[QUOTE=Omniscient]
OK, I’m willing to allow the assumption that the talent level is the same. That the smaller leagues off set the lack of foreign and black players, the need for the average American to stay on the farm and the complete lack of little leagues and leisure time for prospective players. I think that there are way more kids growing up with the opportunity and interest in becoming a professional baseball player, a number large enough to greatly offset the fact that there were 8 teams versus 30 teams in the 20s, but it’s impossible to quantify so we’ll set it aside.
How to you argue away the fact that Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson regularly pitched 45+ games per season, which was a solid 10 games more than Clemens and Maddux’s career highs? Matthewson’s career high was 56 games! Maddux’s was only 37 games. Clemens once threw 36 games to Johnson’s 51 games. This was all before the Slider was invented. Johnson and Mathewson were insanely good pitchers but with the amount of work they shouldered is it realistic to think that their stuff was on par with todays best? This doesn’t even take into consideration the Mariano Rivera’s and Goose Gosage’s of the league.
Would Ruth have been able to go for 60+ dingers and .320+ BA if he played today? I’m skeptical, there’s a ton more thought and energy exerted today on scouting reports and matchups. The numbers A-Rod is putting up might be light years ahead for what Gerhig and Ruth did in context.
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These are all valid points, but I think you are missing a point. If you really want to compare these guys, maybe you need to add to the what-ifs? What if Ruth & Gehrig had the benefit of modern training, nutrition and scouting reports?
Players are stronger and faster but on the other side they don’t play the game as well or as hard. Think about the bunting for singles, the stretching what today are doubles into triples. The high hard slides and bean balls that were common. Hell, Ruth & his generation faced legal spit-ballers. I don’t think today’s players understand the fundamentals of baseball near as well as those of past generations.
As to little league, I am at a loss. Far more baseball and stick balled was played by kids before the 50s than after the 50s. They had little else to do and all the old-timers talk about playing ball from immediately after school until it got too dark to play. They played on bad fields or roads or abandoned lots. They played with bad equipment and learned how to play bad hops. It is similar to the conditions that most Dominican players overcome to become professional ball players. Most players also came straight from high school and the college kid was rare. It was a different time. A time when disease ended many careers early.
As to the innings pitched by the greats, you are looking at the cream of the top. Most pitchers did have short careers or at least short peak careers. The Matthewsons and Johnsons were the best from a different school of pitching.
Now today’s closers are great and something that did not really exist until Fireman Murphy of the Yankees. Johnny Murphy was back in the 30s though, so while that had little effect on Ruth, relievers were a big part of the game before Rollie Fingers & Gossage. I would use the counter argument that most middle relievers today actually help hitting stats.
