How many pitches did the old-timers throw per game?

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Posted By: Joe Drouillard

Hello Everyone,

On my way home from work yesterday I listened to Denny McLain being interviewed on the radio on the reason we will never see a thirty-game winner in baseball again. He claimed that pitchers today throw the same amount of pitches (approximately 95-105 pitches per game) as pitchers in his era. The difference is today pitchers throw, on the average, four more pitches per inning than the old-timers, and are usually sitting on the pine by the time the seventh inning rolls around. "Today," McLain asserted, "pitchers don't challenge the hitters when they have two strikes on them." McLain blamed the coaches for not teaching young pitchers to be more aggressive.

I realize Denny McLain with all of his character issues is not the best source for information, but it got me thinking about the great pitchers from the pre-war era. Were they able to save their arms by throwing more strikes? When they pitched a complete game did they only throw 95-100 pitches?

Any thoughts or insights.

Best wishes,

Joe