BREAKING: Old head’s go to guy for the “stop throwing hard!” argument just said to throw hard.
Baseball Is Dead@baseballisdead_
“You gotta throw hard to get drafted. Bottom line.” - Greg Maddux
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AnalyticMerchant
108 posts
AnalyticMerchant
@AnalyticMe99276
How data shapes the game
Katılım Şubat 2026
25 Takip Edilen8 Takipçiler
“You can’t block with 1KD cause you can’t move!” Says all the baseball traditionalist in unison
Jerry Weinstein@JWonCATCHING
Premium lateral block. “Lead with your glove.”
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@camarcano @UnrealizedPains Here’s the thing: we don’t need to hyperbolize Ryan’s legacy. He is already a legend and a HOF. Inflating his accomplishments actually hurts his legacy more than it helps b/c people know how to cut through tall tales.
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@camarcano @UnrealizedPains Ryan was an outlier for his time. Incredible velo compared to his contemporaries, but unverifiable compared to today. We have no solid data base to confirm nor deny claims of extreme velo, so it would be silly to present this as complete fact.
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In 1974, an infrared radar clocked Nolan Ryan at 100.9 mph.
But the gun was standing in the wrong place.
Run the physics, and that pitch left his hand at ~108.7 mph — faster than anything Statcast has ever recorded.
Your uncle was right. So is the data. Here's how:
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@camarcano I understand the article, it’s just the evidence is suspicious and has little validity. I’m not saying your math to calculate deceleration is wrong, it’s that the radar gun was a promotional tool to get fans in seats and didn’t give accurate data.
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@AnalyticMe99276 You will find the reasoning behind the 108 figure by reading the article or the thread, thanks for the comment.
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This. Baseball isn’t trying to get rid of feel, it’s trying to understand what makes players/teams better. Why spend most practices on bunting and first-and-thirds when you can spend that time getting hitters/pitchers to learn more about themselves as players at a deeper level.
Driveline Baseball@DrivelineBB
The coaching landscape is changing. In 2025 Bluffton High School hit 1 home run. In 2026 they hit 26. Their coach breaks down the shift from coaching on feel to coaching on data.
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Congrats to Spain for winning the final. Absolute ambush against what seemed like an unbeatable Argentina, with over 20 shots to Argentina’s 2. Super young, super persistent, creates great space, not a surprise they won. Also, crazy turn of events with Messi and Lamine Yamal.
FOX Sports@FOXSports
Lamine Yamal with the Winner's Trophy after Spain defeated Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Final 🇪🇸🏆
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@batcluberik When a guy crowds the plate or hits a bomb of you, it’s soft to get pissy and drill the next guy. Today, head hunting is frustrating more than intimidating, so I would assume they would see it like that as well if they had to face Ryan or the others.
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@AnalyticMe99276 Bc it was intimidating. It was a definitive advantage for those guys.
They were bullies on the mound. You may call it mentally soft for some reason but competitors figure out every way to get an advantage.
Are you saying that today’s players are mentally tougher?
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How would today’s hitters react to Nolan, Ryan, Pedro Martinez, and Bob Gibson? I feel like you’d see a lot of fake tough guy stuff and whining to the media because they’re scared to death to get in the box knowing what those guys are willing to do.
Baseball Bros@BaseballBros
Peak Nolan Ryan. 😭 "George, sometimes you just have to take control of the situation."
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@batcluberik That’s just an uncompetitive way to play. Why give up a free bag to try to “intimidate”. That just shows how much things got to guys back then and how little they could control their emotions. Maybe the physical tenacity of players was greater, but mental fortitude wasn’t.
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@AnalyticMe99276 They still don’t go up and in the same way. it sounds like your argument is if you put those guys in today’s game, they would not be as successful. My argument is if you put today’s players in that era, they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. It s a nicer, softer game now
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@batcluberik I’m responding to the statement the at they don’t head hunt anymore with the rationale behind it.
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@batcluberik I shouldn’t have said then, but their perceived effectiveness now is overblown. Ryan and Gibson were 2-pitch guys for most of their career, where they also threw 70+% FB. Pedro was better due to shapes and angles that weren’t seen before, but since then have been achieved.
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@AnalyticMe99276 I’m over estimating Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, and Pedro Martinez’s effectiveness?
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@AnalyticMe99276 What you are talking about is moving a hitters feet. What I’m talking about is these guys headhunting. That doesn’t happen today.
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@batcluberik They definitely did, but I think we hyperbolize the “they were coming for player’s heads” argument, when a lot of times they just missed way up and had command issues.
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@AnalyticMe99276 So are you arguing those guys didn’t regularly throw at people with bad intentions?
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@batcluberik I said with access to modern training/philosophies, they would be better. However, we overestimate their effectiveness then and how it would translate.
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@AnalyticMe99276 Why not though? You think they would have been the same pitchers with modern training a philosophies?
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@batcluberik Pitching up and in isn’t something from a bygone era. In fact, it’s a part of many pitching philosophies at the pro and collegiate level as it’s the area that produces more whiffs and pop ups.
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@AnalyticMe99276 3. Ryan and Gibson in particular would go up and in and very few ever charged the mound. Not bc they didn’t want to get fined. They were scared. Pedro would get charged bc he was 150lbs and would still go up and in a a dude 6’4 250.
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@batcluberik Getting hit does suck, but it happens. If they were hitting guys at alarming rates, maybe there would be more passiveness, but they weren’t. To hit in the big leagues, you have to accept you’re gonna get hit and it’s gonna hurt.
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@AnalyticMe99276 2. Getting hit sucks. My high schooler would hit a normal person with 82 and they’d crumble.its the idea in the back of a hitters mind that this guy throwing 95+ does not care about his life right now.
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@batcluberik This part can hold true. But we aren’t talking about old pitchers with modern training, we’re talking about old pitchers as they were, competing today.
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@AnalyticMe99276 Few points.
1. Give those guys today’s training and low inning expectations and they would have elite fastballs. Some people are just blessed.
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@CodKarasu637 @runyandy Here’s the problem with your statement: kids today have more access to physical development, know more about themselves as athletes, and test better during the athletic phase of showcases, but they aren’t better athletes? It contradicts itself.
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@AnalyticMe99276 @runyandy That’s my point exactly, it’s not necessarily that they’re better athletes, they’re just faster, kids today aren’t more athletic than kids of past times
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Ah yes…the annual tradition of multiple 17 year old kids at a single event posting 60 times that align with Olympic sprinting speed and make them the fastest players in MLB, currently
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