I saw a FB post other night saying Condon had made history w/ 34th HR. I just figured it was a UGa record,, b/c obviousy still 14 behind Incavigla(pre gorrila ball) but it stated most HR in BBCOR era..lol First off, and JMO ,, there are at most 2 eras. wood bat, not wood bat. But Im positive the bats in early-mid 80s(pre gorrila ball) were 'deader' than they are currently. Lack of technology if for no other reason.. I used those bats, they were still trying to figure out how to keep them from cracking/denting after a dozen hits, muchless juice them. But lets go to gorrila ball era(mid late 90s) Ive only briefly dug into some stats, bc hard to find from 90s. But the power #s seem pretty similar to currently. Ill use Vols as one example Their highest 3 season HR totals are over last 5 years. Now it was a long time ago but Im pretty sure Vols also participated during 'gorilla ball' era.. and w/ some guy named Helton. Ive also seen quite a few other teams setting team HR records recently , who played in 90s. Also played more games then, the biggest difference in eras IMO. Another random ex. from bbcor era 2014 UF (21-9 sec) team HR leader was 5. JJ led next year w/ 18. '97 LSU does still hold season record at 188(Also had the best players). But we have 4 SEC teams currently w/ 100+ & 22 guys nationaly with 20+ HR , with 2 weeks and post season to go. So if this is BBCoR era,, what era was it 2010-2017-ish(start of bbcor), when 20 HR probaly led nation?? So if anything current era(last 5 yrs or so) resembles 'gorilla ball' era more than start of bbcor era, and does BBCOR era only records only apply to hitters. ?? Condon will probably catch Larson at 40 for SEC leader. but i think Inky is safe at 48.
And '97 LSU had MLBers 1-9 in lineup...lol Inky was pre gorilla ball, like Jeff Ledbetters 42 in '82.. Granted Noles Rf was, still is 280.. Hes the reason for the chainlink monster. highest 'non gorilla ball ' total in SEC was Russ Spence AU 36 in '88 pre gorila ball era ..start of aluminum bat(78 i think) up to around 90, played a lot of games..biggest reason for those big # s then.. Wichita St was like 73-9 one year..lol
yep. I mentioned that.. Was 70 the limit? I seem to remember it also being uneven around country in games played. UF only played 52 in '83 for ex. Why i say only 2 eras for records purposes, wood bat or not. To many other variables otherwise, and would have multiple eras.
They quite literally didn't. Of the 9 guys on the team that hit double digit homers, Larson was the only one who made the big leagues, for all of 291 at bats.
I was exaggerating(by a lot apparently lol).. But I thought Furniss, Barbier, couple others had a cup of coffee in bigs,, but maybe not..Or off on who was there when. Larson wasnt that good in MLb either. Sub 200 hitter think. I still think its silly to try and split up eras. I havent been able to find team HR totals by year,, LSU had 188, was anyone close or was it mostly just LSU?? Also curious what years the next closest to 188 are.. Vols had 150 or so recently. Looked up Furniss, he retired at AA level and went to med school. Sounds like AU guy..
LSU avg 2.6 HR per game in their record setting year. Currently Austin Peay(hey AU beat them) is averaging 2.8 HR per game. To keep it P5.. Vols are currently at 2.6... Not seeing much difference..lol I also dont think our current HR leader in country ever does much in MLB, if ever makes it.
UF first used aluminum bats a little earlier than that- '75, maybe '74. I remember a few players from that period using aluminum bats. For some reason, I particularly remember C John Shulock clanging hits with one. The whole team shared a small number of bats. I remember several batters in a row using the sam bat. It was a dented, scraped-up mess, may even have been around for more than one season. Batters had to align the bats carefully to avoid having a dent on the hitting surface.
They have turned Foley Field into a band box. Not saying what Condon has done isn't impressive, however that is a fact. Add in the fact that Cags is only surrounded with maybe two more players that would actually start for other SEC schools AND he has been a great pitcher for us this season is reason why he should win Golden Spikes Award.
Foley is 350 down LF line.. but everywhere else is on par w/ sec. ie bandbox, either by distance or ball flight
I was guessing, but hered what I found.. Though a wood bat is legal in NCAA competition, players overwhelmingly prefer and use a metal bat. The metal bat was implemented in college baseball in 1975.[4] Use of a metal bat is somewhat controversial. Supporters of an aluminum or composite bat note that it can increase offensive performance, as the speed of a ball off a metal bat is generally faster than off a wood bat. Those against metal, and for wood, argue that a metal bat is not safe to use, and that a metal bat does not prepare players for the next level, as professional baseball uses a wood bat exclusively. In the 2011 season the NCAA changed the requirements for a metal bat, reducing the maximum allowed exit speed in a way that is said to produce a feeling more like a wood bat.[5] As a result, in 2011 there was a drop-off in overall "long" drives or home runs relative to past years.
The last part is funny.. Yep in 2011 HRs were way down, and for a few years after that. now those supposedly same BBCor bats are producing gorilla ball type numbers.
Random, somewhat related trivia.. How many career HRs did Aaron Judge have in college? 2011-13(start of BBCor era), 594 ABs. He won college HR Derby in 2013. FWTW
From time to time, I hear complaints that wood bats are more pure for baseball than metal bats, but I don't see much rational thought in that argument. Yes, pro leagues use wood bats, is that 2-3k players? The rest of baseball uses metal. I grew up in the wood bat era, '50s, but only ever owned 2-3 for short periods before they were cracked. My rec league and little league teams would have 2-3 bats for the team to share until those were broken and at times teams would have only one bat or teams would even have to share one or two bats. While kids can have fun using a broom handle or a tree limb as a bat, metal bats have made rec youth baseball more affordable and more open to any kid who wants to play. (I also have cherished memories of baseballs wrapped in electrical tape for games in the neighborhood streets, but I won't argue for more of that.) The same bat evolution applies to HS and college baseball. Some adult fans of high level college teams forget- or don't care- that there are hundreds of teams at smaller programs that play baseball because it's a great game and metal bats make it more affordable. A tiny portion of HS and college players go pro and it makes no sense to suggest the huge cost of providing wood bats for millions of players to make it easier for a few hundred to transition to pro leagues. Any player with pro potential has extensive access to buy and practice with wood bats. I consider metal bat to be far more valuable because they take the sport to kids who never would consider a pro career. I have a nice wood bat that I hide in a corner of my living room and love to pick up for a couple of swings every month or two. Wood bats are wonderful, but metal bats are better for the life of the sport.