Did anyone happen to catch the sports science segment ESPN did during the super regionals last week that showed how the bats and balls used by the NCAA have drastically altered (for the worse, IMO) the college game? Most people know about the bbcor bats and how the sweet spot on the barrel decreased from 4" to 2", but the baseballs also play a major role in it as well. The seams on the college ball are raised more than on the balls used in the pros, which allow the pitchers to get a better grip and more spin. More spin equals more movement. In addition, the raised seams also created a wind drag on line drives, which slow them down considerably. The NCAA is considering introducing the baseballs used in the pros sometime in the near future. They have tighter stitching which will reduce wind drag and the movement pitchers get on their pitches. This appears to be the consensus 'best approach' to balance out the game, as it will prevent the cost associated with redesigning and replacing the bats (again). Anyway, I'm not doing the segment's explanation any justice. I found the link to it, if anyone is interested. It's really cool how they break it all down. I'm also glad that they're considering the changes. Just like most people agreed that the bats used in the 90's gave hitters an unfair advantage, I believe the pitchers now have an unfair advantage and would like to see it evened out. http://espn.go.com/espn/sportscience/index
Define "unfair advantage", though. Both teams have access to the same bat technology. Screw the pitchers and their stats. Cool stuff, though.
I believe that the baseballs used by the NCAA, combined with the bbcor bats give pitchers an unfair advantage. Not one team over another. The sports science segment seems to support that. Now, I'm not saying we need to go back to the bats of the 90's, but I don't think there was any reason to change them again after 2009. You didn't see many games with football scores nor did you see many cheap HRs. I am all in favor of using the major league balls to try and balance out the game. Don't you or do you prefer the way the game is played now? If it's the latter, what, in your opinion was wrong with the college game prior to 2010, when additional changes were made to the bats?
Short answer is that NCAA baseball is now in a dead-ball era that is unbalanced in favor of pitching, defense/fielding, speed, and situational baseball. Hitting (both contact hitting and power hitting) is at a disadvantage in comparison to the minors and majors. It's not just the raised seams on the NCAA ball, it's also that the NCAA regulations on the NCAA baseball don't allow for a ball that bounces as much as minor league or major league balls. They brought it up at the last national college coaches convention, and while pretty much all of them like the current pro-style bats, a lot of them want to change to a pro-style ball, and it makes sense to do so
I liked gorilla ball, and I'm still mad that they took it away from us. It didn't give any TEAM an unfair advantage, so the playing field was still even. I didn't see a problem with it.
Same here. The only problem I had with the bats used in the gorilla ball era is the danger it posed to pitchers. Other than that, I fully agree. I know the baseball purists will disagree because it adds more strategy to the game, but I HATE small ball. To coach Maineri's credit, he does bunt less than most coaches. As with anything, sometimes it helps us get a big inning, sometimes it hurts us. But, it's been successful more often than not.
