I read an article that a new ball was approved for college baseball. If that is the case will high school follow suit and how much lag time after college would you think it will be?
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Originally Posted by hueysdad:
I read an article that a new ball was approved for college baseball. If that is the case will high school follow suit and how much lag time after college would you think it will be?
There is no specific "seam" requirement in HS (nor for that matter NCAA) ball. So it's up to the state / conference / school.
(In many places, it's up to the State once playoffs start -- just like for NCAA).
AS I understand it the flat seam ball will only be required in the 2105 NCAA tournament......
Tame the bats, then change the ball to make it travel farther..(flat seams travel farther than raised seams)....they want to see more offense back in the tournament games...
As per HS, most states only have a prescribed game ball for Playoffs....as long as it is NFHS approved, its good for regular season game play.......(PIAA for instance requires the use of the Wilson A1010 for the PIAA Championships.)
In season:
- I'm lucky to get 3 new approved baseballs per game
- At some fields later in the game, we are using previous game balls to finish
- I've even dug out 2 new youth league balls out of my trunk to get a game in when neither team had any new baseballs.
I've been given baseballs of varying quality from top of the line Diamond's, Rawling's and Wilson's to Pro 9's to AD Starr's that turn to suede in 2 innings....
Budgets at the HS level are tight and a season worth of baseballs can be expensive...I don't know what sort of added expense rolling the seams flat would be...but its clearly another step in the manufacturing process.I guess we wait and see....
Could make for an interesting transition for both levels.
IMO, those colleges that have tourney aspirations will consider implementing the flat seam ball during the season next year. If there is not consensus, this could cause a bit of controversy (and control challenges for P's). If the ball sticks beyond 2015, there would likely be a trickle-down to HS over the following few years. Again, there could be a mixed bag during transition.
I agree with piaa ump that there is quite the assortment now in HS, including some seams higher than others but none are flat seam.
Originally Posted by piaa_ump:
Tame the bats, then change the ball to make it travel farther..(flat seams travel farther than raised seams)....they want to see more offense back in the tournament games...
My understanding is that flat seem balls have no increase in exit speed, so they are no more dangerous to the fielders than the current balls.
At the same time, they will increase offense in two ways:
- fly balls travel farther due to less drag
- pitchers can't get as much movement on the ball
My kid's best tool is power, so I'm looking forward to the change. 