What if they used today's baseballs?

[asphaltman]

Originally Posted by steve B

There's plenty of complicated physics, basically the angle and speed matter the most, but the spin and where on the bat you hit, and the initial speed of the pitch all contribute.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/adv...a4569/4216783/

So yes, a BP curve that doesn't curve will go farther than a 94mph fastball, but the 94 mph fastball will leave the bat 3mph faster than a 78mph curve. (Their numbers.) The spin and the spin leaving the bat are very different, and more backspin=more lift=more distance.
So in an actual game, comparing a hit fastball to a hit fastball, the faster pitch will go farther.

Seam height matters too, the high loose seams of well used 1920's balls create more drag and slow the ball down, lower tighter seams don't - too low and they don't generate as much lift lift.

The biggest HR hitters in the 20's-30's were probably every bit as good as the hitters today.

Yeah, I'm not going to pretend to understand the physics involved in how a baseball takes flight at what launch angle, exit velocity, spin on the ball, etc....it's for sure two different worlds and in many ways two different games. I think if this era of players were to be dropped in a game from 1909 they'd be floored as much as if that era of players were to be dropped in a game today. For sure, there are better, faster, stronger athletes today. This kids playing now grew up playing travel ball with non stop tournaments all the time. Just different.

One thing from the past that I wish was still around was the pitchers going deeper into games. The the lost art of throwing a good screwball, knuckleball, and even in the day a good spitter.

[packs]

Everyone always says the old players have nothing on the new players, but I really don't understand that perspective. Other sports have seen increases in talent due increases in the numbers of athletes participating in the sport. That's why I believe the level has risen so much in the NBA and the NFL; you've got way more people playing both sports than you ever did before.

That is not true with baseball. Every year there is the discussion about diminishing participation among even little league players. Whereas every kid used to play baseball, now that population is splintered across three other sports (plus soccer). In my opinion that means Major League Baseball is no longer full of the best of the best in the country; instead it is full of the best who choose to play. If you ask me, the average player in the 1920s would have still had to have been an incredible player to even get a spot on a professional roster by virtue of needing to beat out much more competition to claim it.

[TanksAndSpartans]

Originally Posted by packs

If you ask me, the average player in the 1920s would have still had to have been an incredible player to even get a spot on a professional roster by virtue of needing to beat out much more competition to claim it.

Yep, there were pro football players trying to play baseball even though football was their better sport. Baseball was the sport to play - it payed better.

[BabyRuth]

Babe Ruth would be great in any era he played!! Now let's see some modern steroid product swing a 42 oz bat like the old "out of shape" bambino!!!

[rats60]

Originally Posted by packs

Everyone always says the old players have nothing on the new players, but I really don't understand that perspective. Other sports have seen increases in talent due increases in the numbers of athletes participating in the sport. That's why I believe the level has risen so much in the NBA and the NFL; you've got way more people playing both sports than you ever did before.

That is not true with baseball. Every year there is the discussion about diminishing participation among even little league players. Whereas every kid used to play baseball, now that population is splintered across three other sports (plus soccer). In my opinion that means Major League Baseball is no longer full of the best of the best in the country; instead it is full of the best who choose to play. If you ask me, the average player in the 1920s would have still had to have been an incredible player to even get a spot on a professional roster by virtue of needing to beat out much more competition to claim it.

NO they haven't. There hasn't been a running back in the NFL that comes close to Jim Brown. Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest athlete to ever play in the NBA. No one has ever been stronger or had his vertical in a 7 foot body. These guys were freaks without the need for modern training. The idea that man has evolved that much is a joke.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by rats60

NO they haven't. There hasn't been a running back in the NFL that comes close to Jim Brown. Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest athlete to ever play in the NBA. No one has ever been stronger or had his vertical in a 7 foot body. These guys were freaks without the need for modern training. The idea that man has evolved that much is a joke.

+1

Evolved?

Tommy John surgery is a rite of passage today.

Complete games - forget about it

More than 200 innings a year for more than a decade - dreamer

Did Nolan Ryan have yesterday’s arm?

Hell, they probably have pitch counts in Tee Ball today.

[darwinbulldog]

My understanding is that, based on the best available data, Mantle's "565 foot" home run would have traveled about 460 feet without the wind. I'm not a physicist, but that's what they say. There are a few interesting papers and one oddly engaging Powerpoint presentation about it.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by asphaltman

Yeah, I'm not going to pretend to understand the physics involved in how a baseball takes flight at what launch angle, exit velocity, spin on the ball, etc....it's for sure two different worlds and in many ways two different games. I think if this era of players were to be dropped in a game from 1909 they'd be floored as much as if that era of players were to be dropped in a game today. For sure, there are better, faster, stronger athletes today. This kids playing now grew up playing travel ball with non stop tournaments all the time. Just different.

One thing from the past that I wish was still around was the pitchers going deeper into games. The the lost art of throwing a good screwball, knuckleball, and even in the day a good spitter.

Different eras for sure.

Todays players can get an incredible amount of organized experience, but players before sometimes played more, even if the games were less organized.
To me one of the saddest things is seeing todays baseball fields for kids. My kids play at two parks near baseball fields... Wonderful baseball fields. Stands, decent infield and grass, big backstop, even stands, and a passable outfield wall. A long way from the fields I played on, which either had no outfield wall, or a bit of snow fencing with 350 painted on it at what was probably much less. No stands at some, everyone sat on folding chairs.
Of course, we played on our fields pretty much every day. Todays fields are all posted along the lines of "reserved for little league, don't even think of playing ball here. Or the police will come"

I can't imagine some of todays guys getting used to the minimal clubhouse areas they had in 1909. Just as I can't imagine some of the tougher characters adjusting to whirlpools and wall to wall carpet and a spread of free food. (ok, they might adjust to the buffet pretty easily)