How much did Junior weigh when he came up? Couldn't have been much more than 175. The guy could crank 'em though. The youthful, pre-juice Bonds was a whippit of a thing.
Bulk is now all the rage. So is swing hard. I suspect bats are heavier, too (although Bonds used a very light bat).
"Smallish" guys like Aaron and Mays used to hit homers off of Sudden Sam McDowell and Sandy Koufax, who threw hot heat. But they beat up the Bert Bylevins of their day, too. Actually Jonez, I would suspect there are more hard throwers today than their used to be, just the reverse of your supposition.
In golf there is a number called "Smash Factor." It is driver distance/swing speed. A guy with a 100 MPH SS who hits it 245 yards has a Smash Factor of 1.45. Anything above 1.4 is pretty good. Anything above 1.5 is unbelieveable good, bordering on perfect efficiency. It is a measure of the quality of contact and the proper launch angle, as well.
I wonder if a Mays and an Aaron were more focused on hitting the ball solidly, squishing it, as it were, rather than hitting it far. Perhaps their bat speeds were slower than an Adam Dunn's, but there were more efficient in that they hit it very solidly more often. You don't hear much talk of the "moon shots" that Mays and Aaron hit, just the huge total of homers.
At 180, you can certainly squish the ball. Geet the right launch angle and you'll punish the 1st few rows of OF seats.
In golf, hitting it more solidly at 105 MPH is better than hitting it on the toe at 115. A 180 guy who hits it solidly often, can ring up some serious homer numbers.
moe
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