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ball gate, 50 yrs ago..detroit & chicago, tinkerin' w/ the ball nothin' new

CockofEarle

Well-Known Member
Jan 18, 1999
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Greenville, SC
yes almost a decade b4 Watergate became a house hold name & Nixon was thought to be all but washed up after losing the California governors race 2 jerry browns daddy......

seems the weak hitting chisox, who had one the best pitching staffs of the era were cooling their baseball in a freezer & or refrigerator before games. Kept them stored there to keep the core of the horsehide as cold as possible. Meanwhile to the north their hard hitting friends from Detroit were placing their supply in ovens to heat up the core.

soon their after mlb set the ground rule for proper temperature controlled storage:)

but still clubs aim to give the home team any advantage they can.......watering down the area heavily in front of home plate to slow down bunts & sloping the baseline so those bunts stay in fair territory. The opposite make sure if the opposing team likes to bunt have it roll foul.

Hey it ain't cheatin' if you don't get caught!
 
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