What if they used today's baseballs?

[packs]

Everyone always says the old players have nothing on the new players, but I really don't understand that perspective. Other sports have seen increases in talent due increases in the numbers of athletes participating in the sport. That's why I believe the level has risen so much in the NBA and the NFL; you've got way more people playing both sports than you ever did before.

That is not true with baseball. Every year there is the discussion about diminishing participation among even little league players. Whereas every kid used to play baseball, now that population is splintered across three other sports (plus soccer). In my opinion that means Major League Baseball is no longer full of the best of the best in the country; instead it is full of the best who choose to play. If you ask me, the average player in the 1920s would have still had to have been an incredible player to even get a spot on a professional roster by virtue of needing to beat out much more competition to claim it.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Originally Posted by packs

If you ask me, the average player in the 1920s would have still had to have been an incredible player to even get a spot on a professional roster by virtue of needing to beat out much more competition to claim it.

Yep, there were pro football players trying to play baseball even though football was their better sport. Baseball was the sport to play - it payed better.

[BabyRuth]

Babe Ruth would be great in any era he played!! Now let's see some modern steroid product swing a 42 oz bat like the old "out of shape" bambino!!!

[rats60]

Originally Posted by packs

Everyone always says the old players have nothing on the new players, but I really don't understand that perspective. Other sports have seen increases in talent due increases in the numbers of athletes participating in the sport. That's why I believe the level has risen so much in the NBA and the NFL; you've got way more people playing both sports than you ever did before.

That is not true with baseball. Every year there is the discussion about diminishing participation among even little league players. Whereas every kid used to play baseball, now that population is splintered across three other sports (plus soccer). In my opinion that means Major League Baseball is no longer full of the best of the best in the country; instead it is full of the best who choose to play. If you ask me, the average player in the 1920s would have still had to have been an incredible player to even get a spot on a professional roster by virtue of needing to beat out much more competition to claim it.

NO they haven't. There hasn't been a running back in the NFL that comes close to Jim Brown. Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest athlete to ever play in the NBA. No one has ever been stronger or had his vertical in a 7 foot body. These guys were freaks without the need for modern training. The idea that man has evolved that much is a joke.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by rats60

NO they haven't. There hasn't been a running back in the NFL that comes close to Jim Brown. Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest athlete to ever play in the NBA. No one has ever been stronger or had his vertical in a 7 foot body. These guys were freaks without the need for modern training. The idea that man has evolved that much is a joke.

+1

Evolved?

Tommy John surgery is a rite of passage today.

Complete games - forget about it

More than 200 innings a year for more than a decade - dreamer

Did Nolan Ryan have yesterday’s arm?

Hell, they probably have pitch counts in Tee Ball today.