Quote:
Originally Posted by Tabe
What's fun about this reply is you didn't answer the question. Do you think Ted's stats would go up playing today? Or would Trout's go up playing in the 1940s? You think Ted hits .400 against the extreme shifts that they play today, with a 2B in shallow RF? No way. But put Trout in the 1940s against no shift?
Actually, yeah, it is absolutely unquestionable. They've been tracking fastball data for years and guys are throwing multiple mph harder now than they were even 12 years ago (2008: 90.9, 2019: 93.4). Do you think pitchers slowed down immediately after Ted retired to about 12 years ago just so the trend could reverse? Nah. Yeah, Ted hit Bob Feller well but how would he do against Aroldis Chapman, throwing 105 from the left side? And so on.
Bottom line: Ted was great but it defies logic to think that baseball is not much harder now than it was 80 years ago.
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Your second point makes my argument against the first.
Would Ted Williams bat better today? Of course. Fewer double headers, quicker travel, more rest, better physical Training, and not least.... Massive data that the hitters can study about what pitches a pitcher tends to throw when, both historically and recently. And all with video so if a pitcher has a tell about a particular pitch the batter might pick up on it.
(never mind shifts, when one was tried Williams hit the other way. )
Would Trout do as well without the training and data about pitchers? He'd probably be ok, maybe not as good as he is now.
Part of the power of a HR comes from the pitch, some of his HR might fall short.