It's a fun question to debate and no right answer of course.
I would argue that professional baseball players today are much better baseball players and far far (far) better athletes than prewar players, with limited exceptions. Guys today are cultivated for MLB careers sometimes as early as 12 years old.
Gehrig is always touted as looking like a football player body. Was consider huuuuuuge for his time. Look at all those muscles. What a monster. And he was a great raw athlete. But he was 6 feet tall 200 pounds. Just a little bigger than Francisco Lindor today. Guys today and so ripped and so strong and (most of them) so fast. Except in rare case would be no comparison on physicality and skills.
I'd argue that a fringe major leaguer today -- let's say Tomas Nido on my Mets -- probably has hitting and fielding skills better than 95% of the catchers of the prewar era.
Last edited by Snapolit1; 01-08-2023 at 10:06 AM.
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