💧What is Paul Skenes Wearing?

I spent the beginning of this week in Houston, where I attended the matchup between the U.S.A and Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, and let me just say:

America, we have to improve our chants.

Aside from the fact that this game in Houston, Texas, felt like an away game for Team U.S.A, I often found myself joining the Mexican fans during their catchy chants, like “si se puede” (“yes, we can”) and “ponche” (“strikeout”).

In today’s newsletter:

🗞 The Big Story: What is Paul Skenes Wearing?

📉 Biggest Loser: Why is Every College Basketball a Different Color?

🏆 Winner’s Circle: Wisconsin’s Plan to Outlaw Overpriced Hot Dogs

🗞 The Big Story

What the hell is this thing on Paul Skenes’ back?

Well, it’s actually the most important part of his game day routine that no one seems to know anything about. Let me explain.

Background: I recently saw Paul Skenes and Team USA take on Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, but even though Skenes went out and dominated Mexico with 7 strikeouts in just 4 innings, it was what he did before the game that surprised me the most.

Routine: Skenes’ warm-up routine starts about 30 minutes before first pitch and includes:

• A rake or PVC pipe

• Weighted balls

• Football throws

But then, with about 20 minutes left before he was set to take the mound, Skenes put on this thing.

But what does it actually do?

The Science: This is a Hydrovest. It was developed by a guy in the Netherlands, named Lupko Pot, who suffered from debilitating shoulder pain for 10 years before finding a physical therapist in the Dutch countryside who was treating his patients with water weights.

Now, the benefit of MLB pitchers warming up with a 50-pound tank of water as compared to standard weights like kettlebells or medicine balls is that as the water sloshes around, it forces their core to constantly stabilize, training:

• Balance

• Posture

• Rotational control

Enabling guys like Skenes to regularly throw over 100 MPH. Still, “throwing hard” isn’t the primary reason Skenes uses one of these.

Year-Round “Throwing": Instead, when asked about why he uses a water bag, Skenes admitted that it allows him to build “volume in the off-season.” This basically means that, instead of training his legs and core by constantly throwing year-round and adding extra stress to his arm, the water bag can mimic real throws without risking overuse arm injuries, like Tommy John.

Whatever works.

📉 Biggest Loser

Why is every college basketball a different color?

Well, the reason why actually reveals one of the biggest disadvantages in sports that no one seems to know anything about; let’s break it down.

Rules: Unlike in college football, where each team can bring six of their own game balls to use on offense, in college basketball, the type of ball used in each game is chosen by the home team. And even though the NCAA rulebook outlines some general standards for the shape and size of each ball, given the wide variety of apparel contracts at each school, it’s not uncommon for a single team to play with 5-6 different brands of basketballs in a given month.

But how much of a difference does it actually make?

Discrepancies: Anecdotally, players (especially the sharp-shooter and ball-handling types) have described the difference as significant, claiming that certain brands can be “too slick,” “too rough,” or have grooves that are “too deep or too shallow.” But whether or not that difference actually shows up on the stat sheet is where things get a little more complicated.

Data: In 2018, two researchers at Syracuse University examined the basketballs used by schools from every Power Five conference over three seasons in home and away games, then calculated the difference in offensive production depending on which balls they used.

And their discovery was honestly pretty surprising.

Not only did an away team using a different ball score 1.4 fewer points per game, but among teams that used a Nike ball at home, their shooting percentages dropped by 7% when they had to use an Under Armour ball on the road and 7.4% when they had to use an Adidas ball.

Now, the authors of this study did admit that, regardless of the type of ball used, the best shooters are typically able to figure it out — which is good, because per the NCAA’s deal with Wilson, come March Madness, every team will be required to use the EVO NXT, regardless of what ball they use during the regular season.

At least, they’re all the same color.

🏆 Winner’s Circle

Why is it suddenly so expensive to eat at a sporting event?

Because it seems not that long ago you could buy a beer and a hot dog for under $10, meanwhile, today it costs a family of four an average of $777.89 to attend a single NFL game. Which is why one state in particular just proposed a new law to solve this very problem.

Inflation Damnation: Even though concession prices had been rising steadily throughout the 2010s, after COVID caused supply-chain disruptions and a record 9.1% inflation, concession prices at stadiums across the country saw their sharpest increase in history.

In fact, according to one food vendor, in 2022 alone, the price to acquire a single hot dog increased by upwards of 30%, a cost largely passed on to the fans. Then, on top of that, thanks to rising player salaries and stadium costs, fans often pay an extra 6-9% above inflation.

But what can we do about it?

Proposal: That’s the question two lawmakers in Wisconsin are trying to answer with a proposed bill called “Stop the Stadium Squeeze” that would limit any stadiums receiving public money from marking up the price of their concession items by more than 20% above what they paid for them.

If passed, this law would impact any stadium with a capacity of more than 3,000 people, including:

• Fiserv Forum (Milwaukee Bucks)

• American Family Field (Milwaukee Brewers)

• Camp Randall (University of Wisconsin)

Still, I’m not sure this proposal even solves fans’ biggest cost problem. For that, we might need a part two…

⏱️ In Other News

• The Buccaneers got catfished

• The Washington Commanders’ stadium has new renderings

• How a 16-year-old built a $30M batting glove business

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👋🏻 Happy Friday!

As I tend to do when attending sporting events, I like to keep track of my costs and compare them to other teams/leagues.

In case you were wondering, for one person to attend the WBC for as cheaply as possible, it costs:

• Transportation: $3 (all-day METRO pass)

• Ticket: $101 (standing room only)

• Hot dog: $7.99

• Beer: $12.99 (16 oz Bud Light)

• Soda: $7.19 (bottle of Coke Zero)

• Total: $132.17

That’s more expensive than 29 of the 30 MLB teams. The only ballpark that costs more?

Fenway Park at $135.88.