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Originally Posted by bk400
I love debates where there can be no winner! So here it goes!
What was the average four seamer speed in the 1920s? Would it be fast enough for a Division 3 starting pitcher today? Looking at the 100 yard and 100 meter dash records from that time, I can say with almost absolute certainty that no one playing baseball in the 1920s was objectively fast. Sure, Hornsby gets credit for being the equivalent of the prematurely big and fast kid in fourth grade PE class.
It would be hard to convince me that Hornsby competed against the same type of athleticism and professionalism that Pujols did. Even more so since baseball was neither integrated nor global at the time. It's just a different caliber of athlete playing a totally different game. And Pujols was dominant against that level of competition for 12 years and was still above average (using less forgiving modern metrics -- thanks Peter) for his last 10.
The best comp for Pujols' career is that of Hank Aaron. And Pujols has two more MVPs and one more World Series ring than Aaron does. And, at least for me, Hank Aaron is miles ahead of anyone -- anyone -- who played in the 1920s.
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Andrew DeGrasse was the Bronze Medalist at the 2016 Olympics. In 2017 he ran the 100 meters under the same conditions as Jesse Owens did, 30's era spikes, dirt track, no starting blocks. DeGrasse ran 11.0, .8 slower than Owens world record. His time wouldn't even have qualified him for the finals of the 1936 Olympics. Yes the players were fast. Humans haven't evolved in the last 100 years. Technology, training, diet, etc. yes, but not physical bodies.
Walter Johnson threw mid to high nineties with terrible mechanics in the 1910s-1920s. Give him modern training and he is over 100 easy. Great athletes would be great in any generation.