I think the improvements in scouting, and teams becoming less tolerant of 'characters' deserve a mention. Ellis Kinder, who tore up the league as a 35 year old, completely fell through the cracks and didn't even turn professional until he was 24, and it was another couple of years before he signed with an affiliated team. If he had been caught earlier and spent his prime years in the majors, instead of a lumber mill in Arkansas, he might have had a much more substantial MLB career. OTOH, he was a notorious carouser, and I would not be surprised if teams today were unwilling to put up with his antics to the extent that Tom Yawkey was.
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Signed 1953 Topps set: 264/274 (96.35 %)
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