circulation, other balls and the ones made FOR 22 weren't particularly good or bad. The bigger issue was the seams which she discussed at length and how that, not the juiced balls had a bigger effect because it allows for more or less break on a pitch.
This has been known for awhile. During Judge's chase there were tweets about the "Goldilocks" balls being used especially in Yankee games. I think it doesn't change the fact what Judge did hitting 62 Home Runs. There were weeks in August and Sept where Judge couldn't hit a lick "Goldilocks" balls or not.
Yeah, it’s just not plausible. With the amount of balls they found (not a lot) and the fact that out of all the balls used during an average game (around 96-120), that Judge hits a juiced one, AND it makes a difference? The chance is just way too low. The balls are also random, so no one can feed Judge juiced balls, let’s say. And he hits bombs anyway. Judge hits what, maybe one home run every 2.5 games on average last season? So that’s one ball out of 240-300 balls. Keep in mind these balls were only found at Yankee stadium in August and September (well there were other games in the league but Judge didn’t play in them) so away games don’t count. He also hit a lot more homeruns in away games towards the end. All things considered, the chance is just too low.
@@mike-0451 I think you might be the dumbest commenter on this channel which is really impressive considering the misinformation and BS this guy spews and how his fan base eats it up.
Goldilocks balls were not juiced, they were just made perfectly. Not too heavy not too light. I don't see the problem, all balls should be made this way.
I think you would need to do an analysis of the HR rate in Yankee games during the time when Judge was realistically going to reach the record. If this theory was true, I think you would see an increased HR rate in those games given they would be using the more juiced balls, as all players would be using the same batch of balls. The ump never changed out balls specifically for Judge at bats.
@@AnonymousD670 I mean there is plenty of game footage, and the opposing catchers/pitchers would certainly know because they frequently reuse the same ball after an out. I never saw them changing balls when Judge came up besides the usual changes when the ball gets too dirty or a foul.
I think they made it easier to hit homeruns because it made the game more interesting and fun seeing everyone hit bombs when you went to the game, which prob helped increase ticket sales
You do realize that it’s only short down the lines, right? You know how many home runs he missed out on that were hit to dead center and into the gaps, which are extremely deep in Yankee Stadium?
Hot Take: Going forward, the “Goldilock” should be the standard baseball to play. It is less juiced than 2019 and less dead than early 2021. It is should be evenly distributed to all 30 teams.
The fact that Aaron Judge hit 62 homeruns this season, Gerrit Cole gave up 36 homeruns, and JV is adamant about the baseballs being different is proof that the MLB itself was cheating in order to help gain the publicity of Judge's homerun chase. They also put "juiced" baseballs in games that there was a milestone within grasp. Does anyone else find it weird that down the stretch of the season, when it seemed that Pujols would never reach 700 homeruns, all of the sudden, Pujols ended the season with a pretty insane power streak?!?! It might not feel good to acknowledge it, it might feel better to just think that the Astros were the only cheaters in baseball, but you just simply CAN NOT deny that the MLB was cheating and be honest with yourself at the same time. I absolutely love Aaron Judge, he is the flippin' man, but his homerun record this year is, in fact, illegitimate.
Idk if I really trust JV’s input here remember, how he said he hated cheaters then probably got exposed for every Astros pitcher in 2017 magically getting better once they went to the team, indicating the team was abusing foreign substances to boost their spin rates drastically.
@@soarinskies1105So when it comes to how the baseball actually feels in your hand, you are telling me that you don't trust the judgement of one of the greatest pitchers to ever live?! The 2017 Astros scandal wasn't even about the pitchers cheating, it was a system for the hitters. Plus, all pitchers in the big leagues were cheating to increase their spin rate, so based off of your logic, there isn't a single MLB pitcher who's judgement that you would trust when it comes to their feedback about how the baseball feels. Also, when the MLB cracked down, there were a lot of pitchers who were drastically worse without the extra spin rate, but JV was not one of them. He has been a DOMINANT pitcher over several baseball and pitching "eras" and in fact is probably the one human being on the planet that you should probably trust their judgement the most when it comes to his feedback about the baseball. Listen, if you don't like the Astros, that is fine, but don't show it by making stupid comments.
Some of you may be more familiar with the mudding process. It used to be done by hand. That became an issue. When they switched the process to a manufactured one, it started giving pitchers a distinct advantage. They're tooling with mudding, the cost analysis for this is absurd. Also, the leather used are fron cows, which is just as different as mudding.
Which do we? What gets annoying is when Aaron Judge wins mvp the media makes it about the Yankees. Im a sox fan but most of the league has Yankee fatigue
@@A.B.421 Yes they did. The media kept stating over and over that Judge deserved to win, because the Yankees had a better record. That was their only argument they had over Shohei.
@Bryce Kamin we don't know that. Manfred tried so hard to seal and keep sealed the cheating letter from the same year Judge hit 52 HRs and he denied this report about the goldilocks baseballs. Just think about it, if the Yankees are winning baseball makes money. Anyone that thinks baseball is here for the people first and money second is crazy.
MLB did make changes to the ball to counter the homerun problem. Over the course of a few seasons from 2018 - 2020 at least, they gradually lowered it's weight and raised (not lowered) the seams (raising them also makes more sense when it comes to blister increase than lowering them would.) Over that period, there was a gradual increase in average pitch velocity and pitch movement as would be expected of such changes. The extra movement was blamed on increased spin rate due to sticky stuff but there are problems with that. First the statcast method of calculating spin rate sees any increase in pitch movement as an increase in spin rate even if it comes from a non spin related source (raised seams for example.) Beyond that, the maximum spin rate of individual pitchers pitches did not decrease when sticky stuff was banned, only their average spin rate (due to inconsistancies and slippage that weren't an issue with more reliable grip.) Their maximum spin rates did increase over said period though. Nobody can really explain the average velocity increase but reduced weight could definitely account for it. Long story short, the ball wasn't significantly "juiced" for the batter's benefit as the changes made benefitted pitchers more. The reason homeruns still increased a bit over that period was most likely the result of higher exit velocities due to the increase in pitch velocity with a dash of whatever undetectable PEDs were being used at the time thrown in. If MLB wants to deaden the ball without affecting aerodynamics (and thus pitching) all they need to do is mix some butyl rubber in with the regular rubber making up the rubber shell containing the cork. Better yet, drop the cork entirely and just used a blended ball of the two types of rubber adjusting the mix until the desired effect us reached.
Say what you want, but it's almost impossible to manufacture baseballs from year to year that perform exactly the same. There will always be minute differences in raw materials used, manufacturing processes, etc. "Bad batches" and "hot batches" of balls will always exist. You also have to factor in that many teams now use humidors to store game balls. That alone can produce some variation.
NLCS, Schwaber hits a 488 foot homerun at Petco in October. Then the next inning Soto and Machado crushed the ball to center and barely made the warning track. Interesting?
Wait. They used a commemorative ball to commemorate Judge's home run chase? Wow, it's almost like they were commemorating a moment. Should we view the Astros championship in a bad light since they use the special commemorative balls? Considering that is what your implying about Judge.
I definitely think the balls in 2022 were less lively than previous years. I am a Yankee fan and I don’t believe the Yankees played with different balls except the special labeled balls they put in for Aaron Judge’s 60-62 HRs. I’m not even sure if they put in a special marked baseball for his 60th HR and I think they marked the 61st and 62nd HR balls as they were record tying and breaking baseballs. What I noticed was besides O’Neil Cruz’s 122.4 mph exit velocity that exit velocity was down. Giancarlo Stanton had hit several balls each season that exceeded 120 mph. I believe 2022 his hardest hit ball was 119.8 mph. I think you aren’t looking at all the variables that you should be looking at. Temperature, humidity, elevation, and wind are the variables that really determine how far a ball travels. Look at the HR derby at Coors Field when Trevor Story hit a ball that stat cast projected traveled 520 feet. The most amazing fact of that 520’ HR was it had an exit velocity at about 110 mph. Now think of real power hitters in the top 1% that hit the ball over 115 to 120 mph. I know that launch angle and backspin are also another variable but how can a baseball travel 520’ with an exit velocity of about 109.6 mph. Technically it’s not possible even at Coors Field. The 500’ HRs are not being hit at sea level or in the northeast where temperatures aren’t as hot. It would have been interesting to see Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton hitting in the HR derby at Coors Field. The good news for 2023 is the Yankees will be playing in Coors Field for the 1st time I believe since before 2017. Before Aaron Judge put on a big league uniform for the Yankees. I also know that depending on how a team stores a baseball also will effect the way it is hit.
I personally feel Judge is easily still the AL home run champ and this doesn't change much for me. What do you think about all this?
Probably not
No lmao
Edit: iTalk edited his comment, I agree with him.
Honestly I don't see guys juicing on roids. Guys are just built differently now and Aaron Judge is literally a Greek God carved from living stone.
No
Dosent count the ball got lighter when Aaron judge and pujols homerun chases made mlb a lot of money so the made it easier for the players to hit the homeruns
Manfred has ruined baseball. The guy can't even do wrong right.
Manfred changed the balls multiple times and didn’t do anything about the Astro’s cheating it’s ridiculous this man should be fired without a doubt get a new commissioner that cares about baseball
I really agree with you Ricardo
@Ryan Fountain yup or even the Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees cheating. This guy needs to go.
That my friend, is a beautiful use of language- positively Churchillian!
My personal nickname for him is "Manfraud".
Ever since MLB purchased Rawlings (the official ball supplier) in 2018, the ball has changed quite more frequently, from juiced, to dead, to mixed ups rather than consistently balanced.
I did not know that. Seems like a complete conflict of interest right there. MLB can clearly dictate what they want as proven since the purchase. Very interesting.
happens every couple years. even babe ruth era had juiced bb
Link to the supporting research?
they probably juiced up some of the balls at some point last season because the ball was definately leaving the ballpark less frequently at the beginning of the season
It's like MLB has three different baseballs. Pre-Season, Season, the juiced Postseason ball. Then MLB shifts attention on the pitchers for adjusting to the different balls with new sticky ways to keep the spin rate up.
Brett Gardner hit 28 HRs in 2019. Jeff McNeil hit 23 HRs in 2019. This is enough to prove that baseballs were crazy in 2019
Wdym Gardner got jacked ☠️
@@Ryan-cb1ei he only hit 15 HRs after 2019 and in 2 years
Didi also lol
How much distance do you think the balls added?
Look into 1987. Same thing juiced ball
I agree. Even with Puljos and the chase for 700 home runs. He was at 698 when the Cardinals came to San Diego. I believe MLB used flat balls during the Padres vs. Cardinals series to ensure that Puljos would get to 700 in LA against the Dodgers. The Dodgers were the next series and Puljos launched 2 home runs the next game against the Dodgers. I also think the games against the Padres were very low scoring. We know how everything is manipulated nowadays, everything that we consume from food, medicine, entertainment, politics, reality shows, everything is manipulated or managed. I sick of being lied to by every corporation trying to squeeze every nickle and dime out of us consumers. Same baloney happens in the NFL. Why won't they let fans keep game balls that go into the stands? It doesn't happen that often and it's not like the NFL can't afford it. Plus what a great experience for a fan to get a NFL football. I think a Raiders fan got arrested because he would not give back the game ball. Everything is manipulated.
Careful now, logic has no place on the internet.
Watch his at bats from the San diego series he missed a home run by 10 feet
It’s a business, this is not about the “best team”
Every team has to eat. OF COURSE ITS RIGGED!
They dont make you give the balls back at nfl games cut it out
Lol wtf, they do let you keep the football that goes into the stand. Hell , I have 4 game used nfl footballs. Dude, take the hat off
Great video as always, but one major omission. MLB purchased Rawlings in 2018. That’s damning evidence in itself. How could Manfred not know exactly what was going on with the baseballs.
He probably did
Manfred is fake news.
He could be incompetent.
@@markkeneson6806 he is incompetent but he definitely still knew
@@markkeneson6806 you're right. It's conceivable he is just a pawn in the scheme
I’d say if the baseballs are to do with it, it says more about the league than Judge
They did juice the baseballs in 2019 for power hitters as well because I think pitchers like Starsburg (Gerrit Cole too) were on the market
A bit of an asterisk but there’s always an asterisk to everything
For Babe Ruth: pre integration*
For Barry Bonds: Steroids*
For Aaron Judge: juiced balls*
At this rate, we are just going to be calling the sixth place on the leaderboard the “true home run king”
Are you as a fan okay with the fact that they juice balls to control the market? I like the idea of keeping costs low, but it's deceptive as fuck.
I ask because I'm a skeptical guy, and I'd hate for a league (NFL, MLB, etc.) to be manipulating games like that. Some people don't seem to mind tho
@@981zASDF it also seems counterintuitive. Like if batters do well, their value goes up and pitchers go down. If pitchers do well, their value goes up and hitters go down. It just doesn’t make sense. There’s almost always just as many big names in pitchers as there are hitters every off season. How could this even help manipulate the market?
@@TheIcecreamtaco I'm not saying it's a sure thing. Just saying I've seen it done before. And maybe their are just as many big names, but these things would be happening in different years, so that's where the manipulation comes in.
I will say, I know I look kind of stupid for saying this, seeing the massive 10 year contracts these guys are getting. But, I've seen evidence enough to believe there COULD be manipulation going on
@@981zASDF it's best to stay skeptical.
The fact that the Astros threw not one, but two no-hitters with all these juiced balls make it even more impressive
Cuz they first need to hit it lol
Nah cause he said world serious balls were Goldilocks balls in the video I’m pretty sure
Facts!
@@ByGraceThroughFaith777 make your comment make sense, this time try also not sounding like a retahd
I doubt they were using them the entire season.
Would not surprise me if some of those balls were used during cardinals games to help Pujols reach 700. Albert is the best 1b of all time, but I found the run he went on last year to get to 700 mighty suspicious
700 my dude.
700
And probably not
He's not the greatest first baseman, he is the second best. But it is a massive gap between him and Gehrig.
@@snerdterguson who has 700 homers
Strikeouts are at an all time high, batting avg is at an all time low. The past 2 AL batting champions both hit under 320. Besides Lemahieu who hit 364 in half a season, the last time the AL batting champion hit under 320 was Rod Carew in 1972. The point is, im sick of hearing about the baseballs. If they weren't juiced and the homeruns went down, every game would be a pitchers duel because there'd be no offense. Too many home runs ppl complain. Not enough people complain. It's ridiculous. How about flatten the seams so guys can't throw sliders with 19 inches of break? I'm not suggesting they actually do that but you don't hear anyone talk about what can be done about the horrible batting averages and dominant pitching.
Well what about Pujols. I am a Cards fan myself, but I heard a rumor the same thing was done for Pujols
From what I heard the balls were only present playoff games and Yankee games
Was he on the list years ago?
@@colea0096 I think that was only the sample that guy in the video picked. There very likely could have been others
as a dodger fan I'm glad he got 699,700 in our park, alberts a class act....
Because dude is a Red Sox fan
2019s baseballs were so wild Brett Gardner hit 30 home runs
This checks out, Gardner hit 28 HRs in 2019 in 141 games. Gardner's previous career high 21 HRs in 2014 took Gardner 151 games. More HRs in less games.
You can pretty much pick anyone in the league and look at their career stat-line and 2019 has about 8-15 more HR than their 2nd best career highs in other years. It's insane. Even Christian Vazquez hit over 20 HR. I'm pretty sure it's the only year in his career he even hit double digits, let alone 20+
gardners just built different
@@tylerbrown565 Good call. Christian Vasquez had 23 HR in 2019 in 521 PA. He has 32 HR the rest of his career in 2,112 PA.
no just gardner almost every starter hit over 20 homers
Starting to sound like sports are leaning more towards “sports entertainment”
They are trade marked as such, to avoid being sued for rigging or influencing certain outcomes
It’s always been entertainment lmao. Entertainment brings the most money
It IS entertainment. It is supposed to be enjoyable to watch... that is all. There is no true goal here, all of the rules have. been created by human beings to make the game either fun to play or watch. You are watching a bunch of guys hit a ball and running around a field between some arbitrarily place safe areas.
All sports are rigged and it's finally coming to the mainstream. Look into gematria. It 100% proves all sports are rigged
We will always have the WNBA as an old school sport since it doesn’t provide any entertainment whatsoever
I just want to drop a comment saying thank you. As a baseball fan, you give me more knowledge than I can get from consuming mainstream MLB media and you do such a great job giving context to older situations influencing what's happening day to day. Thank you iTalk
- The 28%
Your comment just made my day, Matthew. Thank you!!! Keep up the support, I appreciate it more than you know
@@iTalkStudios yep keep doing your job and hating on the Yankees for no reason 👍🏼
@@TreyArea5540he never hates you on the Yankees 😂 watch the gideos
@@_carta44bro literally just scroll down his videos. I’d say around every 3 videos he’s hating on the Yankees. Literally in the midst of judges home run chase he posts a video saying that barry bonds 73 home run season. He makes videos about other players mocking the Yankees, went crazy about the possibility of judge not signing with the Yankees, posts videos of the Yankees “cheating” all the time, etc. and yes I do watch his videos. Literally watch his only TH-cam shorts video. Bros a clown
@@TreyArea5540 Anyone who would write "Bros a clown" and then hit Reply, is by definition a clown. No offense.
Interesting to say the least, having grown up through the steroid era and knowing the reality of what MLB is already capable of I put nothing past them no doubt. Shame on them if this is true, only because if anyone doesn't deserve the controversy its Aaron Judge. Class act all day as far as I can tell, and this is coming from a Mets fan. LFGM
I agree. Astros fan here. Judge has shown nothing but class and true MVP athleticism on both sides of the ball. He lets his actions do the talking, and all he did was mash the balls that were pitched to him.
Glad to hear that some fans are reasonable and aren't holding it against a player for what the league might have done.
I'm a Yankee fan and can say, having watched just about every game he's played in mlb, he is exactly the guy every fan should want on their team. Great with fans in every city, great with media, always holds himself accountable and never accepts the glory without passing it to he teammates first.
You guys both got it right he's a class act.
100% agree, I like the guy even if I hate his org and fans lol. Sucks that the league has to do shit like this to sway outcomes the way they want it, instead of letting it happen organically. Which I'm sure Judge could have done without the help, even if it wasn't last year.
So either Babe Ruth or Stanton five years ago
@@inflameslp311 yeah right he tried to discredit altuve for winning it in 2017
My interest in baseball didn't die, it was murdered by Rob Manfred. Between juiced balls, the ghost runner, and the universal DH, major league baseball is beginning to embrace things I would have thought were stupid in an elementary school playground game.
Universal DH is a great thing...
@@tylermort2925 keep removing any personality and differences from the game and see what happens. Next people will be calling for standardized outfield dimensions lol
@@chumba421 I guess you love those easy outs from pitchers when they are up to bat?
At the end of the day he still had to swing the bat, against pitchers that were trying to get him out.
He's obviously not a baseball fan (Manfred)
Judge been hitting tanks since he got into the league. Nothing about his run was flawed cuz if it was that easy anyone can do it
Exactly still had 19 more home runs then the next closest guy
And most guys were hitting the same balls
Judge is just the best power hitter in the game today idk why people need to take away from what he has done
@@gabrielmosler3454 u miss the point of this video. its means without juiced balls judge wouldnt pass AL homerun record.
@@gabrielmosler3454 of course i agree judge pretty much the most power hitter last season
Judge got to used juiced balls all year, other players only got to use them while playing the Yankees
Exactly. Also keep in mind the dimensions of stadiums like Yankee Stadium
Curious if it also has to do with every pitcher basically throws as hard as Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson. Plus the analytics players now have access to even in between at bats. Plus modern hitting techniques and training.
Didn't even think of that. Maybe part of the plan is to keep dudes like Verlander (In this prime) from throwing 110 mph and having his arm fly off lmfao
In all seriousness, I'd agree that the intensity of the pitchers might play a part
Back in Nolan Ryan's heyday, pitches were gunned @10 feet from homeplate. WIth Statcast, they're gunned as soon as they leave the pitcher's hand. In the documentary "Fastball", they adjust Nolan Ryan's fastest recorded pitch. If it was measured by Statcast, it would've been just shy of 109 mph. So it's not that pitcher's these days throws as hard as the Express and The Unit, it's the methods of measurement have changed
@@99bimmer Right you are! They aren't throwing harder, they're just clocking them from a different point. It's all about getting the fans to believe what they are seeing is better than anything they've ever seen before.
Judge changed his swing considerably last year since it seemed like every pundit was dissecting it. He reverted to his old swing towards the end of the season, I think partially because he wanted the Triple Crown so badly. And just to touch on the division with Baltimore and such in 2022, it's been my experience in the case of a round robin tournament where all of the teams are good, or stronger than usual, the best hitters get the lion's share in the stats column, and come out lopsided in regards to the rest of the team.
All sports is just entertainment. Let them use steroids, juiced baseballs, GPS guided basketballs, whatever. It all stopped being truly fair sporting competitions many decades ago. At least wrestling admitted it, but the rest have not. If I watch a sporting event, it will be an extreme sports event, like the X Games, X Trials, or the Dakar Rally. I don't care if they cheat or not, I just like the spectacle of it.
Can you cover Big Papi and how he juiced and is in the HoF?
He a Red Sox fan, he wont.
He wouldn’t ever deface a fellow Red Sox player because he is a red sox fan.
There is one variable that is more important than these hitter friendly implications. HR numbers coincide with Strikeouts because hitters swing for the fences more. Total strikeouts are also higher in 2019 than any other year.
I'm really curious about the sample size. 30 teams * 162 games / 2 = 2430 Games * 250 pitches per game estimate 607500 / 6 pitches average per ball. This equals 101,250 balls through a season. Sampling 36 balls = .000356% of balls. Correct me if my math or assumptions are unreasonable. This just seems too small to draw any conclusion about differences with balls. I certainly agree they exist, though how widespread is tough to know.
I like the content and appreciate the analysis. Also, Judge isn't exactly known for his wall scrapers.
Thank You. People act like Yankee Stadium and juiced balls explain away 400+ foot tanks.
The difference between Bonds and Judge is that Bonds intentionally cheated. As far as we know, Judge did not.
Actually turd face we do not know that Barry Bonds cheated. He was never convicted of anything. Nothing was proven. Even if it were true it wouldn't matter anyway. Intentional or not the results would be the same.
What about the rest of the Yankees lineup stats? August was their worst month but it was one of judges best. That doesn't make any sense
Cause they suck lmao thru strikeout have to hit the ball first 😂😂😂
@@TheJ7gonzales yes but he’s right. If the balls were juiced in yankee games you’d see power numbers go up for the team. Not once did he mention it and those happened to be the Yankees worst offensive months…especially august.
@terencefestoria5527 wouldn't offensive stats go up for their opponents during this time too? Was there a difference in opponents slugging percentage during this time?
Rob Manfred is the worst thing to ever happen to baseball.
agreed the worst commissioner ever
Thanks for your great coverage of the game.
Would be helpful if you could provide some links to your source in the details so people could read more about the doctors research.
Judge led the AL in Hrs by like 22 over Trout fan. He led the league in Ops, WRC+, bWAR, fWAR, RBI, damn near had the triple crown coming in 2nd place in Avg in the AL.
Sup mr Alan watts!
Unrealistic comparison. Mike Trout only played 119 games in 2022 due to injury. Judge played in 157. Judge had 133 more at bats and 197 more plate appearances than Trout.
@@spencerhughes2255 while keeping a better average too! Not comprable indeed!
@@Mooneysb Trout hit .283
@@TJB270 exactly
Coming from a guy who doesn't like Aaron Judge, it's not his fault. Putting an asterisk on him isn't right. He played the game. He didn't use steroids, he just put wood on the ball. He did his job. He is as much a victim of the bs as the pitchers. Now people will associate his name with an asterisk. That isn't right.
I love watching my team strike him out, and hate the Yankees, but he didn't do it. Blame the league.
Yeah, it’s just not plausible that it made a difference anyway. With the amount of balls they found (not a lot) and the fact that out of all the balls used during a game (around 96-120), Judge hits a juiced one, AND it makes a difference? The chance is just way too low. The balls are also random, so no one can feed Judge juiced balls, let’s say. And he hits bombs
Judge hits what, maybe one home run every 2.5 games on average last season? So that’s one ball out of 240-300 balls. Keep in mind these balls were only found at Yankee stadium in August and September (well there were other games in the league but Judge didn’t play in them) so away games don’t count. He also hit a lot more homeruns in away games towards the end. All things considered, the chance is just too low
I can't say for certain that the findings isn't true but looking at the statistics, there doesn't seem to have any statistical evidence to show that this is the case. If it is true, since Judge's home ballpark is Yankees Stadium, we should see Yankees Stadium be more conducive to home runs than other parks that year and be more conducive in 2022 compared to itself in previous years where the ball was "dead" (2021 and 2020).
This year, according to Statcast Park Factors, Yankees Stadium had a park factor for homeruns of 103, which means that hitters that played at both Yankees Stadium and elsewhere were about 3% more likely to hit a home run at Yankees Stadium than not at Yankees Stadium. This made Yankees Stadium the 13th best ballpark to hit a home run in 2022. Yes this does make Yankees Stadium a slightly friendlier park to hit home runs in but if they had the so called "juiced" balls and other parks didn't, you would expect it to be much more significant.
If you compare Yankees Stadium home run park factors to previous years where they were confirmed to use the "dead" balls, we should expect the Yankees Stadium home run park factor to be much higher than in 2021 and 2020. In 2021 Yankees Stadium had a park factor of 113 which ranked 7th that year and in 2020, it had a park factor of 124 which ranked 4th that year. This doesn't disprove the findings of Dr. Wills, but it shows that there is no statistical evidence to make the conclusion that Judge's home run chase was rigged.
I have no problem with the Homerun Derby balls being different. Put on a show. Just give everyone the same ball to hit. I remember things got weird during that Yanks vs. Sox game in the UK. The score was like 6-6 by the 2nd or something. Odd.
Yeah those international games, MLB or otherwise, usually have some weird shit going on to get the international crowd interested.
These leagues market to two kinds of people: Stupid people and children
The NFL has been marketing to stupid people for years, you know what other channel the NFL has started broadcasting on over the past couple years?
Wasn’t it some crazy score after a two game series? Like a total of like 50 runs scored over two game or some crap like that? Absolutely ridiculous
@@dylanortiz932 Jesus I didn't realize it was that high, 17-13 in game 1? WTF
@@981zASDF yeah just went back to look. 17-13 game 1. 12-8 game 2. 50 runs scored in 2 games. Series was a hit parade
@@981zASDF
17-13 is laughable. I wasn't having that.
Why is Rawlings manufacturing in costa rica? Bring the jobs and buisness to America where the company was founded. Smh
look how hard they tried to get every ball back everytime a fan caught one.. doc might be on to something
Football is the same way. Remember when the NFL BEGGED that fan for Tom Brady's "Final" touchdown ball?
Also idk if you are a fan of football or anything, but I've been noticing a thing with extra points and FGs being missed. There was something I read about "Kicking balls" vs "Playing balls"
Makes me think it would be reeeeeeeal easy to throw a playing ball in at the last minute and have the kicker shank the kick
@@981zASDF The ball type kickers use is the same thing used by the qb, fake field goals and punts exist
Did they only use the baseball's during Aaron Judge's plate appearances? The Yankees as a whole from the start of August through the end of the year only had a 104 wRC+. That's not terrible, but was only 11th in the league. As a collective team, they batted just .235/.314/.394. If the Yankees were consistently given jucied balls, their power numbers were not out of the ordinary during this stretch. A .160 ISO is only eight points above the league average. Judge was also the only Yankee to have a wRC+ of 120 or greater in 100+ PAs. The rest of the leaderboard includes Andrew Benintendi (114), Oswald Cabrera (111), Anthony Rizzo (108), Donaldson (104), Torres (102), IKF (92), Stanton (83), Trevino (76), and Aaron Hicks (54), and LeMahieu (49). None of those numbers really scream the Yankees were as a team given juiced balls during games. Now if it was Judge and only Judge, then I could see it.
Rigged is a little too strong of a word. I would say Judge was maybe given extra help. To be fair he still had to hit the ball.
But I think the main the main thing people should take note of is all the holier than though “clean record” a-holes that were talking all that smack need to take all that crap back and admit that his record isn’t any more legitimate than any other players.
Yeah, it’s just not plausible. With the amount of balls they found (not a lot) and the fact that out of all the balls used during a game (around 96-120), Judge hits a juiced one, AND it makes a difference? The chance is just way too low. The balls are also random, so no one can feed Judge juiced balls, let’s say. And he hits bombs
Judge hits what, maybe one home run every 2.5 games on average last season? So that’s one ball out of 240-300 balls. Keep in mind these balls were only found at Yankee stadium in August and September (well there were other games in the league but Judge didn’t play in them) so away games don’t count. He also hit a lot more homeruns in away games towards the end. All things considered, the chance is just too low
@@Ryan-cb1ei that’s irrelevant, how many balls did bonds hit that were only home-runs because he was on steroids? 5-10, 10-20, 20-40? There is no way of knowing. If judge hit just one homerun from a juiced ball then anyone claiming it’s the “clean record” would be wrong in my eyes. He did hit homeruns in yankee stadium in august and September.
@@bigbrad6828 Bonds used steroids, he had an advantage 24/7, you can’t make these claims, and yeah we don’t know how many homeruns he’d hit without them but we will never know, so it’s not worth guessing. Bottom line is he had a massive advantage (reaction time, strength, recovery…) over other players who didn’t violate the rules. You can prove steroids does that, you cannot prove anything about this Goldilocks balls and Judge’s homerun outcome. Even then you’re not understanding that it’s statistically insignificant, the chances judge saw one of those balls, made contact with it, hit it out, and it made a difference. There were 13 Goldilocks balls I believe that were found at Yankee stadium… Obviously there could be more but just stop.
@@Ryan-cb1ei you just stop. You’re claiming statistical insignificance and that’s fine I really don’t care if it is or it isn’t. I’m saying there’s a chance however small that he hit at least one home run with a juiced ball. It’s not as if after this came out Yankees fans are going to be jumping at the chance to give up any of their balls for testing especially a judge home run ball. So we have no idea how many balls were actually used. I’m not saying judge did anything wrong, I’m not saying mlb did anything wrong, I’m saying that it’s no more of a “clean record” than any other home run record because it will always be impossible to know exactly how many, if any, of the home runs were hit specifically because of the either the juiced balls or the steroids.
@@bigbrad6828 Yankees don’t control any of this, not sure what you’re talking about. Anyway I’m discrediting your entire comment because I can’t be bothered to argue with this guy’s dumb viewers and because this comment is so silly that it’s not worth it
What your saying is judge broke the record with the most fair balls. Goldilocks ball would be fair for pitcher and batter hence the name. The bouncy balls were said to be hitter friendly. Maybe they didn't want his record to be tainted at all so they ministered the quality of the ball
Either you're in denial or just simply 💀💀
Pujols run to 700 is the one im more suspicious of.
It's crazy because in the Dominican Republic Baseball league, they hardly hit HOMERUNS!!!
And the distance is shorter.
I believe that in the USA the baseballs are for sure ALTERED.
yes. this exactly. i remember following Starlon Castro is the DRBL and he was considered a hard hitting prospect. Nobody had the ball speed off the bat that he did. Then he came to the MLB and he talked about him and others from back home being completely shocked about how far the balls fly on mis hits. talking about how pop ups would carry 300ft. line drives never dove, they just stayed up and carried.
It's sad that EVERYTHING is tainted with controversy these days. Nothing is simply what it is at face value and cynicism runs deep.
Would be cool to see how things were in the 50s and 60s when a lot of these original records were set.
When half the teams were still all White.
Oh, and how about before night baseball? That's the real reason no one will hit .400 again.
As much as I dislike the Yankees, please do not post videos with such little evidence. It unnecessarily shines a negative light on the sport. I don't think you are one to post clickbait videos just for views, but this is kinda what this video feels like. Just my personal thoughts.
Just about every Cardinals batter had a career year last season for Pujols 700. That always gave me a pause and a hmmmmmmmmm
I'm a Yankee Hater and I don't buy into that crap....Aaron Judge had 62 next guy was at 46....only 4 guys in the entire LEAGUE had over 40 HR's......One of them being Mike Trout, which is unbelievable with all the games he missed AGAIN this season he played in 119 games. Judge was just that good this past season.
The MLB balls fly way further than any other balls I've used before. I play home run derby with friends and bought about 20 MLB balls and mixed em in with my other college type balls and when we would hit Homer's we could tell which balls was a MLB ball. When we picked up after each set the balls we hit over MLB balls were guaranteed to be the furthest of our home runs. So yea something is up with them balls
2022 seemed like a dead ball year to me. Maybe it's just that I'm a White Sox fan. It consistently looked like there was a lot more warning track power than usual. It felt unnatural. The team leader in HR was Andrew Vaughn with 17, a guy who was having his AAA year at the MLB level. That's kind of ridiculous. Around 2000, your 2B or platoon LF would hit 17 home runs. Those were just extras that you didn't count on.
The game is better when there's more offense. Pitching I think has advanced a great deal so imo the use of somewhat lively balls is called for. It wasn't just that in 2000 there was rampant steroid use. I don't believe any White Sox were using, and they nearly scored 1000 runs. But when you look at clips from 20 years ago, the pitchers are throwing soft stuff and they were also going longer into games. The difference in pitch quality is astonishing.
So in the steroid era you had lively balls, endurance-based pitching, and more steroid use. Pedro Martinez of 2000 was that much more impressive, historically speaking, because he looked like he was pitching in his own era. He looked like he was pitching in 1968 in the year 2000. Similarly, Judge in 2022 appeared to be hitting in the year 2000.
On another topic, I think the superior pitching of today actually sucks in practice. Dylan Cease, in terms of his arm and stuff, is just head and shoulders better than anyone on the 2000 White Sox, but it's just not impressive to see him throw that stuff for 5 innings. I kind of hate the new game. There are a lot of guys now who are basically as good or better than peak Pedro in terms of velo, movement, etc, but without Pedro's command obviously, and without the IP.
@@guyincognito320 great point
Wow probably the best comment on you tube being it's not an opinion and based on real world experience, something lacking on most arguments now a days unfortunately.
Think about it this way: in 2017, playing home games in Marlins park, Stanton hit 59 in 4 fewer PAs than Judge had this year. And a few years before that, Bautista hit 54. A couple years before THAT, Ryan Howard hit 58. It's honestly not that unusual for someone to get close. Eventually SOMEONE was gonna do it. Hell, if those seasons had all been at somewhere like Yankee stadium or GABP (or Coors, obvs), all 3 would have hit 60. Stanton and Howard would have been running down BONDS, not Maris. I just don't see what's hard to believe about this season.
I’m all for hitter friendly baseballs. Pitchers already dominate, and now that there’s an emphasis on relief pitching and starters no longer pitching deep into games, it’s even worse. MLB needs more offense
Great job reporting! This subject on the goldilocks balls has not been given any exposure on the media. Thank you for posting.
I don’t know if it was rigged per say, He plays in Yankee Stadium that is more then hitter friendly. I think that’s one reason he turned down the Giants. He does not get a lot of cheap HR though.
Honestly I wish there was more testing for the Angels commemorative balls that they used all season for 20 year, World Series anniversary baseball. I think MLB try to have a home run race between trout, Ohtani and Judge this past season., but it backfired due to trout getting injured he played like 120 games with 40 home runs. Imagine if he had a full season
I don’t distrust Verlander or have any reason to not believe what he’s saying. But the man is putting up the best numbers of his career while the balls are supposedly juiced. I mean, if they’re juiced, why are his numbers so good in the twilight of his career?
Place an asterisk next to every home run record since 1920. Fixed it!
you mean 1993. when players and balls were juiced.
@@albundy8192 Nope, Babe Ruth went from leading the majors with 29 HRs (1919) to leading baseball with 54 Hrs (1920) when the "dead ball" era ended.
@@kevinbergin9971 nope what. the babe hit 29 home runs with a sponge ball. he also pitched and played outfield in the same season and it was cut short do the the war and pandemic. he would of hit more. he would hit 100 with these golfballs of today
@@albundy8192 Baseball has always attempted to liven up the game with more offense. The notion that Babe Ruth, or any era before our own, is somehow the baseline for a fair baseball is false.
@@kevinbergin9971 nothing ever done before is as as bad and at the level of cheating than what bonds and other roiders have done to disgrace themselves and the game.
If true, I’m done thinking any record in baseball is 100 % legitimate and will question everything from now on. Judge’s AL HR record will be tainted, Pete Alonso’s rookie HR record is already tainted, Betts 2018 season is tainted. Stanton’s 59 is slightly tainted. Tired of this crap & Manfred. What a corrupt sport
Especially HR records. The fact that ball park dimensions are different is such BS. That’s like altering a basketball court in certain arenas. Totally unfair to compare home runs when it come to individuals. Baseball records are the most tainted in history. Hard to say any record is legitimate like you said.
I think the 2015-2017 balls were unintentional, but 2019 and late 2022 balls were definitely intentionally juiced. However, the 2019 balls definitely go much further. I wouldn’t say that the 2022 balls were enough to boost Judge’s total a drastic amount.
Nah it was intentional ….coincidently two rookies broke the home run rookie record for there leagues the same yr…..bellinger NL and judge AL
@@whoishec7615 This makes no sense. Juiced balls don’t all the sudden make you hit 52 homeruns, and being a rookie doesn’t matter… Judge hit so much more and clearly he’s proven he’s capable by hitting 62
@@Ryan-cb1ei (2017 Juiced)52!!**,...27, 27, 9, 39,...62!!**(2022 Juiced)..Stats don't lie, even considering Judge injury years!!! Just look at the two outliers!!! Even the 39 HRS in a FULL 2021 season is not even close to 52!! PLUS, 2022 was supposed to be "DEAD BALL" Season and ALL the top hitters in the league numbers dropped EXCEPT JUDGE!!! 🤔🤔🤔
@@loganwalker8038 Nothing is that shocking there, what are you trying to say? Had Judge played full seasons those numbers would be higher. The projections would be in the 40’s, excluding the shortened season
@@Ryan-cb1ei If you use Judges AB/HR numbers to figure out how many HR he'd have per 570 ABs(this years total):
2017: 55*** Rookie Record, but Juiced Balls
2018: 37
2019: 41
2020: 51 (Covid, 28 games 9HR, sample size too small to extrapolate) DISCARD!
2021: 40
2022: 62*** AL HR Record, but Juiced Balls
Thus, average IS 39HRS (37,41,40)...NOT "would be IN the 40's"!! Outliers 55, 62 Records both with Juiced Balls vs 40 Average is Shocking!!! Don't need a Stats Degree to see this....(In Stats, outliers 55 & 62 are discarded in calculating the Average especially if those numbers are with asterisks)
Great Video, but don’t let this distract you from the fact that Dave Stieb should be in the Hall of Fame.
I miss the days of baseball where emphasis was put on batting average, solid pitching & defense. Twenty years ago, if you were a player below the Mendoza Line, you were sent down to the minors. Hitting homers is nice and all, but ABC baseball has taken a backseat. I understand the sport itself has to evolve as time goes on, it's just feels alien to me to witness guys hit for 50+ HR in their rookie season for example.
well Judge hits for average too lol
@@silkyjohnson7599 Wait this season Judge hit .311 but he also struck out 175 times. WTF how did that happen? Looking at his career stats he strikes out a ton but actually has a good batting average, for example in 2017 he struck out over 200 times but still hit .284 that year. How is he doing this?
@@plantex625 I guess when he does put the ball in play it’s usually a hit lol
The Mendoza Line used to be a .200 batting average. Now it means having an OPS+ of 75. There's just a different way to measure whether someone is MLB-worthy.
Oh, and you can measure whether someone's defense cancels out their offense. Greg Luzinski had some seasons where he had positive offensive value, but his defensive ineptitude made him replacement-level.
sports needs drama, every sport rigs things for more drama for more profit
If the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox World Series titles don't have an asterisk; then Judge's HR record doesn't.
You know what, fair point.
You mean official asterisks in the mlb books? Because unofficially the vast majority of people I’ve talked to don’t consider the 2017 Astros title as legit, and let’s be real the official books don’t mean shit otherwise bonds would be in the hall 😂
@Ron Mexico does Bonds deserve to be in the Hall of Fame?
Yes.
Even if he did use steroids, he never failed a test.
But I heard he was also rude to reporters and MLB writers who are now voters for the HOF.
@@Quanic2000 Maybe I was unclear but I don’t care about any “official” MLB records or the HOF, anyone who was around during the Astros cheating scandal or the steroid era can have their own opinions on these specific issues
I am CONVINCED the giants didn't get their batch of juiced balls until the 2020 season.
SF had severl 29-32yo players falloff cliffs 2016-2019 with season HR leaders failing to hit at least 20HR. Then in 2020, so,e of those same players who hit 14HR in 150 games were hitting 12 in the shortened season, and SF led ALL OF BASEBALL in EVERY HR category, including breaking their own franchise record. That record had a guy hitting 70+HR, so it was definitely an outlier. SF had at least 3 players earn MVP votes en route to their franchise record 107 wins. 2022 its back to bottom of the league in HR's
2 things. 1. Ohtani should have been MVP.
That can color things so I dropped it first.
2. Along the same lines, I may suggest that Judge (whose HR record is sacred IMO) has been fast-tracked to be “the face of MLB.”
What may have been done to facilitate such an event is largely up in the air, but it would not color me shocked if juicing the balls at Yankee Stadium were part of “the process.”
First blister ever?? The middle finger on my left hand would always get a massive blister. It would be where the ball was released but then turned into an even bigger callous from getting it in the same place every year. I think that huge callous was part of why I had such nasty movement
Nolan Ryan used to soak his pitching hand in pickle brine to toughen up the skin on his fingertips.
You sound bad ass bro.
It wasn’t rigged. Judge hit the most home runs period. I’m not even a Yankee fan.
Bro they just make up anything to hate on judge cuz he a yankee 🤦🏻♂️
Because there’s cork in his bat 🤨
Theres less drag because they keep flattening the seams… and causes the pitcher to have less grip too. Its all against the pitchers.
I mean it's a common knowledge everywhere, idk why this is now suddenly a big news
For those of us who watched Bonds do what he did. Remember how he was lucky to get one pitch in the strike zone an entire at bat. I like Judge, but the way the pitchers were grooving balls to him no matter what the count or game situation was a joke. There is no doubt the balls were "funny" last season and not stand-up comedians.
Honestly he still had to “see” the pitch and have the power to still hit it out and not strike out a ton LIKE HE DID or just fly out so him beating the record in a single season “clean” then that’s better than previous and shows talent. You still have to make contact on whatever ball it is, juiced or not, and he did. I say glass half full, great job Aaron and cheers for many more, even though I HATE the Yankees
The chance that he even hit one of those balls yet alone it making a difference in being a homerun is so incredibly small
@Disgruntled Simp Mod Yeah no, it’s just not plausible. With the amount of balls they found (not a lot) and the fact that out of all the balls used during a game (around 96-120), Judge hits a juiced one, AND it makes a difference? The chance is just way too low. The balls are also random, so no one can feed Judge juiced balls, let’s say. And he hits bombs
Judge hits what, maybe one home run every 2.5 games on average last season? So that’s one ball out of 240-300 balls. Keep in mind these balls were only found at Yankee stadium in August and September (well there were other games in the league but Judge didn’t play in them) so away games don’t count. He also hit a lot more homeruns in away games towards the end. All things considered, the chance is just too low, don’t be silly.
@@Ryan-cb1ei exactly what I’m trying to say. Even if juiced he can easy strike out or fly out. How many hits total did he have vs HRs easy to tell if “juiced” he did an AMAZING job this last season and able to do that making Ohtani and Trout to step up there game. That means all teams had these “juiced” balls in play at some point of either team’s games so everyone had a chance as well unless the catcher told ump for the bouncers for only Aaron.But if it’s in cycle for all games seems fair just sucks who the batter is and strikes out not being able to have that HIGH % of it being a homer. I say good job Aaron and high hopes for him and others coming out of college to be like him and trout just being so dominant defensively and offensively.
@@bd1zzle And thats given he even GETS those balls
@@Ryan-cb1ei he had a MASSIVE strikeout ratio to hits let alone a crowd roarer and last month to 2 months he missed a ton of pitches that could of been “juiced” especially when he was in the 50s and way too much baseball to play to make this possible, he popped out and struck out a ton over home runs hit. Great job but he’s also a massive beast of a man and somehow is playing “clean” looking the way he does. Play every sport seems like. But back to the balls, that’s like the home run derby and you get the golden ball or whatever star ball and many players pop out and lose there chance to hit a baseball like that again. So unless he took vitamins too
i think at first judge was hitting regular balls but when the league saw that he was closer to breaking the record they made sure he did by throwing in those balls in the later part of the season
Every time someone breaks some type of record there is always a theory that tries to disprove it or down play it. Aaron Judge broke the home run record not because of a baseball but because he's a beast at the plate. It wasn't rigged, he just crushed the ball plain and simple. Verlander (I hope that's spelled right) complained about the baseball but as I remember it he beat the Yankees using that same ball in the play-off series. Give this whole damn thing a rest!!!!!!!
As much as I hate the Yankees I don't know how it would be implemented without having alot of ppl knowing it.
Now Luis Rengifo hitting like he did late in the season? That might of been a bunch of goldilocks
Another issue that hasn’t been talked about much has been issues with consistency of mud rubbed on baseballs last year. Before the Angels vs Mariners brawl the game where both teams “threw at each other” pitchers on both sides complain about no mud on some of the balls
Just finished. I like the commentary. I like that you are a real fan, and are willing to push against the narrative. ESPN doesn't do that and the more corporate TH-cam channels are turning into them.
Keep researching!
Hope this video doesnt get removed. People need to know about this kinda stuff
Hahaha oh yeah the conspiracy will be hidden and this TH-cam video will be taken down , 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The only modern day real hitting records since the late 90's were set by Ichiro Suzuki.
He was playing tennis 😊
As long as everyone is using this ball, the field is level.
Only in Yankees games the ball was being used. Didn't you watch the video?
Also what about for pitchers
Did anyone notice what happened to Judges batting after the regular season?
Sports are rigged period.
There is a very good interview with her online where she says the balls were used in YS and provided zero help to Judge because the balls were not juiced and therefore were less susceptible to HR. If anything the theory presented is the juiced balls were used with bad teams to keep em relevant longer, the dead balls were used to keep the good teams from running away and the just right balls ended up in YS for an unknown reason but. She also points out there were leftover balls from 21 in circulation, other balls and the ones made FOR 22 weren't particularly good or bad. The bigger issue was the seams which she discussed at length and how that, not the juiced balls had a bigger effect because it allows for more or less break on a pitch.
This has been known for awhile. During Judge's chase there were tweets about the "Goldilocks" balls being used especially in Yankee games. I think it doesn't change the fact what Judge did hitting 62 Home Runs. There were weeks in August and Sept where Judge couldn't hit a lick "Goldilocks" balls or not.
Does bonds being juiced change the fact he’s the greatest home run hitter of all time ?
@@BBB4416Do the Astros stealing signs change the fact that they won the 2017 World Series?
Yeah, it’s just not plausible. With the amount of balls they found (not a lot) and the fact that out of all the balls used during an average game (around 96-120), that Judge hits a juiced one, AND it makes a difference? The chance is just way too low. The balls are also random, so no one can feed Judge juiced balls, let’s say. And he hits bombs anyway.
Judge hits what, maybe one home run every 2.5 games on average last season? So that’s one ball out of 240-300 balls. Keep in mind these balls were only found at Yankee stadium in August and September (well there were other games in the league but Judge didn’t play in them) so away games don’t count. He also hit a lot more homeruns in away games towards the end. All things considered, the chance is just too low.
@@Ryan-cb1ei This sounds like cope to me. Good day friend 👍
@@mike-0451 I think you might be the dumbest commenter on this channel which is really impressive considering the misinformation and BS this guy spews and how his fan base eats it up.
Goldilocks balls were not juiced, they were just made perfectly. Not too heavy not too light. I don't see the problem, all balls should be made this way.
Goldilocks balls sure helped Judge, robbed Ohtani of the MVP. Shameless MLB!
I think you would need to do an analysis of the HR rate in Yankee games during the time when Judge was realistically going to reach the record. If this theory was true, I think you would see an increased HR rate in those games given they would be using the more juiced balls, as all players would be using the same batch of balls. The ump never changed out balls specifically for Judge at bats.
Maybe, but Yankee Stadium has a short porch, so the ball leaves the yard relatively easily compared to most other ballpark designs.
Are you sure they didn’t change out the balls for Judge’s at bats? I wonder
@@AnonymousD670 I mean there is plenty of game footage, and the opposing catchers/pitchers would certainly know because they frequently reuse the same ball after an out. I never saw them changing balls when Judge came up besides the usual changes when the ball gets too dirty or a foul.
Funny that Verlander has been vocal about " juiced baseballs" but not vocal when his team cheated.
I think they made it easier to hit homeruns because it made the game more interesting and fun seeing everyone hit bombs when you went to the game, which prob helped increase ticket sales
Kind of like why they put
up with Steroids for so long.
Shohei was robbed!
Someone does something great and people have to try and tarnish it.
yankee stadium is not only the size of a middle school field, they gave judge juiced baseballs
You do realize that it’s only short down the lines, right? You know how many home runs he missed out on that were hit to dead center and into the gaps, which are extremely deep in Yankee Stadium?
I'm pretty sure Yankee stadium has the deepest power alley's... and I'm a Met fan
Lazy, uninformed joke
@@A.B.421 you know how many home runs shouldn’t have been home runs bc it literally barely got out by going to shallow right or left field?
@@mnmblancket5199 ok? He’s still the home run leader. Just like bonds, even tho he used steroids, he’s still the home run king.
Hot Take: Going forward, the “Goldilock” should be the standard baseball to play. It is less juiced than 2019 and less dead than early 2021. It is should be evenly distributed to all 30 teams.
The fact that Aaron Judge hit 62 homeruns this season, Gerrit Cole gave up 36 homeruns, and JV is adamant about the baseballs being different is proof that the MLB itself was cheating in order to help gain the publicity of Judge's homerun chase. They also put "juiced" baseballs in games that there was a milestone within grasp. Does anyone else find it weird that down the stretch of the season, when it seemed that Pujols would never reach 700 homeruns, all of the sudden, Pujols ended the season with a pretty insane power streak?!?! It might not feel good to acknowledge it, it might feel better to just think that the Astros were the only cheaters in baseball, but you just simply CAN NOT deny that the MLB was cheating and be honest with yourself at the same time.
I absolutely love Aaron Judge, he is the flippin' man, but his homerun record this year is, in fact, illegitimate.
Idk if I really trust JV’s input here remember, how he said he hated cheaters then probably got exposed for every Astros pitcher in 2017 magically getting better once they went to the team, indicating the team was abusing foreign substances to boost their spin rates drastically.
@@soarinskies1105So when it comes to how the baseball actually feels in your hand, you are telling me that you don't trust the judgement of one of the greatest pitchers to ever live?! The 2017 Astros scandal wasn't even about the pitchers cheating, it was a system for the hitters. Plus, all pitchers in the big leagues were cheating to increase their spin rate, so based off of your logic, there isn't a single MLB pitcher who's judgement that you would trust when it comes to their feedback about how the baseball feels. Also, when the MLB cracked down, there were a lot of pitchers who were drastically worse without the extra spin rate, but JV was not one of them. He has been a DOMINANT pitcher over several baseball and pitching "eras" and in fact is probably the one human being on the planet that you should probably trust their judgement the most when it comes to his feedback about the baseball. Listen, if you don't like the Astros, that is fine, but don't show it by making stupid comments.
Some of you may be more familiar with the mudding process. It used to be done by hand. That became an issue. When they switched the process to a manufactured one, it started giving pitchers a distinct advantage. They're tooling with mudding, the cost analysis for this is absurd. Also, the leather used are fron cows, which is just as different as mudding.
Way to trash Judge’s record with no actual evidence. Disgraceful.
Because you believe in alternative facts!
They robbed Ohtani. Even Manfred stated the public has "Ohtani fatigue."
Which do we? What gets annoying is when Aaron Judge wins mvp the media makes it about the Yankees.
Im a sox fan but most of the league has Yankee fatigue
62 home runs, a 211 OPS+ and 207 wRC+, while playing great defense in the outfield, mostly in center. Judge deserved it.
@@SumoOrange1776 no one made Judge’s chase about the Yankees. His best stretch in July and August coincided with the Yankees’ awful team slump.
@@A.B.421
Barry Bonds is the real HR king. Other players have done what Judge has done. However, no one has done what Ohtani did in the 2022 season.
@@A.B.421 Yes they did. The media kept stating over and over that Judge deserved to win, because the Yankees had a better record. That was their only argument they had over Shohei.
Is there cork in judges bat? 🤔
Put an asterisk next to his "record"
It’s manfreds fault. The Yankees aren’t the ones changing the balls
@Bryce Kamin we don't know that. Manfred tried so hard to seal and keep sealed the cheating letter from the same year Judge hit 52 HRs and he denied this report about the goldilocks baseballs. Just think about it, if the Yankees are winning baseball makes money. Anyone that thinks baseball is here for the people first and money second is crazy.
🤡
Juiced balls or not players like oneil cruz, harper, devers, stanton, judge those power hitters are gonna hit them out regardless
JUDGE DIDNT CHEAT!!! STOP BEING A YANKEE HATER!!! 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
MLB did make changes to the ball to counter the homerun problem. Over the course of a few seasons from 2018 - 2020 at least, they gradually lowered it's weight and raised (not lowered) the seams (raising them also makes more sense when it comes to blister increase than lowering them would.) Over that period, there was a gradual increase in average pitch velocity and pitch movement as would be expected of such changes. The extra movement was blamed on increased spin rate due to sticky stuff but there are problems with that. First the statcast method of calculating spin rate sees any increase in pitch movement as an increase in spin rate even if it comes from a non spin related source (raised seams for example.) Beyond that, the maximum spin rate of individual pitchers pitches did not decrease when sticky stuff was banned, only their average spin rate (due to inconsistancies and slippage that weren't an issue with more reliable grip.) Their maximum spin rates did increase over said period though. Nobody can really explain the average velocity increase but reduced weight could definitely account for it. Long story short, the ball wasn't significantly "juiced" for the batter's benefit as the changes made benefitted pitchers more. The reason homeruns still increased a bit over that period was most likely the result of higher exit velocities due to the increase in pitch velocity with a dash of whatever undetectable PEDs were being used at the time thrown in. If MLB wants to deaden the ball without affecting aerodynamics (and thus pitching) all they need to do is mix some butyl rubber in with the regular rubber making up the rubber shell containing the cork. Better yet, drop the cork entirely and just used a blended ball of the two types of rubber adjusting the mix until the desired effect us reached.
Possibly meaning no,proof it was
Say what you want, but it's almost impossible to manufacture baseballs from year to year that perform exactly the same. There will always be minute differences in raw materials used, manufacturing processes, etc. "Bad batches" and "hot batches" of balls will always exist. You also have to factor in that many teams now use humidors to store game balls. That alone can produce some variation.
NLCS, Schwaber hits a 488 foot homerun at Petco in October. Then the next inning Soto and Machado crushed the ball to center and barely made the warning track. Interesting?
Wait. They used a commemorative ball to commemorate Judge's home run chase? Wow, it's almost like they were commemorating a moment.
Should we view the Astros championship in a bad light since they use the special commemorative balls? Considering that is what your implying about Judge.
I definitely think the balls in 2022 were less lively than previous years. I am a Yankee fan and I don’t believe the Yankees played with different balls except the special labeled balls they put in for Aaron Judge’s 60-62 HRs. I’m not even sure if they put in a special marked baseball for his 60th HR and I think they marked the 61st and 62nd HR balls as they were record tying and breaking baseballs. What I noticed was besides O’Neil Cruz’s 122.4 mph exit velocity that exit velocity was down. Giancarlo Stanton had hit several balls each season that exceeded 120 mph. I believe 2022 his hardest hit ball was 119.8 mph. I think you aren’t looking at all the variables that you should be looking at. Temperature, humidity, elevation, and wind are the variables that really determine how far a ball travels. Look at the HR derby at Coors Field when Trevor Story hit a ball that stat cast projected traveled 520 feet. The most amazing fact of that 520’ HR was it had an exit velocity at about 110 mph. Now think of real power hitters in the top 1% that hit the ball over 115 to 120 mph. I know that launch angle and backspin are also another variable but how can a baseball travel 520’ with an exit velocity of about 109.6 mph. Technically it’s not possible even at Coors Field. The 500’ HRs are not being hit at sea level or in the northeast where temperatures aren’t as hot. It would have been interesting to see Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton hitting in the HR derby at Coors Field. The good news for 2023 is the Yankees will be playing in Coors Field for the 1st time I believe since before 2017. Before Aaron Judge put on a big league uniform for the Yankees. I also know that depending on how a team stores a baseball also will effect the way it is hit.
August and September were terrible for the Yankees?