“It’s a f—ing joke,” said Verlander, an eight-time All-Star who is starting his second All-Star Game on Tuesday. “Major League Baseball’s turning this game into a joke. They own Rawlings, and you’ve got Manfred up here saying it might be the way they center the pill. They own the f—ing company. If any other $40 billion company bought out a $400 million company and the product changed dramatically, it’s not a guess as to what happened. We all know what happened. Manfred the first time he came in, what’d he say? He said we want more offense. All of a sudden he comes in, the balls are juiced? It’s not coincidence. We’re not idiots.”
snip
“We think what’s been going on this year is attributable to the baseball,” Manfred told Golic and Wingo. “Our scientists that have been now studying the baseball more regularly have told us that this year the baseball has a little less drag. It doesn’t need to change very much in order to produce meaningful change in terms of the way the game is played on the field. We are trying to understand exactly why that happened and build out a manufacturing process that gives us a little more control over what’s going on. But you have to remember that our baseball is a handmade product and there’s gonna be variation year to year.”
Source: Jeff Passan, ESPN
Instead of worrying about things like the shift and LOOGY’s – MLB should concentrate on the fundamental aspects of the game. Get the strike zone called correctly and do whatever it takes to get the baseballs manufactured consistently within a tight range, much tighter than what currently exists.
I read these comments this morning in the NY Post. I laughed out loud when I read them because without a doubt, MLB is pissed. This is the starting pitcher for the All-Star game taking them to task. Certainly, Verlander knew what he was saying and since he has done very well so far this year, this isn’t about him.
However, whenever Manfred talks, he gives the impression that players and fans are in fact idiots. While he doesn’t deny the ball is different, these balls aren’t hand made any more. That process was stopped years ago when machines made them cheaper. Too, I believe that I heard that the balls aren’t rubbed with the Delaware River mud any more, or was it that less of them are rubbed every game? That was provided last year.
For the average fan, we prefer offense. I have no problem with a little more offense, but when Frazier hits a one handed homerun, that’s gone too far.