"For one thing, they don't learn to think for themselves anymore," he growls. "Coaches started calling all the pitches in high schools and colleges. How do they know, sitting on the bench, what the guy on the mound has confidence in? That's like going out there and telling the pitcher, 'Don't hang this curveball.' I call it robot baseball, and it drives me crazy."
Ryan leans back in his seat and stretches out his right leg above the floor, as if his body is still attuned to the rhythms of game day and it's nearing time for him to take the mound. But it's been 17 years since he retired, at age 46. Since then the game has seen many changes that stick in his craw. "Pitchers have been pampered," he says. "I'd go to spring training, and all they'd do was throw on the side. Now how in the world do you learn how a hitter's going to react to your pitches without a hitter in there? I always thought that was crazy." He rattles a plastic cup full of ice and returns to his sermon. "Our expectations of them have been lowered.
There's no reason why kids today can't pitch as many innings as people did in my era. Today a quality start is six innings. What's quality about that?"
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