MetaFilter posts tagged with homerun

Fading Away

reenum — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:13:01 -0800

Mark McGwire was one of the most feared sluggers in the game during his career. In 1998, the home run chase between McGwire and Sammy Sosa helped baseball recover from the 1994 strike. But, when a reporter found a bottle containing andro in McGwire's locker, some chinks in his armor began to emerge. The andro story wasn't enough to overshadow McGwire and Sosa's record breaking seasons. McGwire received many accolades, from having a highway named after him to having cameos on TV shows. After it became well known that baseball players had engaged in widespread steroid abuse from 1990 on, a public outcry began to overshadow the sport. McGwire was not immune to these allegations. The saga culminated with Senate hearings in 2005, where McGwire refused to discuss his alleged steroid use. After his Senate testimony, McGwire retreated to his home in California and refused to speak to the media. Once thought to be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame, McGwire received only 23 percent of the vote in his first year of eligibility in 2008. With his recent hire as the Cardinals' hitting coach, McGwire will attempt to repair some of his tarnished legacy.

To Build a Better Bat

Slap*Happy — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 22:02:11 -0800

Barry Bonds has broken the all-time record with the benefit of a controversial technological revolution in the game, derided by traditionalists: The Maple Baseball Bat. Using technology and woodworking techniques pioneered by Sam Bat, Bonds helped develop and popularize the bats that are just as responsible for the advent of the Juiced Ball Era as, well, the other thing.

Hey batter batter batter batter SWING!

edverb — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 08:10:27 -0800

The four greatest home run hitters of all-time: A video analysis of their swings. The top ten swings of 2006 and more from swingtraining.net. More on the mechanics of crushing baseballs from The Batter's Eye. The Physics of Baseball highlights an academic paper studying "optimum baseball bat swing parameters for maximum range trajectories", or more to the point, "How to Hit Home Runs" (warning, last link is PDF).