Posted By:
Al Crisafulli"Greenies never turned a 390 ft fly ball into a 450 ft home run"
Nope. But they may well have turned a 30 HR season into a 40 HR season, and even more. They may have turned groundouts into base hits, singles into doubles. They may have created stolen bases, added 50-100 AB per season, etc.
Greenies help a player get over fatigue. Where a player in the middle of July may be exhausted to the point of not being able to play, or to the point of dragging through a meaningless game, amphetamines pump a guy up and eliminate the fatigue. Instead of asking for an off day, he goes out and plays, maybe goes 2-for-4. Instead of jogging down to first on a base hit to left-center, maybe he hustles out a double. Instead of getting forced out at second base, maybe he steals second instead.
Over the course of a 20 year career, if greenies give a guy enough gas to hit just 5 more HR a year, that's 100 HR. Turns a superstar with 655 home runs into an icon with 755.
-Al
Edited for clarity