Is it my imagination or have the number of outfielders who are threats to throw out runners at home or third decreased over the past decade or so? It really effects the game and I for one miss the cannon arms. Is this not a fundamental that is taught at all levels?
Alex from Groton

You are right and there are a couple of factors that have caused this. First, Nobody is running anymore. The offensive philosophy of baseball has changed because of the recent power surge. It doesn’t make sense to get caught trying to stretch a double into a triple when the next batter in the order has the possibility of hitting a 2 run home run and score the run regardless of whether the runner is at second or third.

The other thing that has cut down on outfield assists is that outfielders do not take infield practice anymore. When I played, all players took ground balls in the infield and made throws over to first base. This developed strong and accurate arms in the outfielders as well as the infielders. This is no longer a practice in the majors or even in the minors.