Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, who slugged 521 home runs in his career and won the 1995 Home Run Derby, believes the home run spike in the majors can be attributed to more hitters adopting an uppercut swing and that there’s been “a little tinker” with the baseball.
Thomas made his comments while promoting the TuneIn MLB Going Gone Giveaway — in which TuneIn, the official streaming partner of Major League Baseball, is offering listeners starting July 14 seven free days of play-by-play content in conjunction with the number of homers hit in Monday night’s Home Run Derby.
Though the 2017 season is on pace to exceed 6,000 total home runs for the first time, MLB refutes the notion that the baseballs have been juiced in any way. Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters that the league knows “with certainty the baseball falls within the specifications that have existed for many years,” although research by The Ringer suggests that there has been a small change in the ball’s composition. Thomas previously suspected a doctored baseball in 2014. He also said that all the home runs have keyed fan interest this season.
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On Monday night’s Home Run Derby
Frank Thomas: That was a great time. Every time you see it, you get riled up. I was one of the guys that loved the Home Run Derby. A lot of guys didn’t.
On the Derby’s appeal for him
FT: I like to hit home runs. And to go one-on-one with guys and have that pressure on. You saw it with [Giancarlo] Stanton right out of the gate. [Gary] Sanchez was unbelievable — to come out of the gate with 17 home runs put a little pressure on Stanton, at home, because the poor guy had just gotten in on a 5:30 a.m. red-eye, so he was a little gassed. He was my first pick to win the thing, but then I found out he was on a five and a half hour red-eye, so I said, ‘There’s no way he’s going to win this competition.’
On the available sleep science and biometrics data available in his playing days
FT: We didn’t have much technology back then. You could tell it on your body, you could feel it when you go from the [West] Coast to the [East] Coast with a short turnaround.
On TuneIn’s offer to baseball fans
FT: They’re here to celebrate the season of the home run and give fans free mobile MLB content. [Monday] night was a fantastic Derby, as usual, but I’m excited to be a part of TuneIn because it’s giving fans that free MLB audio. As of last night, there were 195 home run balls hit, so that gives fans seven days of free coverage from the app.
On the spike in home runs
FT: I’ve explained it over the last few weeks: I really think we’re just in an era of different types of swings that are going for the fences. Striking out is not an issue anymore. But, also, equipment change: through the decades, there have always been little tinkerings here and there with the baseball, and I think we have a little tinker right now, and the balls are jumping a little bit farther.
On hitters’ use of Statcast data like exit velocity and launch angle and how they are gearing their swings for the home run
FT: They’re looking to hit the ball in the air. I couldn’t believe it, but that’s what’s being taught nowadays. That will get more balls up in the air. Back in my day, we looked to cut the ball in half and hit line drives and just let them take off on their own. But these guys now are swinging with an upward approach. The big key with that, I think, was the success Kris Bryant has had with the Cubs so far. He has an uppercut swing, and it’s definitely meant for home runs and he’s making it work. Other guys are following suit. Josh Donaldson is another one that’s high on that, of really getting the ball in the air and shooting it up full force in the air.
On his use of video or other tech used in game prep
FT: Every day. Every day. I think I was one of those guys that would continue to look at himself every day. What was key for me, though, was just really looking at all those positive swings. I stayed away from all the negativity of bad at bats. I wanted to look at the positive at bats all the time, to keep yourself in a good frame of mind.
On whether he’d use Statcast data had it been available to you
FT: I don’t know, it just depends. It’s a sign of the times, man. I probably would have. You’ve got to stay up with what’s going on. It’s so prevalent that I probably would be looking at Statcast.
On the importance of all the new data to your job as an analyst for Fox Sports and FS1
FT: It’s become part of the gig, but I try to keep baseball old-school with me. I don’t try to look too far to the future. I know what I was taught for 20 years — I got a free 20-year education of the game, you know what I mean? I have instinct that grew in locker room and watching on a day to day basis.
On his 1995 Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball video game, which was the first to use motion capture technology
FT: That was fun. I remember at the time putting lights all around my body in New York City at the warehouse where we did the shoot. That was something that was very, very unique. It was the first they had ever done it. I hold claim to that, that I was the first guy they put the bulbs around and got motion-captured.
Twenty years later, it’s so much better, but when they first started that, initially it was unbelievable. You see games now, and it just seems like you’re right there at the ballgame for real.
On the top storyline for this baseball season
FT: The key is the longball. Baseball, when they’re going deep and guys are hitting a lot of home runs, the fans are turned on. This has been a great season of baseball so far, and I think it’s keyed by the home run.