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MWCy & Koos --
I'm not sure I agree with your contention that many of the game's ATGs don't compare favorably to today's stars.
First, I would argue that with FEWER teams and a MORE EXTENSIVE system of scouting and farm systems/minor league affiliates, the overall level of talent was GREATER during the "golden age" of baseball -- especially the 1950s. Players like Mays, Mantle, Clemente and Aaron would still have been marquee performers in today's game. In fact, I don't think it's a stretch to see Mantle, Mays or Aaron smashing 80 or more home runs in a time when pitching is so blatantly diluted. Don't believe me? Check out how many home runs Sosa has hit the past several years (& during his record breaking season) against Milwaukee Brewer pitching.
Other players such as Gehrig, Foxx, Greenberg, Williams or Dimaggio also would have excelled during today's game. And positions where physical strength is less important, such as pitching, would STILL be dominated by players who had great "stuff" such as Koufax, Paige or Gibson. And don't tell me that someone like Walter Johnson or Christy Mathewson wouldn't have been AT LEAST as dominating as Nolan Ryan.
Furthermore, some of the modern era's hitting "stars" -- Wade Boggs, George Brett or Tony Gwynn -- were hardly physical specimens. Who's to say that Cobb, Wagner, Sisler, Jackson, Hornsby or other outstanding batsmen didn't possess translatable skills and hitting abilities? I sure think they did. In fact, I tend to think that in an era of 24-hour-a-day ESPN/Sportscenter broadcasts and scintillating media propaganda, some players (e.g., Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Rodriguez) are hyped so much and bestowed with so much literary greatness that we've all become a bit brainwashed. Perhaps our silly sports egos get in the way too; for is there any sports fan who doesn't want to believe that HE/SHE is the one who's living in baseball's most glorious age?