You cant think of Baseball like the other sports because it is completely different. Throwing a baseball is COMPLETELY seperate than anything else in other sports. The "bigger faster stronger" argument means nothing when it comes to throwing a baseball. No amount of weight training/nutrition/science can make a person who throws 90 MPH be able to throw 99 MPH. You can either do it or you cant which is why players 100 years ago ABSOLUTELY could throw just as fast as players today can.
I played Baseball at a very high level (College and semi-pro Summer Leagues with tons of Professional players). I was a VERY good player and hit .449 in the last league I played in during College. I was a big/strong/fast guy but I never once hit 80 MPH on the radar gun.
Science making a fastball faster is as absurd as science being able to make a chess player better with gatorade.
I would challenge ANYONE to answer these questions regarding these three players and explain how they are products of the modern game and that players like this did not exist before.
1. Is Prince Fielder (at least 80 pounds overweight) really taking advantage of all that modern science?
2. Is Tim Lincecum any bigger/faster/stronger than the pitchers of 100 years ago?
3. at 5'9" should we assume that "science" made Billy Wagner able to throw 103 MPH and there is no way he could have done it in 1910?
Rhys
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