Not only are the post-Hank Aaron era players juiced, seems the baseballs are as well.
"Rawlings became the exclusive supplier for the League’s baseballs in 1977, one year after Hank Aaron retired. In the first year alone the League witnessed a 63% increase in home runs (2,235 in 1976 vs. 3,644 in 1977) with the new baseball composition.
"In 1999, one year after Mark McGwire broke the single-season home run record, the League decided to remove the timeless imprint “cushioned cork center” from official baseballs, according to David Zavagno, president of UMS, a worldwide innovator of diagnostic imaging technology for various industries.
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The baseballs Hank Aaron hit during his career did not include enlarged, rubberized centers (known as pills) found in the current, Barry Bonds-era baseballs. The pill, according to a computed tomography (CT) study conducted by Universal Medical Systems, Inc. of Ohio (UMS) with assistance from Dr. Avrami S. Grader and Dr. Philip M. Halleck from the Center for Quantitative Imaging at Penn State University, has increased significantly in size and density, thus improving the distance modern Bonds-era baseballs travel. PRNewsFoto/Universal Medical Systems, Inc
“The League decided to juice itself so they pumped the new ball into their system,” states Zavagno. “By examining the CT images of Bonds-era baseballs, you can see the ball has been upgraded to include a rubberized pill, the addition of polyester in the windings and a very hard synthetic ring or spring. As the CT images demonstrate, the League apparently allowed the composition of the baseball to further change from 1998 to 2001 destroying the integrity of the game’s statistics, including home run records.”
http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_62715.shtml
I couldn’t care less about baseball, but as a sports fan, I hope Hammerin’ Hank retains his rightful place in American history. A Barry Bonds was inevitable, and much less remarkable.
