It is hard to compare the pitchers today with pitchers of the past, due to changes in technology. Do the players clocked at 103-105 really throw faster than Nolan Ryan did, when he was clocked decades ago at 101?
What about the hard throwing pitchers of days of yore, like Joe Wood or Satchel Paige? Nobody ever clocked them.
I suspect pitchers these days really can throw faster.
It has to do with training techniques.
In the old days, pitchers really didn't train the way they did now. Babe Ruth's training might've been downing some hot dogs and beer. One of the first pitchers who DID more serious training techniques was Steve Carlton, who didn't even start his "modern" training (actually, he used a lot of ancient Asian techniques) until he was with the Phillies. And it gave him an enormous competitive advantage. In 1972 Carlton was 27-10, and the Phillies only won 59 games the entire year. To be fair, Carlton was also one of the best hitters on the team, so he had much better run support than did the other pitchers. Carlton often hit the game winning RBI, sometimes a dinger.
The mid 1960s through the mid 1980s, esp. the 1970s, were the Golden Age of Pitching, although arguably we are in the middle of a new Golden Age. The early end of that range had Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax, the later end of that range had Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens. Many of the all-time greats pitched from the mid-late 60s through the early-mid 80s.
When we see the incredible feats of Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, the Niekro brothers, Gaylord Perry, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Catfish Hunter, J.R. Richard, and many others, we wonder what would've happened if those flame throwers had modern training techniques. Could Nolan Ryan have hit 106 or higher? Maybe even 100?
OTOH, when we look at the way young kids blow out their arms, we see there are NO pitchers these days who pitch the sort of innings those workhorses did. The only top notch pitcher to have Tommy John surgery in those days was Tommy John. Tommy John thinks the surgery is far more common because kids these days blow out their arms by pitching tournaments all year round to get to the good college teams, while Tommy John spent his off-season playing HS basketball in Indiana. Baseball was his second sport.
What about the hard throwing pitchers of days of yore, like Joe Wood or Satchel Paige? Nobody ever clocked them.
I suspect pitchers these days really can throw faster.
It has to do with training techniques.
In the old days, pitchers really didn't train the way they did now. Babe Ruth's training might've been downing some hot dogs and beer. One of the first pitchers who DID more serious training techniques was Steve Carlton, who didn't even start his "modern" training (actually, he used a lot of ancient Asian techniques) until he was with the Phillies. And it gave him an enormous competitive advantage. In 1972 Carlton was 27-10, and the Phillies only won 59 games the entire year. To be fair, Carlton was also one of the best hitters on the team, so he had much better run support than did the other pitchers. Carlton often hit the game winning RBI, sometimes a dinger.
The mid 1960s through the mid 1980s, esp. the 1970s, were the Golden Age of Pitching, although arguably we are in the middle of a new Golden Age. The early end of that range had Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax, the later end of that range had Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens. Many of the all-time greats pitched from the mid-late 60s through the early-mid 80s.
When we see the incredible feats of Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, the Niekro brothers, Gaylord Perry, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Catfish Hunter, J.R. Richard, and many others, we wonder what would've happened if those flame throwers had modern training techniques. Could Nolan Ryan have hit 106 or higher? Maybe even 100?
OTOH, when we look at the way young kids blow out their arms, we see there are NO pitchers these days who pitch the sort of innings those workhorses did. The only top notch pitcher to have Tommy John surgery in those days was Tommy John. Tommy John thinks the surgery is far more common because kids these days blow out their arms by pitching tournaments all year round to get to the good college teams, while Tommy John spent his off-season playing HS basketball in Indiana. Baseball was his second sport.
