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Originally Posted by nwobhm
It’s certainly difficult to compare eras…. I can’t imagine Trout being all that good in 1923. Once the injuries started stacking up the bus rides on dusty gravel roads without A/C and eating a roadside diners wouldn’t help alleviate the swelling and discomfort. Ol’ Earl Smith spitting tobacco juice on him at the plate wouldn’t have gone well either. Once the headhunters had him on their radar his melon better be on a swivel to compensate for the lack of batting helmets. No medications, no 5 star hotels, no AC, longer travel schedules…. Most modern day guys would fold up so fast their names would never have been known.
Modern players are better in the modern day not because they are “better” but because their era is better equipped to maximize their performance.
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It's interesting how people think. My take is completely opposite. 90 years ago, hitters most days got 4 at bats against a sore arm pitcher. Starters were not throwing smoke back then, for most of them 4-5 k's per game was standard. Relievers were just the guys who were not good enough to be starters.
When Feller threw one 98 mph, it was incredible. Now, a team has several pitchers who can break 100. Batters have to face 2 or 3 different pitchers a game, and many of the relievers are better than the starters.
On top of that, every pitch a batter swings at is now recorded and studied. Any weak spots are identified and exploited. Batters used to be able to wait for their pitch. Now, they need to be able to hit a lot of different pitches to be successful.
If Trout went back in time to play, it would be like batting practice for him. And on the other side of the coin, I think a lot of the top old time hitters would not be able to adjust to the speed and intensity of today's game.
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