Tim McCarver Blames Bigger Home Run Numbers On Global Warming

[KevinWI]

I watched Cardinals-Brewers game yesterday on Fox Saturday baseball. Exciting game, although the Buck-McCarver commentary was especially awful. Anyway, the folks at Deadspin picked up on this gem from McCarver:

McCarver thinks that the inflated home run numbers are due to "climactic changes".

Not steroids or smaller ballparks or dilution of the pitching, but climactic changes!

Is Tim McCarver crazy, or is he on to something?

[GiambiJuice]

Do we need two threads on this? http://www.baseball-fever.com/showth...e-heard-it-all

[KevinWI]

Do we need two threads on this? http://www.baseball-fever.com/showth...e-heard-it-all

No. mods can merge them.

But really, it's Richard's fault. "I think I've heard it all" is a terrible thread name. Is that really going to draw in the readers? As I skimmed the Current Events forum to see if there was a thread about this, how do I know he was talking about this, or about the cost of hot dogs at the ballpark? Heck, calling his thread just "Tim McCarver" or "Global Warming" would have been more related to the subject than what he put.

I digress, but you get the point.

[Cowtipper]

Is Tim McCarver crazy, or is he on to something?

Yes.................

[ipitch]

McCarver thinks that the inflated home run numbers are due to "climactic changes".

Not steroids or smaller ballparks or dilution of the pitching, but climactic changes!

Is Tim McCarver crazy, or is he on to something?

He said climatic changes are "one of the reasons balls are carrying much further now."

I think the "much further" part might be overstating it a bit, but it's pretty common knowledge that baseballs travel further in warmer weather.

Temperature: When air warms, it expands. This warming and expansion lowers the density of the air. This produces longer flight distances, all else being basically equal.
Humidity: At the same temperature, air with a higher dewpoint will be less dense. At a higher humidity, baseballs will travel a little further, all else being equal.

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/285/

[Nerdlinger]

First, Mr. McCarver, it's climatic, not climactic. The former refers to the climate, the latter refers to a climax.

Second, I like how Buck was silent after McCarver's last comment. He's thinking, "Sure, Tim. Sure."

[KevinWI]

He said climatic changes are "one of the reasons balls are carrying much further now."

I think the "much further" part might be overstating it a bit, but it's pretty common knowledge that baseballs travel further in warmer weather.


http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/285/

That's debated though. Brewers TV color commentator Bill Schroeder (major leaguer from 1983-1990, won two ACC titles with Clemson) has debated that constantly, saying that the ball doesn't go as far in hot, muggy weather. Though, he could be having a Tim McCarver moment, who knows.

And the Deadspin article about this seemed to think that McCarver was a constant steroid apologist/denier. It's silly for a guy to blame bigger home run balls on climate change, then deny the influence that PEDs have had on the game.

Second, I like how Buck was silent after McCarver's last comment. He's thinking, "Sure, Tim. Sure."

Yeah, Joe Buck was pretty quiet during McCarver's weird explanation. I did like how he snuck in a reference to "An Inconvenient Truth".

[9RoyHobbsRF]

Tim McCarver stopped being relevant about 1990

[dominik]

great comment by McCarver

[dgarza]

I kept hoping that this game was in a domed stadium when he said that...

[Bothrops Atrox]

great comment by McCarver

I hope everybody realized that we (in Cardinal World) do not claim this man as our own.

[Bulldog19]

I kept hoping that this game was in a domed stadium when he said that...

No we play real baseball in St. Louis...

[Cap78]

I would much rather listen to the home teams commentators than buck and mccarver

[Seattle1]

I am skeptical that there is a correlation between the ongoing human-caused increase in global average temperatures, and any increase in home run propensity of MLBers. That's not the type of effect you'd expect to see at this point. We're talking about not even a 1° rise in global average temperatures (so far).

Yes global warming is occurring and is likely to accelerate in the coming decades. No, the changes we've seen so far are not going to affect the flight of the baseball at this point.

I think it's steroids and the drugs.

:twocents:

[RaysFan_98]

I blame it on teams like the Yankees and Rangers building softball parks that inflate there Numbers a lot.