Maximum velocity achieved

Interesting story in the Washington Post over the weekend by Dave Sheinin. Why is it that athletes are stronger and faster today than ever before, but pitchers are throwing just about as hard as Bob Feller did in the 1930s?

"The problem with baseball pitching is that it's a balance between throwing as fast as you can and not getting hurt," said Glenn Fleisig, an expert in the biomechanics of pitching from the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Ala. "If the muscles get too big and strong, it leads to more overwhelmed tendons and ligaments, and before it will lead to greater performance, it will lead to more injuries. In other sports, the athletes aren't in danger of getting hurt every time they perform."

"Our biomechanics studies show the tendons and ligaments (in pitchers) are just about at the maximum in terms of how much they can take."

So the next time somebody tries to tell you about some guy throwing 115 mph, tell them they're full of it.

Related content: How to throw different kinds of fastballs.

Photo: Joel Zumaya of the Detroit Tigers, who is considered the hardest-throwing pitcher in the majors today, throws over 100 mph (when healthy). He's shown in a game last August. (Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images)