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RhettJason, you are a raving lunatic. You have no basis for what you are saying. If you could hit .400 back then why the heck aren't you playing professional baseball. Your arguments are baseless (except for your diluted opinions of yourself) and are childish. You have your opinion, one which nobody in their right mind will agree with, and are just trying to push your agenda. Stop, before you start looking clueless, TOO LATE...
About a homerun always being better than a single, double, or triple that is absolutely NOT true. While I am not saying homeruns aren't good, a base-hit can actually be more beneficial. When there are runners on base, no longer can one pitch out of the stretch, and anyone that has played organized baseball knows that you pitch to a player far differently when there are runners on base (even more so when they are in scoring position.) A homerun essentially clears the bases and actually gives the pitcher an advantage over the subsequent batters. I would almost go as far to say that with 0 to 1 out it would be more beneficial to simply get a "regular" base hit as opposed to a homerun, because you are "starting something" that your teammates can build upon.
I have no doubt that people 75 to 100 years ago could pitch just as hard as they do today. What is so magical about the last fifty years that has allowed players to suddenly start throwing so much faster, it doesn't really make sense that natural ability to throw hard has suddenly changed over the past 100 years (evolution doesn't happen that fast-look it up.) A player doesn't necessarily "learn" to throw 90-100 mph, being a pitcher and being able to throw fast enough to play professional ball is much more about natural ability than training.
I personally think it would be so much fun to watch a player of today try to hit against Burleigh Grimes, I would give anything I had to see how that would turn out. Especially when the players of today are subject to the actual strike-zone mentioned in the rule book, who know that strike zone that extends from the knees to the chest.
If a team of today played a team from yesteryear it would be an amazing thing to watch, and I think it would be a lot closer than any of us can imagine, especially in some of those huge parks Cobb played in. I don't profess to know who would win, but I think everyone on this board would be able to appreciate the possibilities (except maybe Jason).