[Drstrangelove]

The problem is that the modern game isn't like the way Ruth and 1919 (and even less in 1918) was played.

The ball was dead in 1918 and half way through 1919 in the AL, the parks were huge, and putting mud, spit, grease, and even scratching or cutting a ball was common place. And balls weren't replaced. As a result, a pitcher could throw at far below maximum most of the time and save his juice for the best hitters or a critical situation. Ruth, himself, eventually refused to do both positions because he said it was too tiring.

So modern pitchers throw hard far more often and would necessarily mean that the exhaustion would be greater than what Ruth was responding to in his comments. In the 1800's, pitchers started and completed 50-60 games each year while also playing. One guy in 1884, started 75 games, pitched 684 innings, and still had time to play OF, 1B and SS in another 12 games.