Altering the composition, seam, or density of the baseball is known as “juicing” the baseball. However, there are debates on whether baseballs should be juiced. Some argue whether it’s ethical or even advisable to do so, but despite the backlash, it continues to happen around the globe.
The main reason to have a baseball juiced is to increase scoring. The juice ball theory is one of the most talked about theories where it is believed that MLB has juiced baseball to have the ball bounce off at higher speed. Although juiced balls are not legal to be used in an official match, you can juice your balls in a legal method to boost your confidence and to play a fun quick game.
There are a few ways to juice a baseball. Juicing a baseball is not an easy task, but if done right, it can be seamless. You can juice your balls lightly to have less obvious results or go all in to give you the hardest swings. It’s all in the methods!
How To Juice Baseball
There are multiple ways to juice a baseball but the most common ways to juice baseball are by altering the seam, composition, and density.
Altering by the Seam:
There are around 206 stitches on a baseball. If they are less or more, it means the baseball has been altered. The higher the seams, the more pull it can create. Naturally, the lower the seams, the lesser the pull it can create by the player.
Altering the seam can automatically affect the spin axis and the speed of the ball. The seam is a crucial part of baseball. It controls all the aspects of the ball. The grip of the baseball and the control are directly associated with the seam of the ball.
If the pitcher grips the ball along the seam, they will have more control over the ball. The gripping technique allows the pitcher to have full control over the spin and the movement of the ball, therefore, controlling how fast or slow or which direction would the ball go.
Juicing of baseball through seams is dependent on the aerodynamics of the baseball. Undoubtedly, an aerodynamic ball will go higher if hit with the same force as a normal ball. Hence, putting the seams higher on the baseball makes it lighter than the normal balls, making it go faster and higher.
Altering By Composition:
Another way to juice a baseball is by altering the composition of it. There is a big chance that if the ball is not altered by the seam, the composition is not the same as usual. If you compare two different baseballs from different brands, there is a chance you will see a slight difference in the size. The compositions are made differently to make the ball go faster through the air.
The change of the composition can be from inside or even outside. The cheaper balls have a plastic coating that makes them a little heavy and don’t catch a lot of speed when soaring through the skies, whereas baseballs made from cowhide have more chances of speeding through as they are lighter.
To temper the composition of the ball, the core must be lighter. There is some evidence that the new balls that are being made have 7% more polymer in them. The polymer has air pockets, therefore making it lighter. Even the 7% change in composition makes a significant difference. Imagine if it were 10 or 15%.
Altering By Density:
As we got to know that lighter the core of the baseball, the more likely it is to fly off into the sky. Some people take that as their advantage and make the core of baseball lighter. By doing so, they are altering the density of the ball and making it swiftly travel through the skies without any hindrance.
From the evidence, MLB after supposedly altering the baseballs by their densities have 500 more homeruns than previous records. This shows that playing with density can give you drastic results.
Why Are The Balls Juiced?
There are a lot of theories as to why the balls are juiced, especially if MLB juices their balls. Although the leagues deny all the claims against them, there is still a chance that they juice the balls because of the dramatic change in results, the obvious size difference in pictures of the ball, and the weight change of the balls.
Although there is no apparent reason to juice the ball as a lot of people, even players, prefer to play a game with much more fun in it, less home runs or more home runs are all subjective. The game played should be fun. So, the only obvious reason is to temper the game to win quickly.
Conclusion of How To Juice Baseball
Although not preferred but there are a few tried and tested ways of juicing a ball. It is effective as it alters the composition to make it lighter, density to make the core lighter, and seam to move the seam up and make it more aerodynamic. But it is not worth the trouble to win the game by altering the ball!