Baseball has been around since the late 1800s. Its longevity gives it an amazing aura, but it also frames the changes that our time has seen. The biggest example is the 500 home run club. In its first 120 seasons, MLB saw 14 players join the club. This year alone, four players are on pace to join the once exclusive club.
This is exhibit A in the murder trial of Human Growth Hormone, performance- enhancing drugs and miscellaneous steroids vs. Major League Baseball.
Granted, the increase in players who have hit 500 home runs is not quite as shocking as it would seem. Although the MLB dates back to 1887, the Live Ball Era began only in 1920. For the first 33 years, baseball was a different game, and home runs came around about once every ice age, due to differences in the ball and the way it was thrown.
Nowadays, every time a ball gets dirty, it is replaced. Every time a ball is hit into the stands, it is replaced. But it wasn't always that way.
In the old days, balls were replaced as often as public school textbooks--even rare home run balls were required to be thrown back to the field so they could be reused. Because of this, the ball, which was softer to begin with and would soften as the game went on, meaning that it would be near impossible to hit a home run.
Pitchers were also kept in for almost the entire game, so by the end of the game, fatigue would set in and batters would get no decent pitches to hit. In addition, batting was complicated because the spitball was legal, so the batter would get a shower of sweat on every pitch.
Baseball still only saw 14 players hit 500 homers through last year. It still only happened about once every five years. Not four times in one year.
Consider also that pitch speeds have dramatically increased, making it harder to see the ball.
But along with the changes in the game, have come changes in the world. Like, hmm...oh yeah, steroids!
The onset of performance-enhancing drugs in the 1980s, almost immediately began to spike home run statistics. Nowadays, steroids are showing their ugly face more than ever before, because drug tests don't scare players away, since "designer steroids" have the same effects without showing up on drug tests. The drug tests are the problem. They need to add a common sense element to the drug tests. If, and I only use Barry Bonds because he is the most obvious example, you look at a picture of the young Bonds, it would take a close look and a little bit of trust to believe he is the same player we know today. Don't believe me? Look for a picture of the rookie Barry Bonds on Google, and look at a picture of him now. Immense gains in muscle mass are not typical result of the aging process.
Another example, Frank Thomas, started out lanky, then mysteriously gained muscle mass. Mark McGwire also mysteriously gained muscle mass and lost hair due to aging at the same time. Sammy Sosa was also originally lanky. Manny Ramirez started out strong, but not as beefy as he is now.
Let's look at the other side of the coin. Babe Ruth started out fat, finished off fat. Honus Wagner (old time baseball player, considered to be the best shortstop who ever lived) was stocky, and gained weight if anything over the course of his career. To be fair, steroids weren't much of an issue in Wagner's day but he forced tobacco companies to stop circulation of his card (baseball cards were originally "prizes" given along with packs of cigarettes) because he was opposed to smoking, so I doubt he would take steroids.
I just hope that MLB gets way more strict on steroids, before I have to tell my grandkids stories about how hitting 500 home runs over the course of a career was significant. After all, baseball players are getting enough help with the longer seasons, smaller ballparks, and constantly replaced, hittable balls.
note: his was added after i recieved a comment, and is a response to that comment.
I looked up Frank Thomas and saw pictures of his rookie season. He looked pretty lanky to me. i agree, the change wasn't as dramatic as Bonds and maybe I was a little to accusitory, but what are you gonna due. Thanks for the comments.
