Originally Posted by
RedlegJake
You'll never convince me Ryne Duren and Sandy Koufax and Jim Maloney didn't throw as fast as these guys do today. Even Cy Young and Lefty Grove and Walter Johnson. However, that said, I agree that the level of the average player has risen in each generation in terms of athleticism. I disagree that being able to slap hits is that much harder because guys throw faster. Sure - guys aren't going to hit .400 again but that doesn't mean that choking up and letting the pitcher deliver the power while you control the bat rather than swinging as hard as you can from the knob end won't work. Matty Alou, Rod Carew and Pete Rose were just a generation past and guys were throwing very nearly as hard as they do now - and relief specialists were being used. It isn't because of pitchers that slap hitters, stealing, and Alou type hitters went out of style - it was because of the steroids era! Now, more and more guys are hitting 100 on the gun. Once that becomes fairly common - maybe ten or twenty years - I don't know if anyone will be hitting but they'll probably make another rule change to help hitters then. Right now the balance is about perfect. If it gets any lower scoring then the fans will start going away. The running game, the slap hitters, the station to station game will become important again BECAUSE pitchers become dominant, Doug, not the other way around. Anyway - you will disagree but we'll just have to wait a few seasons to see how this unfolds. I believe pitchers are going to be more and more dominant and hitters are going to go more and more to running, small ball, get on base singes guys and a couple sluggers in the middle because there are only going to be a few guys really capable of hitting for average and power as pitching dominates.