http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-marshall051007&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I just glanced at both articles, but my first thought about Marshall was that maybe he's just a physical freak, and it's hard to know how broadly applicable his method is. I guess that's a more general question - how dependent are "good mechanics" on the particular arm in question? There are presumably a few things that would be bad mechanics for just about everyone, but beyond that how individualized are good mechanics? I'd be interested to hear any thoughts from people who actually know something about this (as opposed to myself...).

Regarding the durability of previous generations of pitchers, I have that same perception but I wonder how much that's due to a reporting bias. The pitchers who had long, successful careers with huge innings pitched totals each year are still remembered, but the ones with the Kerry Wood-esque health histories are forgotten. Maybe there used to be a lot more of the second type. But like you suggest, the info should be out there to test that hypothesis.

It's pretty interesting stuff, but he talks himself up alot and some of what he says is a little over-the-top, such as the possible injuries -tearing the teres minor muscle, etc.  These injuries NEVER happen.  He tries to make a point with his style of pitching.  It very well may be better on the arm, but it will take decades before any changes would happen.  Baseball is an exclusive club, and they do things their way.

He also has video of a player, Jeff Sparks, who he consulted.  This guy pitched for the D-Rays a couple of years back and had ok results -when you look at the stats.  But if you listen to Mike Marshall, the guy was the best bullpen arm ever because he used Marshall's mechanics.

 Marshall essentially is saying that Sparks is being blackballed from the league because no pitching coach will allow him to pitch that way.  I think thats a bunch of bullsh*t really, because at the end of the day, all that matters in baseball is winning and losing.  How else do you explain the proliferation of Japanese pitchers (Nomo, Dice-K) who have odd mechanics.  How do you explain Chad Bradford?  I think he loses alot of credibility there.

bouton thought marshall had a lot of good ideas, and he also felt he would have been the best guy to be union rep, because he was actually smart enough to know what was going on, but he never got it because he wasnt well enough liked, and the popular guys would get it

In my personal opinion, (and it's probably not worth much) a lot of the injuries we see to pitchers these days are actually caused by so called "innovations" in mechanics.  The primary mechanical school of thought in today's game is the "tall and fall" method.  Drop and drive mechanics have become almost a given negative.  You read scouting reports, and a guy with a drop and drive delivery has that listed as one of his weaknesses.  The talk is all about how difficult it is to keep the ball down with that style delivery.  At some point in time, it became anathema for a pitcher to use his body to get behind the ball, as opposed to trying to lever his arm, forcing everything onto a downward plane.  Tall and fall is a much more passive type of delivery, leading to excess strain on the arm, as pitchers try to get their release points further out in front of them.  TNF mechanics are fine for control pitchers, as they aren't throwing all that hard.  But a power pitcher, trying to generate velocity while staying back over the rubber, is just asking to blow something out.  What is being promoted as gospel, to my way of thinking, is as big a reason as any for the ridiculous number of injuries we see nowadays.  

Probably the other biggest reason, I think, is the improper conditioning of young arms now in childhood.  In the old days, kids played baseball all day long.  The ones who pitched played the outfield or shortstop other days.  The sheer amount of throwing done created proper arm strength and flexibility.  Any child now, who shows any kind of potential on the mound, is set aside and protected from throwing too much.  It seems like the best thing to do, but in the long run, the kid's arm never develops the proper conditioning.  Add in the fact that guys are throwing more breaking balls, younger, plus the lack of mound intelligence, and what else can you expect?  Let me explain what I mean by mound intelligence.  In the past, pitchers threw a much higher percentage of fastballs compared to today's guys.  However, those pitchers knew how to pitch.  They could throw a fastball, and move it four different ways with just a slight turn of the wrist.  You want to see what a pitcher can do with just a fastball?  Go watch Greg Maddux.  The man threw, in his prime, 85 percent fastballs, average velocity, with the occasional changeup, and he won 300 games.  The difference is that Maddux knows how to pitch.  Most pitchers today throw a ton of breaking pitches, snapping their wrists like crazy, trying to generate all their power with their arms, and what do you get?  Injuries.  Lots and lots of them.  

One last thing, (sorry, but this is one of those things I'm a little nuts about) and then I'll be done.  A few months ago, ilillilll, a former poster here who seems to have vanished into the ether, and myself were thinking of starting a blog.  In trying to work up a catalog of articles, I attempted to break down how arm injuries related between American born players versus foreign born, (mostly Carribean).  My theory was that, as I said earlier, american kids, playing little league and what not, are subjected to the situations I alluded to above.  (Little long toss or throwing other than actual pitching, too many breaking balls too soon, etc.)  The foreign born players would tend, in my opinion, to grow up much more like the american youths of the early 20th and even late 19th centuries.  Constant throwing, much of it not related to pitching, I think would tend to make their arms much more durable and resilient, properly conditioned.  I had a tough time gathering the information, then lost interest, (as well as contact with my erstwhile collaborator) so the idea has just been gathering dust in my brain since.  But I think all of these things, while appearing to be "innovations", have created a situation where much more stress than necessary is being consistently placed on the arms of today's pitchers.  

Speaking of people who don't post here anymore, does anyone know whatever happened to Toleaxor?  I miss the announcements of his arrival in any discussion.