Cirillo: Conspiracy In Colorado?

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The Colorado Rockies' Coors Field opened in 1995. From then until 2001, the average combined score was 13.83 runs per game. From 2001 to 2005, it dropped to 11.97, and this year, entering Tuesday night's game, it is 9.1 runs per game. Why the sudden drop in scoring?

The Milwaukee Brewers' Jeff Cirillo has a theory:

"They're illegal baseballs. They are non-flying baseballs."

Huh?

Explanation: In 2001, the Rockies started storing baseballs in a Humidor, a temperature- and humidity-controlled room near the Coors Field clubhouse. Why? Because of Denver's high altitude (and the resulting lack of humidity), balls hit in the air are more likely to fly out, resulting in unbalanced numbers for hitters and pitchers. The Humidor equalizes the effect of high altitude, limiting the likelihood of home runs that would be average fly outs in a lower altitude.

A subject of controversy since its inception, the Humidor (and the team using it) came under question from Cirillo on Tuesday.

Said Cirillo, "I will bring you home a ball from Coors Field and I will show you. It's all spongy and it's big and it's water-logged. They're illegal baseballs." Cirillo continued, "You wouldn't think that they'd be cheating. They are. The balls are not the same. Hey, I'm not the first person to complain about it."

True. Before a game at Coors Field in June, Oakland's Mark Kotsay asked, "They're storing balls in a humidifier? Can they do that? You can feel that they're different. No doubt -- they're a little larger, a littler harder, a little weighted."

Kotsay's teammate Jason Kendall and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Grady Little have also complained about the Humidor this season. Not everyone has taken it as far as Cirillo, but the numbers are worth looking at.

-The Rockies have thrown eight shutouts this year, tying the club record from 2001 and 2002. And there are still two months left to play.

-Six of those shutouts have been at Coors Field, doubling the club record.

-They have pitched three 2-hitters and thrown back-to-back complete games for only the second time in club history.

-The Rockies are likely to set several single season records, such as lowest team ERA, lowest home ERA, and fewest hits and walks per nine innings.

-Finally, Tuesday night's 1-0 Brewers victory was the third 1-0 game at Coors Field this season. In the previous 11 seasons, Coors Field had seen only one.

While some, like Cirillo, blame the humidor and the possibility of the Rockies using it to their advantage ("Say they get behind by a bunch of runs in a game. Who's to say they can't break out the non-humidor balls?" was another of his quotations), others say it's just a good team with an increasingly better defense. Two people on that side are Brewers manager Ned Yost and Monday's losing pitcher Chris Capuano.

Said Yost: "Both teams are playing with the same balls. It doesn't matter if they're mushy, if they're square, if they're triangular. ... That's nuts, man. That's just a waste of time, discussing it."

Said Capuano, who gave up back-to-back dingers to Garrett Atkins and Matt Holliday: "It didn't look like Garrett Atkins hit a sponge ball."

According to Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, "You're not allowed to cheat. The balls that we send in are tested and the humidor is regulated."

In the end, it will be up to individual players and fans to reach their own decisions regarding the Humidor. But in the meantime, visiting teams may want to remember to practice manufacturing runs ("Smallball," in other words) during pre-game practice when they go to Denver, as it doesn't seem that the Humidor is going anywhere anytime soon.

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Date

Wed 08/02/06, 3:23 pm EST

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I am a cpcpMajor Leaguer

801 days ago

Score 1

Cirillo's a dumb@$$ what a bunch of wasted newsprint. (And webspace)

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UfgatorsDiv-I Stud

801 days ago

Score 0

no way, i think it is a great article. they've talked a lot about it today. i dont understand why the rockies would weigh down the balls with water, as it obviously hasnt worked to their advantage.

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CoreyisarealboyMajor Leaguer

801 days ago

Score 0

Cirillo played in Colorado and had the best season of his career as a Rockie. This was before the Humidor was installed. Don't you think he'd have a little more of an insight than most people?

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I am a cpcpMajor Leaguer

801 days ago

Score 0

He accused the Rockies of switching balls when they're losing. How exactly would they convince the umpires to play along? Or is he saying umps are too dumb to notice the difference between baseballs?

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CoreyisarealboyMajor Leaguer

801 days ago

Score 0

OK, admittedly that was a dumb thing for him to say. However, there must be an explanation for the sudden drop in run production, and don't say it's the pitching.

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Twins15Varsity Captain

800 days ago

Score 0

Well the pitching is better now... Francis, Cook, and Jennings are a solid top of the rotation.

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SigglecowWaterboy

801 days ago

Score 0

Regardless of whether or not the humidor creates a huge difference (or advantage), they shouldn't have it because if the air isn't humid and a lot of fly balls go out, then that's part of the environment. Humid, low-altitude air has a different effect, just like the carpet in Minnesota has a different effect than grass. Colorado having their humidor is like making a rule in Cincinnati that says "Too many home runs here. From now on it's only a home run if it goes into the upper deck." Or if the Brewers said "Well, Jenkins isn't hitting well. From now on when he's up, we play with softballs."

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