Was hitting in basbeall easier in the past then it is now?

Question

You see players from the past with ridiculous lifetime averages around .330+ but you never see that now.

Answer 1

Todays baseball is much easier then years ago.

1) Stadiums are alot smaller today then they used to be. Most of the home runs hit in last 30 years would have been caught years ago.

2) Balls are harder today making it easier to hit the ball a longer distance.

3) Pitching is very water down today for several reasons:
A) There are alot more pitchers today then years ago, so many of todays pitchers would have never made the major leagues years ago.
B) Unlike what people keep saying, pitchers do not throw as hard as they once did because their arms are not as strong. Today pitchers are babied too much from a young age and by doing so never built their arm strength and endorance like older pitchers, even as recently as 30 years ago.
C) Strike zone is smaller today making it easier for a batter to hit the ball.

4) Bats are lighter today making it easier fot a batter to swing and hit the ball,because he can swing the bat faster. The lighter bat also makes it easier today to hit the ball to oposite field because he has a split second longer to react to hit the ball.

5) Today's gloves are not only larger but more padded making it easier to catch a ball.

6) Years ago, errors were given more frequently because you would get an error for not only making an error, but also if you should have caught the ball even if you didn't touch it you were given an error.

7) If you really want to go back in time, if you were walked, that used to count against you for your batting average. Example: Today you make 10 plate appearances you get 3 hits 9 outs one walk you are credited for 9 at bats (the walk doesnt count as an at bat) so your batting average is .333. Years ago because the walk counted as an at bat your batting average would be .300.

The list goes on and on, yes today's baseball players are stronger, but strentgh doesnt translate into baseball skill. So to answer your question, yes all the great players from 50+ years ago not only would their records stand today everyone of them would have surpassed their own records, playing under today's conditions. If Babe Ruth played today, he would be hitting over a 100 home runs a year.

I'm answering this question for my nephew, since I'm alot older then he is, I've been watching baseball since the early 1930's, and ine the last 40 years there have maybe been only 100 players that would have even made the major leagues 50 or more years ago. I'll give you a good example, I watched both Phil Rizzutto and Derek Jeter play short stop first hand their entire careers, Jeter is a much better hitter, but Rizzutto was a much better short stop, Joe Dimaggio was by far the best outfielder, that ever played the game, there will never be an outfielder thats will even come close to how good he was, he caught every ball waist high, and that's when Yankee Stadium was alot bigger.

Any baseball historian will agree with me.

Answer 2

Pitching is a little tougher also the design of fielding gloves have changed. There was a lot of room for error in the vintage gloves now fingers are closer and theres a web inbetween the thumb and index finger.

Also ball parks are on average, smaller then in the past giving the outfielders less distance to run and get a ball. though the batter has a better chance of a homer.

Answer 3

Hitting was harder back in the day. The mound is lower than it used to be so it gives the advantage to the hitter instead of the pitcher (ask Gibson about the old mound). While pitchers may have pitched the entire game, they were conditioned to do so and it was more about movement than velocity. Pitching today focuses mostly on velocity and accuracy. Pitchers used to throw pitches with more movement and less velocity. There were very few pitchers who threw over 90, now it is the norm.

Batters have the advantage of weight lifting and exercise programs and personal trainers. Back in the day you ran, stretched and the only performance enhancing drugs used were ham sandwhiches, whiskey, and cigars.

Answer 4

I haven't received any violations but last week one of my questions disappeared for several days. It seemed to disappear a couple of minutes after I answered it. Then mysteriously it showed up again about 2 days ago. I'm quite sure I received points for it even after it was gone. I'm fairly new to Y/A so I'm not sure what all of this is about. Occasionally when I look at a person's profile I see that they have been suspended. So there does seem to be a lot of it going on.

Answer 5

The game has moved on - technology, drugs, better training methods and coaching improvements have led to a more difficult and technical game. You could perhaps get by with raw talent back then but now you have all these other factors which clubs, players and managers all consider seriously. Tactics have also changed and you see pitchers coming in for just one inning and they could tune out batters which affect the percentages.

Answer 6

It is irrefutable that legends of the day will compare favorably with today's group of athletes. However, although players in the past did hit for higher averages, they were not as well rounded as the modern day players. Today, players try to hit for power, average, and speed- every game.
Nevertheless, you must also take into account that players today have a more vigorous schedule, playing in a 162 game season, a stark difference from the 154 games a while back. I hope this answers your question!

Answer 7

I've read some of the most ridiculous answers ever on this one...

To anyone thinking modern players do it 'for the money' and the players of the 20's and 30's hit soooooo well because they did it 'for the love of game', can you explain why the PITCHERS of the 20's and 30's did so poorly....I guess in the 20's and 30's the hitters did it for love..while the pitchers did it for the money..

Unless of course, you go before about 1915...when pitchers routinely won 30-40 games a year..had complete games like 9 of 10 starts...ERA's were in the 1.00's...and the league leader hit about 10 homers a year.....I guess before about 1915 the pitchers did it for love...while the hitters did it for the money...

Then the 50's came around...and suddenly guys were striking out 100 times a year, averages fell again, while homers ran up....but nobody stole any bases....so during the 50's I guess the fast base stealers were playing only for the money....while everyone else was in it for the love of the game...

Look, players have always sold their skills for top dollar...only before free agency...they had no choice...they played for what they were given...or they didn't play....unless you were DiMaggio, or Williams, or Mantle, or Hornsby, or Wagner, or Cobb...or anybody else who held out...not for better working conditions...but for more money.

Look, the simple answer to your question is...the game changed. Pre-1920 they never threw dirty balls out of games...they often went in the stands to get foul balls....can you imagine what a skilled pitcher could do with a ball like that? Try seeing one of those dirty balls at twilight..(no lights remember...and games started at 3-4 o'clock)..try hitting that pile of mush...how far would it go?

Pre 1920 no one died trying to hit a ball he couldn't see...they changed the rules about dirty balls, spitters, shiners...and suddenly hitters could see the damn ball, and when they hit it, suddenly it went farther.

Pre-1920, the strategy was bunt, bunt and bunt again...steal some...hit'em where they ain't...then some guy named Ruth (another famous 'do it for the love of the game old-timer, give 110% player'...who got very fat, and very very old very fast...doing exactly the opposite) came along and showed everyone a new way...clean balls, old tiny ballparks, a new strategy of hit away big guy...

There are dozens of guys who hit in the .290's in the teens, and then hit in the .340's in the 20's...the same guys...did those guys suddenly decide to start playing for the love of the game..at exactly the same time the rules and game changed?

Look, in every single sport, athletes are bigger, better stronger, faster...look at the NBA...in the NFL you'll never find a 220 lb tackle anymore..track records, swimming records, weight-lifting..every where you look, athletes are getting better, except of course, according to some, baseball athletes.

There are 20 different ways the 'style' of play has changed over the years, along with rule changes, ballpark changes, playing surface changes, ball changes...of course the relationship between the pitcher and the hitter changes some...if you can't see that, then you must believe God made only great pitchers till about 1915, stopped making pitchers and started making hitters until the late 40's, where for the next 15-20 years he balanced it out, except he decided to stop making fast runners for awhile. Then in the 60's he went back to making the Koufax's, Gibson's, Marichal's and McDowells again...balanced it out in the 70's and 80's..only he added greed of course...then he figured he better start making Bonds', Griffeys, Sosas, and McGwire's again.

Context is everything...if I told you I hit .440 last year...you'd think I was the greatest hitter ever...until I told you I did it in my over 50 beer league.

The context of those gaudy averages are just that...the context then made ordinary hitters look great by today's standards, and pitchers look crappier.

But, the value of a .330 average then is exactly the same as the value of a .310 average today.

If in the 20's and 30's, teams hit .300...in that kind of context, a .310 hitter...RELATIVE TO THE CONTEXT OF HIS TIME...is average....like a .280 hitter today.

I hope this helps..

Answer 8

The game has changed. There are more pitchers now with specialties that they didn't have years ago. Alot of pitchers in those days pitched 9 innings so they tired as the game went along. Now they have these guys that come in for one specific batter and they are throwing 100.

Answer 9

Good question, you have to ask former players, but if you don't see them with batting advanges like this now a days, I think the answer would be yes.

Answer 10

I think it has more to do with the fact that the ballparks are smaller. It is easier to hit homeruns, but less balls will fall in for hits.