New York Baseball

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Are the World Series Balls Too Slick? Some Say Yes
By TYLER KEPNEROCT. 29, 2017

HOUSTON — No World Series has had as many home runs through the first four games as this one. Heading into Game 5 on Sunday, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros had smashed 15 of them, putting the teams on pace to break the World Series record of 21, set in 2002.

Naturally, perhaps, pitchers are citing the baseball as a culprit.

“I know Mr. Manfred said the balls haven’t changed, but I think there’s enough information out there to say that’s not true,” said the Astros’ Justin Verlander, referring to Commissioner Rob Manfred.

“I think the main complaint is that the balls seem a little bit different in the postseason, and even from the postseason to the World Series balls,” Verlander said “They’re a little slick. You just deal with it. But I don’t think it’s the case of one pitcher saying, ‘Hey, something is different here.’ I think as a whole everybody is saying, ‘Whoa, something is a little off here.’”

After Game 2, which included a single-game World Series-record eight home runs, the Astros’ Dallas Keuchel said the balls were juiced because Major League Baseball wanted more offense. In an online report Sunday, several pitchers told Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci that the slickness of the World Series balls has kept them from throwing their best sliders.

Slicker leather affects a pitcher’s ability to pull down on an off-speed pitch, and the loss of friction would affect the tightness of the spin. The Dodgers’ Yu Darvish and the Astros’ Ken Giles are pitchers who rely on sliders, and both have struggled in the World Series.

Darvish and others told Verducci the balls were slicker, though not all pitchers are convinced. The Dodgers’ Rich Hill, who will oppose Verlander in Game 6 and throws more curveballs than sliders, said he thought the balls felt the same.

“I think they’ve been extremely consistent in the World Series, and also in the playoff games as well,” Hill said, adding that he had not seen any variation in the seams of the ball, or the size. “I think it just has to do with the conditions. If it’s colder, it’s going to be slicker. If it’s a little warmer out or humid, I think you’re going to have a little bit more moisture to the baseballs.”

The first-pitch temperature for Game 1 in Los Angeles was 103 degrees, and it was 93 degrees for Game 2. The games in Houston have been indoors, though George Springer, the Astros’ center fielder, said after Game 3 that it felt colder at Minute Maid Park that night than he could ever remember.

Major League Baseball has consistently denied that the balls were different in the regular season, when major leaguers smashed a record 6,105 home runs. A baseball official who was not authorized to speak publicly said Sunday that the World Series balls were manufactured in July with the same process used for regular-season balls, and that they fell within designated specifications. The only difference, he said, is the color of the stamp on the ball, which is gold for the World Series.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/sports/baseball/slick-baseballs-world-series.html?