Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Roarman
You had doubles hitters batting 50 homers a year. It wasn't hard to see. Horrible excuse.
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People, a lot of people assumed it was the baseball, as it was in the 1920s. MLB considered introducing a livlier ball in 1970 and experimented with it in some spring training games. Many people believed that baseball officials changed the ball without announcing the change. Others believed the change had more to do with production changes in the baseballs that were unintentional. Some believed the latter because the 1970 experimental X-15 ball would have produced more offense, and the increasing number of strikeous along with the increasing number of home runs showed that smaller parks and a greater emphasis on sacrificing contact for power played the biggest role in the power surge.
Fans and the media had plenty of reason
not to believe the power surge was attributable to criminal illegal performance enhancing drugs.