Flat Seamed Baseballs in the NCAA...will they come to the MLB?

[The Mort Report]

So I was poking around the web today and came across this article about how the NCAA switched to flat seamed baseballs this year
 
http://news.yahoo.com/ncaa-reports-big-jump-home-runs-flat-seam-170656118--spt.html
 
The article states that teams are hitting 40% more home runs this season.  And in a little more in depth after I poked around about this
 

 
 
Committee members made the decision to change to a flat-seamed baseball after research conducted this fall by the Washington State University Sport Science Laboratory showed that flat-seamed baseballs launched out of a pitching machine at averages of 95 mph, a 25-degree angle and a 1,400 rpm spin rate traveled around 387 feet compared to raised-seamed baseballs that went 367 feet.

http://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/article/2013-11-05/di-committee-changes-flat-seamed-baseballs-2015-championship
 
In the 2nd link the top of the page has images on both a raised seam and flat seam.  The article goes on also to talk about how there is no increased danger to pitchers or players.  
 
I'm wondering with all the clamoring going on about offense and power being down that this has not come up for the MLB.  If the league can up home run production without any increase in player safety and all it would take is swapping out balls why are we not seeing them try this in say spring training
 
The only "negative" in the article was that the less resistant ball might affect how pitchers throw breaking stuff, but it is also said pitchers should be able to adjust eventually.  For the MLB I might see pitchers being against this, since they rely heavily on feel and movement, but its not to say they couldn't get use to it.
 
I'm all for seeing a couple more balls a year sail over the Green Monster, and I'd imagine pitchers could adjust if they got an offseason and spring training to work with them.  So I'm not saying this year, but curious why it is not a more dicussed topic

 

[SoxJox]

My first reaction is that pushback won't come in the form of aversion toward longer distances the ball may travel, but rather the loss of influence a pitcher can impart on the ball through the various seam-finger position/pressure combinations. I think the potential for a marginal increase in the number of HRs (i.e., a "few" plays) likely would be far outweighed by what I expect would be very strong opposition from pitchers because it would involve them in EVERY single pitch.

 

[Rasputin]

So my question is, are these seams actually or are they just using the MLB seams instead of the old NCAA ones?
 
'Cause the NCAA used to have seams raised up a bit that even a non athlete like myself could easily feel.

 

[vintage'67]

So my question is, are these seams actually or are they just using the MLB seams instead of the old NCAA ones?
 
'Cause the NCAA used to have seams raised up a bit that even a non athlete like myself could easily feel.

From the article: "The difference in the height of the seams between the two baseballs is small. The flatter-seamed ball has a seam height of .031 inches compared to .048 inches for a raised-seam ball. This flatter seam height is consistent with the balls used in minor league baseball, yet still higher than what is used in major league baseball."

 

[Spacemans Bong]

I'd like to see a comparison of breaking pitches with this ball vs. a raised seam ball. I'm not a fan of killing off the curveball so we can have more dingerz; I'd much rather legislate OOGYs out of the game.

 

[The Mort Report]

From the article: "The difference in the height of the seams between the two baseballs is small. The flatter-seamed ball has a seam height of .031 inches compared to .048 inches for a raised-seam ball. This flatter seam height is consistent with the balls used in minor league baseball, yet still higher than what is used in major league baseball."

 
Well I must have completely misread that because on initial read I thought they were referencing the raised seam.  I have very little knowledge of baseballs and couldn't find the specs on an MLB ball.  Still you have to wonder if they lowered the seam on a MLB if it would help with offense

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

Anything that makes it harder for pitchers to manipulate how the ball travels through the air is likely going to "help" offense. I'm with Spacemans Bong, though. I would rather see them approach the issue of depressed offense in another way.

 

[Hagios]

I'd like to see a comparison of breaking pitches with this ball vs. a raised seam ball. I'm not a fan of killing off the curveball so we can have more dingerz; I'd much rather legislate OOGYs out of the game.

 
Agreed. My preference is that they should increase offense by juicing the ball. Then they could throw pitchers a bone and raise the mound to bring back the curve. It would make the game better, and might even help keep pitchers healthier.

 

[alannathan]

The new flat-seam ball used by NCAA is actually the MiLB baseball, not the MLB baseball.  The Washington State crew and I did an experiment last year comparing raised-seam NCAA, MiLB, and MLB baseballs for their "carry".  The results are in an article we wrote for Baseball Prospectus.  Since it seems to be behind their pay wall, I have posted a version of it on my web site:  http://baseball.physics.illinois.edu/FlyBallDistance.pdf.  We did not measure movement on pitched baseballs but did measure fly ball distance.

 

[SoxJox]

 
Agreed. My preference is that they should increase offense by juicing the ball. Then they could throw pitchers a bone and raise the mound to bring back the curve. It would make the game better, and might even help keep pitchers healthier.

I think the "attractiveness" implied in the OP was that the initial velocity is not increased by the seam reduction.  Greater distance of travel is achieved through reduction in drag.  Increased batted-ball velocity has become a very real concern and in many ways is why collegiate baseball in 2011 reverted to either wooden bats or bats that passed the Bat-Ball Coefficient of Restitution (BBCOR) test.  The BBCOR in essence placed the composite/aluminum bat on par with expected velocities off a wooden bat.
 
Juicing the ball would move approaches to this concern in the opposite direction.  I don't know if it would be as much of a concern at the major league level, but it would certainly be one that would require greater study.

 

[alannathan]

I think the "attractiveness" implied in the OP was that the initial velocity is not increased by the seam reduction.  Greater distance of travel is achieved through reduction in drag.  Increased batted-ball velocity has become a very real concern and in many ways is why collegiate baseball in 2011 reverted to either wooden bats or bats that passed the Bat-Ball Coefficient of Restitution (BBCOR) test.  The BBCOR in essence placed the composite/aluminum bat on par with expected velocities off a wooden bat.
 
Juicing the ball would move approaches to this concern in the opposite direction.  I don't know if it would be as much of a concern at the major league level, but it would certainly be one that would require greater study.

I am in complete agreement with SonJox. 

 

[SoxJox]

I'd like to see a comparison of breaking pitches with this ball vs. a raised seam ball. I'm not a fan of killing off the curveball so we can have more dingerz; I'd much rather legislate OOGYs out of the game.

Well, intuitively you'd expect the raised seam ball to have greater movement based on the effects of at least one contributor to the drag coefficient: skin friction.  The ball simply would have a greater surface area upon which aerodynamic drag could act.  Now, the exact difference between the two will vary based on a multitude of factors: pitch speed, rate of spin, altitude, humidity, air temperature (the latter 3 of which affect density of the fluid environment)...but generally greater movement with the raised seams.
 
This reduction in expected movement is exactly why pitchers would revolt against the idea.

 

[Comfortably Lomb]

So I have a foul ball from back when they were stamped American League and one from more recently that is stamped Major League Baseball. The seams on the older ball are and always were much more pronounced. I don't remember when the change happened by I vaguely recall some people talking about it. New factor or manufacturing or something.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Baseballs are all hand stitched, so there is variability from ball to ball.  Having said that, the NCAA specifically introduced a raised seam ball as their official ball(30ish years ago) and it basically put Diamond Baseball on the map.
 
Major League baseballs--hell, almost all the baseballs used the the U.S.--used to be made in Haiti.  When that went to hell, most production moved to Asia, eventually to China.  But Rawlings moved the MLB production to Costa Rica, and I'm pretty sure that's where those are still made.  So the huge move from Haiti to other locations resulted in somewhat different seams, but the MLB seams have always been the lowest.