From USA Today’s Bob Nightengale :
“We’ve had two eight-home run games at Wrigley Field this year. Two!” Chicago Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild (above) says. “Can you believe that? Something just isn’t right.”
Most players are reluctant to ascribe the homer binge to banned substances; only 3% in the player survey conducted by USA TODAY and The Sports Xchange pinpointed performance-enhancing drugs as the reason.
Replies Ben,
Since we know the Cubs haven™t been hitting eight homers a game, I™d have to say Larry™s right. The Cubs record of 34-54 this year has to be about steroids, in that every other team must be taking them and we obviously aren™t. The rest of this USA Today article has any number of interesting conspiracy theories on the home run boom this year, from amateur chemistry experiments in clubhouses to Sandy Alderson™s electron microscoped strike zones.
I guess my question is, if it all comes down to steroids, how come fast balls haven™t been topping 100 mph? Has there been an increase in pure power from the pitching?