Let's dispel a myth

     So, it was brought to my attention recently, that people view the average professional baseball player to be a big and out of shape guy, who only needs to do just a little bit of jogging around the bases.  Now, while it is true that there are, and have been, those players who are a little less than fit, Babe Ruth would probably come to mind for most people, and currently, we have Prince Fielder who is a very, well, robust man who hits the heck out of a baseball, the average baseball player is in top condition.  Many players train rigorously all year-round to maintain physical and mental health.  As I have mentioned in earlier posts, physical training extends beyond the regular season.  The risk of injury is so high that these players cannot fall out of shape.

      Baseball is very much a sport of endurance.  While it is not as cardio oriented as a sport like soccer or basketball, it requires huge amounts of energy that are concentrated into short bursts.  Most baseball players body types are built physically different then most other athletes in other sports.  Obviously, the arms are important for throwing and batting, but the real focus is mostly on having lower body strength.  A huge part of power, when it comes to hitting, is generated through the leg muscles.  The legs are the stable part of a good solid swing, opening up the hips and generating power while the arms are really there to guide the bat toward the ball.

     Pitching itself is a whole other kind of endurance.  Putting all mental endurance aside, to be able to throw a baseball up to one-hundred times at speeds of around 90 MPH and making the ball go over a plate that is only 17 inches wide, is no easy task.  Most professional pitchers agree, that the key to success on the field, has everything to do with their training off of the field.  If a pitcher took the mound and was not physically prepared to pitch in a game; he would get eaten alive by the opposing team.

     If you look at a pitcher such as Tim Lincecum from the San Francisco Giants, who is lovingly nicknamed "The Freak" you might understand a little better on how pitching is based not off of bulk in muscle, but it is focused on key areas to create pitch speed, and endurance.  Tim is known as the freak, because with his 5'11'' of height and his small frame (staying around 175 lbs.) he should not be able to throw a ball as hard as he can.  But Tim Lincecum has been conditioned to throw a ball with the perfect mechanics every single time.  There are so many working parts on his body with every pitch that need to cooperate, that the slightest stray from his motion would throw his entire pitch off.  Tim Lincecum is a two time Cy Young Award winner a two time National League All-Star and in 2008, he led Major League Baseball with 265 strikeouts.  You cannot generate these kinds of numbers by being lazy, or out of shape.

     So, while there are a few big guys in the league, and not all players are stacked with muscle, professional baseball players are still in top condition.  They work hard at being in shape and ready to play, after all, they have 162 games to play in a six month period, and that is just regular season!