From: mjones@fenway.aix.kingston.ibm.com (Mike Jones)
Subject: Re: Old-fashioned hitters (was Best Playes (sic) of All Times)
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 92 20:55:44 GMT
Organization: IBM T. J. Watson Research
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3

fls@acpub.duke.edu (Forrest Smith) writes:
: 
: 	When comparing the best hitters of today with the best hitters
: of yesteryear, there seems to be some idea that, although cumulative
: batting averages of an earlier era were higher than those of today, the
: actual talent level of today is higher.  Like, maybe pitchers are
: better, so it's generally harder to hit.
: 	Did anybody ever consider that maybe the hitters from the '30s,
: or the 'Teens, were just better hitters than today's players?

It's actually been considered quite a bit, and there's not really a
consensus on the question.

Reasons today's hitters are better:
 - Athletes in every other sport are generally agreed to be better now than
 in the '30s. Why should baseball be different?
 - Conditioning, training, and coaching are all better today. Kids may not
 play as much baseball, but they get *much* better coaching and training.
 - Compression to a mean is typically a result of general improvement in a
 population.
 - It is doubtful (though can't be proven absolutely) that there were
 probably no pitchers in the '30s who threw as hard as Nolan Ryan, Roger
 Clemens, Randy Johnson, Rob Dibble.... One piece of evidence supporting
 this is that Bob Feller was regarded by many who saw him as the fastest
 pitcher ever. Some of those folks saw Lefty Grove, Walter Johnson, and
 other "fireballers" from earlier periods. Feller was clocked at 100 mph,
 right there with Dibble, Ryan, etc., which implies that Johnson et al.
 probably weren't as fast.
 - The slider didn't exist.
 - No night baseball.
 - No transcontinental travel.
 - Shorter seasons - less tiring.
 - Fielders are better, cutting off more hits.
 - Grounds are kept better - fewer "bad hop" hits.
 - The talent pool was much smaller. There were no blacks or Hispanics in
 baseball in the 30s.

Reasons hitters in the '30s were better:
 - The (raw) numbers show it. Nobody hits .400 today.
 - Kids played a lot more baseball when they were young. Today, the talent
 pool is diluted by football, basketball, and other sports.
 - The spitball was common (though illegal) in the 30's.
 - Balls were kept in the game longer, effectively allowing scuffballs and
 forcing hitters to try to hit discolored baseballs.
 - Though there were no trips to the West Coast, trips to Chicago and St.
 Louis by train were physically demanding.
 - The seasons may have been shorter, but there were more doubleheaders,
 increasing the fatigue.

To me, the evidence is pretty convincing that players today are better.
They're just plain better athletes. I don't think it matters that kids spend
time playing basketball instead of baseball when they're young, because at
that point you're developing athletic ability, not particular skills. High
school, or even college is plenty soon enough to learn the fine points of
turning the double play or hitting the cutoff man.

   Mike Jones  |  AIX/ESA Development  |  mjones@donald.aix.kingston.ibm.com

If you're the quiet type, you're out of the loop as far as freedom of speech
goes, unless somebody yells at you, in which case you yell back or have your
lawyer yell.
	- Ian Shoales
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball,soc.women,soc.men