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When The Athletic conducted its annual survey of MLB players this season, our writers asked an open-ended question to both veteran and young players:
What is the most irritating criticism you hear from former players?
Their answers did not disappoint. To quote the late Jerry Stiller as Frank Costanza on “Seinfeld,” these current players “had a lot of trouble with you. Now you’re going to hear about it.”
Many of the player responses (82 in total) fell into familiar categories: former players criticizing unwritten rules, on-field celebrations, the use of analytics and the general toughness of players these days. (We’ll get to those.) Some answers were just plain weird: (“Catch with a knee,” according to one catcher). But by far the most common responses fell into one of two categories:
1. Today’s hitters complain that former players don’t respect how hard modern pitching is to hit.
2. Today’s pitchers vent that former players say modern pitchers don’t know how to pitch and need to throw more strikes.
Let’s start with the hitters:
“(People say) guys don’t care about putting the ball in play,” said one National League infielder. “Do you watch the (old) games on television? The skill level of the game is (much better now). The infielders are great. They have strength in their arms. Those pitchers (in the past) sucked. “One of our Triple-A guys would have been the best closer in baseball 15 years ago.”
A second National League infielder added: “I don’t think former players appreciate how difficult it is to hit in today’s game. Not that it wasn’t difficult then, and it’s not to discredit them. But it’s different. The state of the game is different.”
A third National League player said, “We also have to deal with 100 mph every night.”
Many hitters clearly believed that former players don’t understand how hard modern pitchers throw, how ubiquitous 100 mph fastballs have become and how new technology has resulted in nasty breaking balls.
“They had three guys in the league that were throwing 95 and now the first guy in the bullpen is throwing 100,” said one National League infielder.
Another National League outfielder added: “Every generation has unique things. … You can take a superstar from any generation and put them in a (different) generation and they will find a way to do it. But obviously we’ve seen a boom in speed and certain things. … When comparing eras, it’s never apples to apples.”
Another player added: “I think the (most) irritating thing is when a guy swings at a pitch on the ground or chases a pitch and they say, you know, ‘What was I looking for?’ It’s a difficult game. “Sometimes… you see something and (the ball) does something different.”
Or as one American League player said, “Do you think Babe Ruth ever saw a slider?”
One National League infielder said there was a clear “lack of respect for the difference in pitching quality.”
Current players stated that they don’t believe retired players have a sense of how good contemporary pitchers, such as the Athletics’ Mason Miller (pictured), really are. (G Fiume//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
It was a point echoed by another National League outfielder, who noted that hitters don’t try to strike out as much.
“If you could put the ball in play every time,” he said, “you’d still be playing.”
Of course, today’s pitchers were also clearly upset by criticism for not going deep into games, not throwing strikes, or not understanding the art of pitching. Among the responses:
“The zone has never been smaller,” said one National League pitcher. “You can’t pitch and you can’t pitch. You watch the older guys’ games with 12 to 15 strikeouts and it’s crazy the calls they got.”
One American League starter said, “You hear a lot of former starting pitchers say, ‘We used to go eight innings, nine innings every five days.’ I understand. I would love to do that. But the game has changed. There is more strategy associated with building a pretty solid bullpen that will seal your chance at winning. It is a different strategy.”
A second National League pitcher added: “Old guys just (say), ‘Just throw strikes.’ They had expanded the attack zones. And, “Guys are walking too much, striking out too much.” Well, it’s pretty tough in today’s game as far as speed and strikeout hitters; the pitchers are good now.”
“’Just throw strikes,’” mused one National League reliever. “His strike zone was three times bigger.”
Or, as another American League pitcher put it: “Just someone saying, ‘Throw strikes,’ like it’s automatic. Like yeah, no m…”
Another common theme in the generational divide between today and yesterday was the use and presence of analytics. One player specifically mentioned the dismissal of plyo balls and other technologies. One National League pitcher said some former players “see the game through a lens that is archaic right now.”
“There’s no malice behind this,” the pitcher said. “But there’s no attempt to understand the training and analysis methods that exist today that didn’t exist back then.”
Not surprisingly, other answers are familiar to any long-time baseball fan:
“Complain about home run pimping.”
“The bat flips.”
“We’re having too much fun.”
“I think a lot of them say some guys don’t run hard. “I think kids are a little better at managing their bodies.”
As occurs with any representative sector of society, there was not unanimity in the responses.
One American League player was baffled why former players would even consider criticizing today’s players.
“I don’t even know what they would criticize,” he said. “I think the game is better.”
But other players were more forgiving.
“I like some of the criticism,” said one National League infielder. “I think I like some of them too much to say anything.”
Added another player in his 30s:
“I agree with most of them,” he said. “The game is smooth now.”
(Top photo: Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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