Ball don't fly
Aaron Judge might have hit even more home runs this season if the ball was carrying properly.
I wrote an op-ed for NBC News Think about the greatness of Aaron Judge’s season and the context that’s needed when comparing it to other 60-homer seasons.
It’s easy to blame players from the “steroid era” for laying waste to the record books. But there was no testing in place at the time and MLB has made no effort to delineate “clean” and PED-aided records.
The shame of Judge’s season — in which he slugged 62 home runs, good for seventh best all-time — is that he might have hit many more dingers if the ball was carrying properly. The “dead ball” used this season turned some likely homers into warning-track outs.
So, in essence, Major League Baseball, by using a deadened ball this year, ensured Barry Bonds would remain the home run champ.
Read the op-ed here.