From: crichard@yoda.eecs.wsu.edu (richardson craig s - CS500)
Subject: Re: Cone threw how many pitches?
Organization: Washington State University
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 19:59:19 GMT

In article <20218@bunker.shel.isc-br.com> jerry@bunker.shel.isc-br.com (Gerald J. Lanza) writes:
>|>But how many of them were throwing 150 pitches in one *game*?  I could
>|>easily play hockey an hour and a half a day, every day of the week (if
>|>I could afford the ice time).  But playing 4 hours every Sunday would
>|>absolutely *kill* me.
>|>
>***********************************************************************
>|>Besides, the game was different then.  Pitchers didn't go all out
>|>on every pitch.  Probably less stressful.
>***********************************************************************
>
>	Now that's a scientific statement if I ever saw one. May I ask
>	how one arrives at the conclusion that the game was less
>	stressful for pitcher's back then ?

Umm, their own testimony?  Christy Mathewson, in _Pitching_In_A_Pinch_, 
affirmed that "coasting" was not only accepted, but was the general rule
through the Dead-Ball Era, which is primarily what we are talking about here,
although workloads, unlike some other conditions, show no real discontinuity
at the advent of Ruth.  Workloads have been gradually declining ever since
the beginning of the game, with only individual exceptions.  Most of these
exceptions ruined their arm, since exceeding the accepted workload for a given
era has always caused arm problems (general statement, but more true than not,
by far...).

>	The fact of the matter is that pitcher's pitched every fourth
>	game, and therefore had one less day of rest between games. 

For the most part, this is a fact.  Notice, however, that the first five-man
rotation (to the best of my knowledge, it might have been earlier) came about
before *1910*.

However, any conclusions you draw from this fact are inferences, by definition.

>	I could throw out my own unscientific opinion that today's 
>	crop of pitchers have grown up in a less demanding time with
>	mom's chauffering them around to uniformed little league games.

You could, but this sounds awfully like a value judgment.  Today's crop of
pitchers also throw the slider and the split-fingered fastball, both notorious
arm-wreckers, and have to throw all-out all the time due to the fact that 
today's pitchers must face today's hitters, who are much better atheletes as
a whole than their forefathers (another sweeping generalization, but also
largely borne out by facts), and must face them in a game in which the home run
is an ever-present danger, so in a sense the batter is always in scoring 
position, which is a danger that dead-ball pitchers rarely, if ever, faced.

>	The reason for today's pitcher's apparent fraility may be due
>	to the softer life style to which we all have become accustomed.

That's as may be.  I can't say much one way or the other, except in noting
workloads as above.  I wouldn't make such a broad generalization without *some*
facts to back me up, though...

>	P.S. Check out some of Nolan Ryan's pitch counts in the past.
>	     I believe he has thrown well over 200 pitches in games.

While with Houston, he was often held to 100 pitches in a game.  Picking Ryan
as a counter-example is not good, as elsewhere it has been noted that: (1)
Power pitchers as a group age better than finesse pitchers, and Ryan is the
most extreme power pitcher of all time, so he can be expected to age the best,
(2) Pitchers with extreme exercise programs, such as Ryan's, age better than
those who don't, (3) Ryan had some extremely high workloads, but he also had
some extremely low workloads during his formative yeard (before age 25), so
by this measure he wasn't worked as hard as some (Tanana, for example), and
(4) Ryan is the exception to a lot of rules, why not this one :-).

--Craig

-- 
These remarkable insights were brought to you from the fertile imagination of:
Craig S. Richardson  (crichard@yoda.eecs.wsu.edu)
GM, Pullman Sleepers (Original Bitnet Fantasy Baseball League)
GM, Seattle Rainiers (Internet Federal AL League)