Correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't some the games greatest players play at a very high level in their late 30's? With todays technology and knowledge of the human body, is it that hard to believe that they can be doing that without performance enhancers? Satchel Paige didn't join MLB until he was 42.
I didn't say that there were never older guys playing into their late 30s and 40s...there have always been some around.
The difference is that these guys in the past were clearly not as good as they had been in their 20s and early 30s by the time they got to their late 30s and early 40s. Even Satchel Paige (who I think actually pitched into his 50s) was still good but clearly not at the level he had been at as a younger man in the Negro Leagues...by all accounts I have read. And I believe he went from being a power pitcher to being a junk baller as he aged.
However, today, some of these guys are actually having "career" type years in their late 30s and early 40s. I think Clemens had the lowest ERA of his career during the 2005 season (although I am not certain of that)...at the age of 43 (I believe)...while still being a "power pitcher".
All I am saying, is that I'm a couple years younger than Clemens and believe me that your body does begin to deteriorate as you get to the late 30s and early 40s. What is going on is not natural and I fear the "technology and knowledge of the human body" you speak of is nothing more than performance enhancing drugs!
