SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Whether it’s steroid testing, all those power arms in the bullpen or a lower strike zone, baseballs just aren’t flying out of the park like they did a decade or two ago.
Sluggers who came of age in the days of 50, 60 and 70 home-run seasons have been forced to recalibrate what’s a successful power season.
And 30 is the new 40.
Home runs have hit their lowest rate in more than two decades. Only 11 players reached the 30-homer mark last season, the fewest in a full season since 1992, when there were four fewer teams, no interleague play and Fay Vincent was still commissioner.