Quote:
Originally Posted by Grandstander
Nan
You are making so primary a mistake.....you have simply adopted a position to be contrary, and decided to neglect, or pretend not to understand, the obvious.
You have contributed nothing toward explaining how Barry Bonds, at age 35, could not only play much better than he did in his prime, but much better than anyone has ever played in their primes.
Everything you write....it has nothing to do with solving that problem.
Are you just not understanding what is being discussed here? You are so far off base with your comments.
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The mistake here is the one being persistently made and repeated by you, adding nothing to the discussion other than you presumptions that you are correct and that others, like me, by default, are wrong or wrong-headed.
"Everything you write" .... shall I take that jab literally? I doubt it since you have little to no idea the sum of everything I have ever written. Moreover, I do not have "that problem," the one in coping with Barry Bonds' performances @> age 35. In fact, as I've already mntioned in this thread more than once, I have earlier outlined players >35 with outstanding years even when comped against outstanding careers. I won't pay twice for that same parcel of real estate; you ignored it once, so I have no reason to duplicate the effort in a vacuum.
There is nothing contrary in acknowledging that a player performing well in consecutive several seasons over age 35 is not unique in the history of the game, especially when the player in question is known for his Spartan workout regimen and rigorous study of the art and science of hitting.
I have actually lent far more informed observations into the dynamics concerned with this topic than you have; and with each post, I have tended to expand upon the base of my arguments.
You, in turn, have done nothing but challenge my attitude [obstinacy], grasp [understanding], fundamentally flawed reason ["primary"] against the presumption of your own undocumented, unsupported infallibility. [Nice work, if you happen to be a Pope].
Because you are convinced that a player should go into decline @ age 35, you expect others to buy into that as a "given."
Since I've already explored the numerous exceptions from 1901-present and have pointed out the nutritional, training and other factors extending life expectancy, vigor, endurance, training recovery, etc., I have no need to repeat them.
P.S. [Added]
from good old Wikipedia:
"Advances in sanitation, nutrition, and medical knowledge made possible incredible changes in life expectancy in the United States and throughout the world, providing subjects for study as well as the need to study them. In the United States, only 50 percent of children born in 1900 could reasonably hope to reach the age of 50; life expectancy today is approximately 77 years of age. But note that there is a big discrepancy between males and females, 73.6 years for men and 79.4 years for women. Life expectancy is lower for African Americans; 67.2 years for men and 74.7 years for women (Hoyert, Kochanek, and Murphy, 1999).
"Life expectancy recovered somewhat, but it is only in recent centuries that it has dramatically increased. These changes are the result of a combination of factors including nutrition and public health, and medicine only marginally. The most important single factor in the increase is the reduction of death in infancy.
"The greatest improvements have been in the richest parts of the world. Life expectancy increased dramatically in the 20th century. Life expectancy at birth in the United States in 1900 was 47 years. Life expectancy in India at mid-century was around 32, by 2000 it had risen to 64 years. According to the 2006 WHO Report, due to HIV/AIDS and other health related issues today's life expectancy in poorer nations is almost half that of the industrialized, richer nations [1]."
That progression suggests that Bonds should not be regarded as some freak but perhaps as a minor anomaly in a normal progression toward bigger, stronger, longer living, healthier, well nourished human beings. Extremely well trained athletes at he highest levels of competition might well be reasonably expected to match or exceed the progression.
On a more personal note, when i was in grade school the Wonder Bread Company had a much repeated slogan, "Wonder Bread helps build stong bodies 8 ways." By the time I entered the Army, the slogan was, "Wonder Bread helps build strong bodies 12 ways."
At that rate, a Barry Bonds, nourished on Wonder Bread alone, could not be contained in a MLB uniform.