Posted by: jude (wayout1@columbus.rr.com) on Wed Jul 29 00:59:28 2009

The question: "Any thoughts as to how Barry Bonds is able to do what he does with a relatively short lever?" is short sighted.

Bonds could crowd the plate aggresively with a short "lever" because today's umpires will not allow pitchers to throw inside to move the batter back. Berra made this observation when Bonds was closing in on the homerun records. He could have also pointed to the fact that Bonds is one of the few players to use a large padded arm protector.

Anyone who believes, along with today's tight strike zone, that these were not major factors in adding to Bonds bat speed and records has never faced the intimidation of a Don Drysdale type pitcher in an era when body armor was minimal and batting helmets non-existent.