How many pitches did the old-timers throw per game?

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Posted By: jay behrens

A lot of it has to do with how hard pitchers throw today. It was a rare pitcher that threw 90+mph on a consistent basis. Nowadays, it's almost impossible to get to the majors without throwing 90+ all the time. This puts a lot of extra strain on the arm.

People are starting to figure out that pitchers are like milers in track. It used to be that the US produced all the best pre-20 year old milers in the world with 16 year olds break a 4 minute mile, but by the time these guys got to the international stage in their early to mid 20s, they were burnt out and never did well. Now track coaches and runners have learned that if they want a long career, they don't want to get burned out early. This philosophy has taken about 20 years to filter through the system but the US now has the top ranked miler in the world, Adam (something, can't remember his last name), who broke Steve Scott's 25 year old American record for the mile earlier this year.

This line of thinking has started to go this route for pitchers now. Little League is on a strict pitch count and days rest so that young kids with great promise don't get burned out early. It'll be a while before we see this filter up to the majors, but maybe we will see pitchers throwing 250+ innings and the return of a the 4 man rotation.

Jay

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