1. How normal all these men look! Don Baylor is playing in this game. So is Reggie. Baylor & Reggie were BIG men. But they are nowhere near the size of the muscle bound, juiced up hitters (Sosa, Canseco, Bonds, Giambi, pick your favorite...) we see in MLB today. Make no mistake - all these MLB players worked hard and have built triangular torsos. But they don't look like pro wrestlers.
2. Hitters choking up on the bat. In ONE inning I saw Joe Rudi, Bobby Grich, and Rick Down all choking up on their bat. Sometimes by as much as 3 inches. When is the last time you saw 3 MLB hitters (not pitchers) in one GAME choke up on the bat.
3. Hitters have a healthy respect for the inside part of the plate. Pitchers were probably more aggressive about pitching high & inside back then. Try to imagine Bonds trying to squeeze the plate with his elbow armor playing against Guidry, Seaver, Carlton, Gossage, Ryan. I have to believe that Bonds would have been dusted more than a few times in that era.
One other note. On my way through the ESPN channels I saw a clip of Ted Williams in his prime. The Splendid Splinter nickname was a perfect fit. Immediately preceding Ted I saw clips of Bonds as a Pirate. It is interesting to note the similarity of Bonds' body shape (long & sleek as a Pirate) to Williams'.
Old baseball is good. I like watching the game played by men unaided by performance enhancing products. And for you wise guys out there - don't even start talking about Dock Ellis and his performance enhancing drug!
