Originally Posted by William Farrell
Athleticism, training techniques, pharmaceutical enhancement, sports medicine, and the modern style of athletic intensity far exceed that of athletes of Ruth's era and before.
There's pictures of Ruth being "treated" for sore joints and soft tissue with a Raytheon diathermy machine, which in essence, is a light bulb behind a drumskin type membrane in in what looks like a reflector dish for a portable light!
Nutritional support was basically non-existant and without THC, coke, and other recreational drugs that became commonplace in the 40s and up, many players from that era nearly drank themselves to death (some did).
Relief pitchers were not as specialized and starters usually went the distance, in many cases after giving up 10 runs, their bench and manager looking the other way, "you're doing great", instead of yanking them out by the throat, bolstering late inning batting averages with spent arms.
Of course, pitchers had the latitude to throw at the batter's heads without fear of umpire repercussion so that was always an unnerving situation at the plate, but this was because players were expendible, most earning a few thousand a year, if that, and no long term contracts.
Ruth's exercise regime consisted of a belt vibrator machine, which does absolutely nothing except exacerbate spine problems if you have one, calisthenics (arms out to the side, arms straight out to the front, repeat, which does nothing), chopping wood, playing golf, and little else.
Ballistic training, that is, training that specifically targets speed, power, and performance using sport related motions, was unknown, in fact the only two ballplayers I can think of that used resistance training from that era was Jimmie Foxx and Hack Wilson, whose "resistance training" was not sport specific, as well as indirectly performed. Both came from backgrounds of heavy labor, a lot of lifting of heavy objects, Wilson toiling in a boiler factory and I believe Foxx, something very similar.
Add anabolics, specific computer generated eye/hand coordination exercise, sports medicine advancements, and examples from above, and it's no doubt why athletes in any sport would be hard pressed to hang with today's athletic "machines".
Of course, every athlete must be compared to others of his era because the technological advances in training and performance are constantly upgraded.
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