July 4 is all about explosions here in the United States—big, bright, ear-drum-shatteringly loud explosions that fill the sky with wonder (and also turn dogs into puddles of fear). It’s fitting, then, that the Fourth of July is a big baseball day, full of the game’s own fireworks: home runs. And the 2019 season has been nothing but one cannon blast after another, with MLB on pace to set a new league record for most dingers in a season and with dozens and dozens of players aiming for new career highs.
That can mostly be blamed on the juiced (or at least different) ball, one that is way more aerodynamic than that of years past.