PARTICIPATION IN THE SCORING ASPECT IS STRICTLY OPTIONAL SO FEEL
FREE TO FIND THE CACHE AND WATCH ALL THE ACTION FROM THE GRANDSTAND.
GAME ON!
Welcome to the 2024 Home Run Derby! Every Saturday morning a new cache will be released. After it is published you will have roughly a week to find it and select a slugger to represent you in that week's edition of the home run derby. Select one player and include his name in your log. The number of home runs he hits the following week (starting the Friday after cache publication) is your score; don't worry, we will handle all the scoring.
The series will be cumulative points from April through September with a week off over the All Star break. The "catch" is every player must be unique, so FTF has choice of any player, second to find will have second pick and so on. The cache hiders will also be playing so the cache owner will select fifth each week. Additionally, participants are only allowed to a pick a player once during the season. In all subsequent weeks your pick must be different than any other player you had used in previous weeks.
This is week 7 of the series (7 of 25). All scoring will take place Friday May 9th through May 15th.
Baseball was invneted one day in the 19th century. The next day someone tried cheating at it. Here are some ways:
Grip Enhancers
Pitchers may improve their grip on the baseball by applying a sticky substance such as pine tar to their pitching hand. It can greatly improve the spin rate of a thrown baseball, which results in more movement on pitches. Large increases in measured spin rates during the 2020 and 2021 MLB seasons led to scrutiny of this area. Beginning in 2021, umpire will now spot check all pitchers during games for foreign substance. If found to do so the pitcher is immediately ejected and suspended for 10 games.
Corked Bats
Hitters have doctored their baseball bats with lighter materials to allow them to swing the bat faster compared to a solid wood bat of equal size. A corked bat is one with some of its interior removed and replaced with a lighter material, such as cork or Super Balls.
Sign stealing
Baseball players can gain an advantage by stealing the signs used by other teams. However, they are prohibited from using technology to aid them in stealing signs and communicating the information to their teammates. Two notable incidents of sign stealing include the 1951 New York Giants, who used a telescope and buzzer system, and the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal of 2017–2018 In .
Performance Enhancing Drugs
Baseball players have used amphetamines and steroids to enhance their physical performance. Baseball players who fought in the World War 2 were introduced to amphetamines by the us military and carried that practice with them to baseball clubhouses after they returned. During the Pittsburgh drug trials in 1985, Dave Parker and Dale Berra testified in court that Willie Stargell provided them with amphetamines, while John Milner testified about Willie Mays' use of amphetamines. Anabolic steroids were banned by baseball in 1991, though no program was established for drug testing until 2002.
“I’ve been in pro baseball since 1914 and I’ve cheated, or watched someone on my team cheat, in practically every game.” - Rogers Hornsby