Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards
I actually don't think most here question that. They question the idea that they are somehow evolved in 3 or four generations. Their superiority is of methods and science not innate. Therefore if you could magically transport a Grove to 2021 and allow him to grow up in this era he would, in all likelihood, still be a superior player because he also would benefit from these advances.
In short, players today are of COURSE superior, but they aren't genetically any different than their forerunners, so the best way to compare across eras is to compare a player to his peers and then compare the comparisons.
Where THAT falls short is, as everyone has access to today's advances it flattens the curve of greatness and reduces outliers like Ruth or possibly Grove, because today's "lesser players" have made themselves greater through modern methods, whereas the players with greater natural advantages can only improve so much.
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Good post Scott. I've been saying the same thing all along trying to get people to understand that in looking at and comparing players from different times and eras, you can't just look at baseball numbers and statistics alone, and completely ignore the context of all non-direct baseball factors. As you said, there are superior methods and science, among other things, that really explain the differences in today's players to those of the past. But statisticians still try to explain everything with just the baseball numbers and stats they have. They completely ignore the human element and all the intangibles athletes bring to the table. Statisticians ignore those kinds of things because they can't measure a player's heart or their competitiveness, and they just tell you those are meaningless things anyway because their baseball numbers and stats override all. And don't ask them to prove anything as they'll just keep telling you they don't have time, and you wouldn't understand them anyway. Statistics are fine and have a very good place in predicting behaviors and outcomes, but there is no definitive outcome to a question like who's the best lefty of all time. And because there is no outcome to prove that some statistician's formula is right or wrong, they simply assert their formula is the answer. And in doing so, ignore the context of players in different times and eras, the human element, and in my opinion, commen sense. The statisticians can't prove they're right, but we can't prove they're definitively wrong. So they get away with it.