Since 2015 something funky has been going on with the physical baseball. In February, after multiple years and two official reports, MLB finally announced it would deaden the baseball for 2021. It should not be lost on anyone that the memo announcing that change was leaked mere hours before Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein and long-time baseball sleuth Dr. Meredith Wills dropped their report on the baseball deciphering the batch codes which included the first admission from MLB that they had already been manipulating the ball (emphasis mine):
SI first asked MLB last week about its manipulation of baseballs.