Modern-era baseball with a Deadball-era baseball

[Giomancer]

Over the past couple of months, I've been mulling over the mechanics of baseball. I recently had the occasion to explain what, exactly, made the deadball-era the deadball-era to my mother, which caused me to look up relevant info. Since then, my brain has been percolating over a percieved "problem" (meaning it's my opinion that it's a problem at all) of a reliance on home runs instead of strategic small ball.

Add to this my agreement with Nolan Ryan that the current height of the pitcher's mound is wrecking the arms of our pitchers...

What I'd like to do is tinker with the settings to simulate the use of an old-fashioned solid rubber core ball instead of the modern cork-and-layered rubber ball. I'd like input from those of you that know the program well on how to do that.

I've thought about looking at the settings for some deadball-era seasons, but there were multiple factors that made the era what it was, and the structure of the ball is just one.

(Fields were bigger, too—something I did not know before looking into it. I'm leaving stadiums alone, though. Imagine trying to extend Fenway by 200 extra feet!)

As to the pitcher's mound thing.. I have no idea if that's even something OotP can simulate. Injury frequency can be altered, as can pitching performance, but I don't believe there's a way to sim the performance of a changed mound and lower the incidences of a single injury type. Is there?

TL; DR: Looking for advice on simulating a solid rubber core baseball and higher/steeper pitching mound w/ lower incidence of Tommy John surgeries.

Thanks all!


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[RonCo]

I'm pretty sure this was never the real purpose of them, but they've grown into it.

The best way (IMHO) to adjust an environment for factors like that is with League Totals and the other environmental variables/modifiers. I think our historical roster developers also work to adjust individual players ratings to affect outcomes, but I think that's a losing game.

Adjusting ballparks can make for such changes, too--though you need to adjust the factors to affect a real change. The dimensions themselves are cosmetic. Make a fence 1,000 feet from home and watch hitters tee off for 1,050 foot dingers. Odd, yes. But true.

[NoOne]

while nolan ryan knows how to pitch, he is expertised in nothing that allows him to make that assertion.

and vaccines cause impotency and alzheimers and ... ... .. it's magic!

i would bet a slight change in degree from which a pitcher throws is less of an affect than how much harder pitchers throw now than 30 years ago - on average.

a couple degrees doesn't change thowing mechanics. for such a small change over ~60ish' amounts to a infinitesimal difference in release point... well within the differences you see between people and types of pitches etc etc...

but that genius "knows" it's the mound in his gut, because he probably hated it when they lowered it... that's enough evidence for most people, lol.

[Giomancer]

Well, the height of the mound wasn't the primary point; the point was the steepness (or lack thereof) of the front of the mound. With a steeper falloff, the lower body absorbs more energy of throwing a pitch. The more level the mound, the more energy is transferred up into the shoulder.

As the article points out, the higher mound tended to force a steeper slope, while the lower mound tends toward a shallow slope.

While certainly not physiologists or biophysicists, Rich Honeycutt and Nolan Ryan pitched on both the higher and lower mounds, with and without the steep falloff. They know how throwing a lot of pitches over time affected them under those conditions. They make an interesting point and it deserves further study.

Originally Posted by NoOne

i would bet a slight change in degree from which a pitcher throws is less of an affect than how much harder pitchers throw now than 30 years ago

On Aug. 20, 1974, Ryan entered The Guinness Book of World Records with a 100.9 mph pitch. That speed was measured by a laser radar when it was 9-10 feet from the plate; if measured at the standard distance of 50 feet from the plate (as PITCHf/x does), that extrapolates to an astounding 108.1 mph. Even his high-80s curveball was frighteningly fast. "At that speed, the curve would break so hard that it'd take your stomach away," wrote umpire Durwood Merrill in his autobiography, You're Out and You're Ugly Too. -- Jay Jaffe

Just to point out that pitchers weren't exactly throwing softly 30 years ago. Ryan isn't the only pitcher over history to throw like that, either.

Again, though, Ryan isn't saying that the lower mound in and of itself is causing a higher rate of injury, it's the slope at the front. It's an important distinction, I think.

[RonCo]

Regardless, modifications in the game's environments are best modeled by changes to league totals or other environmental factors.

[Giomancer]

Originally Posted by RonCo

Regardless, modifications in the game's environments are best modeled by changes to league totals or other environmental factors.

Indeed! Thanks to your idea, I've managed to sim out a few sasons satisfactorily.


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[Alexdock]

Deadball balls in a modern environment always lead to some fun results. Pitchers get rewarded for command, hitters struggle, and strategy shifts toward manufacturing runs. It lines up with what a lot of pitching development people discuss today Premier Pitching Performance included, about how ball construction affects pitching performance and outcomes.