Story about Chapman's 105 mph heater and the evolution of pitching

I wonder why ...

 

Touche. I guess my point would be that the 10 best sprinters in the world today are significantly faster than the 10 best sprinters in say... 1970. If not 1970, then definitely 1950.

As far as throwing a baseball goes, there are absolutely more guys capable of throwing in the mid to-upper 90's more consistently than 30, 50, 80 years ago. But I highly doubt that, on average, the 10 hardest throwers of today would have significantly more velocity than the 10 hardest throwers of earlier eras.

Maybe there's just something about the mechanics of throwing a baseball and the stress it puts on a shoulder and elbow that means we've reached the threshold of what a human body can do.

I always think of the Sidd Finch hoax. It worked because of George Plimpton's brilliance, of course. But if the story had been about somebody running the 100 in nine seconds flat, I don't think it would've created the buzz it did.

 

One bare foot and the other in a work boot? Of course it would have!

 

Great point about the 1960's Mets. Who was their pitching coach?

The thing about track and field is that, in my opinion, the younger athletes (like the high schoolers) are much faster than they were 20-30 years ago, but at the top levels of the sport things have stayed kind of stagnant. Probably because kids are developing earlier. But if you compare some of the high school times and distances now, compared to the 1980's, the difference is quite significant.

 

105 is old news. He hit 106 last night on the Reds' gun.

 

Rube Walker, back-up catcher to Roy Campanella on the early 50s Dodgers (and a teammate of Mets manager Gil Hodges).

 

If you let me calibrate the gun, I can probably hit 106 too.

 

Ask this guy.

 

Field goal kicking is another thing that has remained stagnant. Shouldn't kickers be able to boot 70-yarders by now?

 

Add punting and how far a football can be thrown.

Basically, if equipment is not involved, everything regresses back to the norm.

How far do you think Tiger could have hit a golf ball with a wooden driver and an old shaft?

 

Dusty will find a way to fuck up his arm before the season's over.