As the issue of game ball tampering has flared in Major League Baseball, The Legal Sports Report (LSR) podcast posed the question of whether the league is embroiling itself in an integrity issue.
It comes as The Washington Post revealed some data metrics on the new balls used in the MLB 2022 season, highlighting the balls to be less aerodynamic and have considerably less drag than game balls of the past.
Panellist Adam Candee breaks down the importance of the issue surrounding the MLB with its sponsored sportsbooks, believing perception is everything during cases such as this.
“MLB has four different sportsbook partners right now, and when you are involved in profiting off a sportsbook, perception becomes everything,” said Candee.
“The perception problem here is major for the game of baseball in that, baseball is manipulating how the game is played in a way that not even its own players know about.”
“So far this year, 18 major baseball teams are profitable to the under, one is profitable to the over. This is a change that MLB needs to come fully clean in talking about.”
Host Matt Brown, with experience in playing baseball, breaks down the confusion between pitchers in the league and why they seem to be different from previous balls.
“Some balls they’re getting are not near as raised, and the actual leather is much more slick,” stated Brown.
“Pitchers are out there saying ‘from start to start, I don’t know how good of a control I’m going to have’. This is a massive massive deal here.”
The panel pursued the conversation on whether these issues will translate into a gambling issue, raising questions on the secrecy of MLB higher-ups’ intel on the situation.
