The one reason, in fact, the only reason that the complete game is "a thing of the past" in Major League Baseball is because the sport is populated by pussies! Pussies pervade the dugout, the bullpen, the manager's office and the front office. Yes, while it's true, quality starting pitchers are a rare commodity and great ones are even rarer, but if a guy is a pitcher, he should pitch, end of story. Think I'm making a "simplistic" argument? Well, let's look at the facts, shall we?
All the apologists make the same lame excuse. They say that teams can't "afford" to have their stars hurt their arms. That's a joke. What, do you think the Cardinals were looking to mess up Bob Gibson? Were the Dodgers purposefully sending Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax out there, so they could hurt their arms and thus, the team's playoff/World Series chances? Just because Barry Zito makes more money than Tom Seaver ever dreamed of, doesn't make him more "valuable".
All we ever hear these days is that the athlete of of this era is far superior than those who came before. Nutrition, weight training, better medical care, all these things are supposed to mean the pitcher is better, right? If today's pitchers are such better physical specimens, then why the dearth of complete games? Like I said, they are pussies. They were babied in high school, college, the minors and now they are most definitely babied in the pros. If they have been coddled so much, then their arms should be perfect and be ready for the big show. The reason they are not, must then be attributed to their lack of intestinal fortitude.
I said the managers were pussies too and I believe that as well. They don't have the balls to make a tough decision. When in doubt, fall back on "The Book" to make your decision and pray it turns out okay. Being a Mets fan, I've seen Jerry Manuel make this decision a couple of times with Johan Santana. Instead of letting the best pitcher in baseball suck it up and pitch the final inning of a close game, he brings in the bullpen because that's what he is supposed to do. Gotta use that lefty specialist, you know. Gotta make sure you have the right matchup. As many Mets fans will agree, I'd rather have Santana out there, than say, Pedro Feliciano. Obviously though, Manuel is not the only culprit, all managers do it.
The managers do it because their front office people are pussies and pressure the managers. All GM's try to put together the perfect bullpen, stocked with the proper amount of righties, lefties, fireballers, sidearmers, long relievers, 8th inning guys and a closer. I guess they feel they have to earn their salaries and what better way to "prove it" than to show the 50 kinds of pitchers you have on a team.
Now, I'm not normally one of those guys who longs for "the good old days" but I do believe that if guys like Gibson, Drysdale, Koufax, Seaver, Steve Carlton, Jim Palmer, Ferguson Jenkins, et al could throw complete games, today's pitcher should be able to as well. Every single one of these "old timers" was the key to their teams, probably more so than some of the modern day pitchers. If a horse like Juan Marichal could go out there and pitch all day, there is no reason a horse like Cole Hamels can't go out there and pitch all day.....unless, of course, he's a pussy.