Have the baseballs changed since 1989?

Agryan00 said:

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The bats are very different these days.

89 they were not quite as juiced as early 2000s with the Air Attack and Easton C Core Reflex but probably a little more juiced than todays bat.

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Yep. I think the NCAA adopted the -3 weight to length around 2010.

threeanout said:

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Agryan00 said:

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The bats are very different these days.

89 they were not quite as juiced as early 2000s with the Air Attack and Easton C Core Reflex but probably a little more juiced than todays bat.

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Yep. I think the NCAA adopted the -3 weight to length around 2010.

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It was 2000 that BESR -3 became the regulation

Gyles Marrett said:

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threeanout said:

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Agryan00 said:

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The bats are very different these days.

89 they were not quite as juiced as early 2000s with the Air Attack and Easton C Core Reflex but probably a little more juiced than todays bat.

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Yep. I think the NCAA adopted the -3 weight to length around 2010.

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It was 2000 that BESR -3 became the regulation

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It went from BESR to BBCOR then. BESR were the old juiced bats.

threeanout said:

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This is getting kind of crazy, as this team is putting up some unbelievable offensive numbers.

It's still early in the season and a whole lot of baseball is left to be played, but I decided to compare the current offensive stats to that of the 1989 team....which I consider the best offensive team ever for the Ags.

The '89 team had a slugging percentage of .542; this team is currently at .589.

The '89 team scored an average of 9.76 runs a game; this team averages 9.92 runs a game.

The '89 team hit 88 HRs or 1.35 per game; this team has hit 76 HRs an average of 2.11 per game.

The '89 team hit for a .340 avg (insane); this team is currently hitting at a .316 clip.

Note: The '97 Aggie team hit for a .323 average, but kind of skewed by Jason Tyner who hit .370 for the year.

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I'd like to see a comparison between 1989 and 1999. I think most would be surprised.

RGLAG85 said:

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Gyles Marrett said:

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threeanout said:

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Agryan00 said:

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The bats are very different these days.

89 they were not quite as juiced as early 2000s with the Air Attack and Easton C Core Reflex but probably a little more juiced than todays bat.

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Yep. I think the NCAA adopted the -3 weight to length around 2010.

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It was 2000 that BESR -3 became the regulation

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It went from BESR to BBCOR then. BESR were the old juiced bats.

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The comment was about when the weight requirement went to -3, that's all I was responding to as it was 2000 not 2010.

Aggies2009 said:

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themissinglink said:

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For some recent comparisons using SEC only stats (to filter out some of the crap non-con teams). Right now we're averaging 9.9 runs per game in SEC play. Below are the top offenses in each of the last 5 years.

2022
Tennessee - 7.8 runs pg
A&M - 7.7 runs pg

2023
LSU - 8.0 runs pg
Vandy - 6.9 runs pg

2024
UK - 7.8 runs pg
Tennessee- 7.3 runs pg
A&M - 7.1 runs pg

2025
Arkansas - 8.7 runs pg
MSU - 7.3 runs pg

2026:
A&M - 9.9 runs pg
Vandy - 7.2 runs pg
LSU - 6.9 runs pg

I think it's fair to expect our offense to tail off a bit give we've face 2 of the worst pitching staffs in the league (Mizzou, Vandy) and our remaining schedule ranks 1, 3, 4, 5 in ERA (SEC only stats), but you can also see this offense is just now coming into form. Haco is battling back from injury and has been pedestrian in SEC play. We all know he's got another level to him. TK had been terrible in SEC play prior to last night. Jorian hadn't solidified a starting role until 2 weeks ago. GG found the power we knew he had in the Missouri series.

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Kinda. We also played one of the best pitching staffs (Texas) and made mincemeat of them as well.

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There's outliers and I'm not sure which way this one swings. But my goodness we put the hurt on opposing pitching.

I understand, stats are stats and provide metrics for comparison.

In my humble opinion (and I've said this numerous times) the approach our hitters were taking at the plate changed drastically from the CWS run in 2024 to opening day 2025 and the entire season (last season) and going into the first portion of this season.

For 2025 and going into this season, our hitters were more impatient free swingers (meaning they weren't hunting for their pitch and not using the entire field/not going with the pitch--they were trying to hit a 10-run, 800 feet HR, pulling all pitches with "exit velos" of 150 mph...).

I started noticing this after the OU series (the change/approach), our hitters started being more patient, not trying to pull every pitch (i.e., you started seeing more opposite field hits AND HRS), getting deeper into the counts (which also means getting into the opponent's bullpen--pitch count/totals, it all accumulates over a three-game series). I don't understand the change from 2024 to 2025, as Earley was the hitting coach. I'm just glad (it appears) they made the change back. I believe they even flashed a statistic during the tu game about getting deeper into the counts, with the Agz being first in the stat.

Lady Aravis said:

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Longley was the hitting coach last year

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Right, but Earley was the coach in 2024, correct? Why would he change the approach to hitting?

I think I'm confused -- the way I see it our 2026 hitting approach is back to our 2024 approach. The common denominator is Earley as the hitting coach. Longley was hitting coach in 2025 and our hitting approach was different. Any holdover early this season from last year was likely new season jitters from the new guys and shaking off the last residuals from last year for our veterans.

If I'm misunderstanding your point, I do apologize -- late night Saturday + early morning Sunday = lingering brain cobwebs....

AgE2theBONE said:

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cs69ag said:

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Have the baseballs changed since 1989?

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Yes. We changed to flat-seamed balls in 2015, I think.

The net effect is that the balls travel farther.

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Less drag in the air.

More movement on the pitch.

I also think the strike zone has gotten smaller. A pitcher can't live just off the corners like Maddux used to do.

threeanout said:

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I also think the strike zone has gotten smaller. A pitcher can't live just off the corners like Maddux used to do.

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He lived off the corners of the batters' boxes