Mel Parnell, one of the greatest pitchers in Red Sox history, is seldom mentioned in Hall of Fame debates. A lot of people don’t seem to realize how difficult it is to pitch in Fenway Park, especially for a lefthanded pitcher, such as Parnell. The Green Monster in left is only about 310 feet away from home plate (Parnell said that he once measured it to be 297 feet), while the rightfield wall, which is only about four feet tall, is but 302 feet from the plate. In addition, there is practically no foul territory, saving batters a whole lot of foulouts. This all makes for a terrible pitching environment. During his peak years - 1948 through 1953 - Parnell was arguably the best pitcher in baseball. He won 25 games and the ERA Title in 1949, and tossed a no-hitter at Fenway in 1956. He was most famous for his slider, but he also sported a curveball and a screwball. Mel Parnell started his career in 1947, going 2-3 in 15 games. His career got off to a late start on account of World War II, when he served with the U.S. Air Force, and he made his MLB debut a couple months before his 25th birthday. In 1948, Parnell went 15-8 with a 3.14 ERA, setting the stage for his legendary 1949 season. That year Parnell went 25-7, led the American League in ERA, and allowed only eight home runs in nearly 300 innings. He started the all-star game for the AL and led the Majors with 27 complete games. Parnell followed up with two 18 win seasons. He slumped a bit in 1952 (12-12, 3.62) but came back in 1953 to go 21-8. Alas, Parnell’s career fell apart after that, as arm injuries ended his career when he was only 34. In 1956, Parnell had one last hurrah when he threw a no-hitter against the White Sox on July 14. He pitched his final game on September 29 of that season. Mel Parnell was a great pitcher whose career record is often shunned for a lack of counting statistics. His 3.50 career ERA does not look overwhelming, but was good for an adjusted ERA of 125 (which accounts for the league ERA and ballparks), which is of Hall of Fame quality. I think that I should be the first one to at least mention his name in a Hall of Fame debate, as he was truly an outstanding pitcher.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games Pitched career: 289 season high: 40 in 1950
Starts career: 232 season high: 34 in 1953
Complete Games career: 113 season high: 27 in 1949 led AL: 27 in 1949
Shutouts career: 20 season high: 5 in 1953
Games Finished career: 36 season high: 8 in 1950
Wins career: 123 season high: 25 in 1949 led AL: 25 in 1949
Losses career: 75 season high: 12 in 1952
Winning Percentage career: .621 season high: .781 in 1949
ERA career: 3.50 season low: 2.77 in 1949 led AL: 2.77 in 1949
WHIP career: 1.411 season high: 1.327 in 1949
Innings Pitched career: 1,752 ⅔ season high: 295 ⅓ in 1949 led AL: 295 ⅓ in 1949
Strikeouts career: 732 season high: 136 in 1953
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings career: 3.8 season high: 5.1 in 1953
Walks career: 758 season high: 134 in 1949 led AL: 116 in 1953
Strikeouts Per Walk career: 0.97 season high: 1.20 in 1952
Saves career: 10 season high: 3 in 1950
Fielding Percentage career: .971 season high: 1.000 in 1949 and 1952 led AL P: 1.000 in 1949 and 1952
Double Plays career: 27 season high: 6 in 1950
Putouts career: 69 season high: 15 in 1952
Assists career: 327 season high: 67 in 1950 led AL P: 67 in 1950
Caught Stealing Percentage career: .381 season high: .667 in 1951
Pickoffs career: 4 season high: 2 in 1951
DID YOU KNOW?
-nicknamed “Dusty”
-pitched seven innings on his MLB debut and allowed only two earned runs
-finished fourth in the AL MVP Award voting in 1949, 14th in 1953, 21st in 1950, and 24th in 1951
-led the AL in batters faced (1,240) in 1949
-batted .309 in 1951 and .316 in 1955
-worked as a broadcaster for the Red Sox from 1965 through 1968 and for the White Sox in 1969
-was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1997
Cy Seymour was another great two way player. He pitched in six different seasons, winning 61 games and two league strikeout crowns, and also had a career batting average of .303, mostly as an outfielder. Two way players are criminally underrated, as they are the most talented baseball players in history (see my post on Dave Foutz). Cy Seymour began his career with the New York Giants in 1896, going 2-4 in eleven games (eight starts). In 1897, Seymour won 18 games and led the NL in both strikeouts and walks, as his wild fastball, curve, and screwball made him a feared power pitcher. Ceymour did better in 1898, when he won 25 games, upped his strikeout total by 83, and started to hit a bit for himself. In 1899, Seymour slipped to 14 wins but batted .327, and was thus converted to an outfielder after the season. He made a few appearances on the mound in 1900 and 1902 but was essentially a centerfielder from that point forward. He batted over .300 in five straight seasons from 1901 through 1905, the greatest offensive season of his career. That year, Seymour batted .377, led the NL in nine major batting categories, set the NL record with 325 total bases, and missed the Triple Crown by one home run. The leader, Fred Odwell, never hit another homer in the Big Leagues after the season. Seymour slumped to .286 in 1906, his age 33 season, but remained a very good hitter and RBI man until 1910. He batted .265 that season in 79 games and spent the next two seasons in the minor leagues. He was brought back up in 1913 by the Boston Braves and played 39 games for them before calling it quits. Cy Seymour was a great hitter, the owner of one of the greatest offensive seasons ever, and a very strong pitcher. Only eight players in the last 140 years have really contributed both on the mound and at bat, and Seymour is one of them. One is in the Hall of Fame (Babe Ruth), one is named Shohei Ohtani, and the other five also belong in Cooperstown.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 1,529 season high: 156 in 1908
At Bats career: 5,686 season high: 587 in 1908
Hits career: 1,724 season high: 219 in 1905 led NL: 219 in 1905
Doubles career: 229 season high: 40 in 1905 led NL: 40 in 1905
Triples career: 96 season high: 21 in 1905 led NL: 21 in 1905
Home Runs career: 52 season high: 8 in 1905 and 1906
Runs career: 737 season high: 95 in 1905
Runs Batted In career: 799 season high: 121 in 1905 led NL: 121 in 1905
Stolen Bases career: 222 season high: 38 in 1901
Walks career: 354 season high: 51 in 1905
Strikeouts career: 361 season high: 46 in 1902
Batting Average career: .303 season high: .377 in 1905 led NL: .377 in 1905
On Base Percentage career: .347 season high: .429 in 1905
Slugging Percentage career: .405 season high: .559 in 1905 led NL: .559 in 1905
Total Bases career: 2,301 season high: 325 in 1905 led NL: 325 in 1905
Sacrifice Hits career: 138 season high: 33 in 1908
Games Pitched career: 141 season high: 45 in 1898
Starts career: 124 season high: 43 in 1898
Complete Games career: 105 season high: 39 in 1898
Shutouts career: 6 season high: 4 in 1898
Games Finished career: 15 season high: 5 in 1897 and 1900
Wins career: 61 season high: 25 in 1898
Losses career: 56 season high: 19 in 1898
Winning Percentage career: .521 season high: .568 in 1898
ERA career: 3.73 season low: 3.18 in 1898
WHIP career: 1.554 season low: 1.475 in 1898
Innings Pitched career: 1,038 season high: 356 ⅔ in 1898
Strikeouts career: 591 season high: 239 in 1898 led NL: 156 in 1897, 239 in 1898
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings career: 5.1 season high: 6.0 in 1898 led NL: 4.9 in 1897, 6.0 in 1898, 4.8 in 1899
Walks career: 659 season high: 213 in 1898 led NL: 168 in 1897, 213 in 1898, 170 in 1899
Strikeouts Per Walk career: 0.90 season high: 1.12 in 1898
Saves career: 1 season high: 1 in 1897
Fielding Percentage career: .933 season high: .975 in 1907
Double Plays career: 69 season high: 12 in 1905 led NL CF: 11 in 1905, 6 in 1906, 10 in 1908 led NL OF: 12 in 1905, 9 in 1908
Putouts career: 2,952 season high: 347 in 1905 led AL RF: 255 in 1901 led NL OF: 318 in 1903
Assists career: 535 season high: 112 in 1898 led NL P: 100 in 1897 led NL CF: 19 in 1906, 29 in 1908 led NL OF: 29 in 1908 led AL RF: 22 in 1901
Caught Stealing Percentage career: N/A
Pickoffs career: N/A
DID YOU KNOW?
-led the NL in OPS (.988) and extra-base hits (69) in 1905
-is one of only two players in history with at least 50 home runs and 50 wins (Babe Ruth, of course, is the other)
-pitched three games in two days in 1898
-set a single game record with four sacrifice hits on July 25, 1902
-his .377 average in 1905 is the Cincinnati Reds’ single season record
-led NL centerfielders in games three times
-hit two home runs each off of Christy Mathewson, Deacon Phillippe, and Three Finger Brown and one each off of Vic Willis, Joe McGinnity, and Ed Reulbach
-his 11 double plays from centerfield in 1905 are the sixth most of all time, and his 10 in 1908 rank 13th
-his 29 assists from centerfield in 1908 are the 13th most of all time, and his 25 in 1905 rank 28th
-among MLB centerfielders, ranks seventh in career double plays and 11th in assists
-among MLB outfielders, ranks 28th in career double plays
-also played five games at first base, one at second base, two at third base, 20 in leftfield, and 37 as a pinch hitter
-was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1998
Bill Dahlen was probably the greatest all around shortstop of the 19th century. He was the best defensive shortstop of his time and a very good hitter who led the NL in RBI’s in 1904 and had two seasons over .350. Dahlen is a very popular Hall of Fame candidate nowadays, but the main reason why he is not yet inducted is because he did not have a good image during his career. He was famous for baiting umpires, and some sources suggest that he intentionally drew ejections so he could bet on horses. Bill Dahlen started his career with the Chicago Colts (today's Cubs) in 1891, batting .260 in 135 games. He raised his average to .293 the next season and topped the .300 mark for the first time in 1893. He had his best season in 1894, when he batted .359 with a 1.011 OPS. He also clocked 15 homers (fourth in the league) and drove in 108 runs, thoroughly establishing himself as baseball’s elite shortstop. He batted .352 in 1896 but fell off after that, batting .290 for the next couple of seasons. As the hard hitting 1890’s turned into the deadball 1900’s, Dahlen’s hitting statistics began to decline, but he remained a dangerous hitter, a remarkable base thief, and a marvelous fielder who set the NL record for fielding at shortstop in 1903. Dahlen was always a good RBI man, averaging about 70 or 80 per season for most of his career, and finally won a league RBI crown in 1904 at the age of 34, and as a plus stole 47 bases, his most since the modern stolen base rule was implemented in 1898. In 1905, he improved on his league leading RBI total by one, but after that his career began to slide. Dahlen’s hitting took a dramatic turn for the worse in 1907, but his outstanding defense kept him in the lineup almost every day. When his fielding declined in 1909, so did his playing time, and he stuck around as a backup shortstop and pinch hitter through the 1911 season. He played his final two seasons as a player manager for the Brooklyn Superbas and managed the club until 1913. Bill Dahlen was a tremendous defensive shortstop, a fine hitter, a threat on the basepaths, and a consistent run producer whose all around record suggests that he does indeed belong in the Hall of Fame.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 2,444 season high: 148 in 1905
At Bats career: 9,036 season high: 581 in 1892
Hits career: 2,461 season high: 182 in 1894
Doubles career: 413 season high: 35 in 1898
Triples career: 163 season high: 19 in 1892 and 1896
Home Runs career: 84 season high: 15 in 1894
Runs career: 1,590 season high: 150 in 1894
Runs Batted In career: 1,234 season high: 108 in 1894 led NL: 80 in 1904
Stolen Bases career: 548 season high: 60 in 1892
Walks career: 1,064 season high: 82 in 1903
Strikeouts career: 759 season high: 60 in 1891
Batting Average career: .272 season high: .359 in 1894
On Base Percentage career: .358 season high: .445 in 1894
Slugging Percentage career: .382 season high: .566 in 1894
Total Bases career: 3,452 season high: 287 in 1894
Sacrifice Hits career: 165 season high: 27 in 1896 (Dahlen’s sacrifice hit information from before 1894 is unavailable)
Fielding Percentage career: .926 season high: .952 in 1908 led NL SS: .948 in 1903
Double Plays career: 930 season high: 77 in 1898 led NL SS: 77 in 1898, 61 in 1904, 58 in 1908
Putouts career: 5,359 season high: 369 in 1898
Assists career: 8,138 season high: 553 in 1908 led NL SS: 527 in 1895, 517 in 1900, 477 in 1903, 494 in 1904
DID YOU KNOW?
-nicknamed “Bad Bill” (a testament to his bad reputation)
-started his career with six straight seasons in which he scored over 100 runs
-had a 42 game hitting streak in 1894, the fourth longest in history, and started a 28 game streak the very next game after his first streak ended
-his .359 batting average in 1894 set the MLB season record for a shortstop
-hit two triples in one inning on August 30, 1900, and had two career three triple games
-ranked first in career games and second in walks at the time of his retirement
-stole three bases in the 1905 World Series, when his Giants thumped the Philadelphia A’s
-hit five home runs off of Hall of Famer Kid Nichols, three off of Vic Willis, two off of John Clarkson, and one each off of Hoss Radbourn, Cy Young, Sam Leever, Tony Mullane, Al Orth, and Rube Waddell
-led NL shortstops in games in 1900 (133), 1902 (138), and 1903 (138)
-led the NL in assists at any position in 1895, 1900, and 1903
-ranks 33rd in career triples, 28th in stolen bases, 30th in hit by pitch (140), and fourth in assists
-among MLB shortstops, ranks first in career chances, second in putouts, fourth in assists, and 12th in games
-also played 223 games at third base, 19 at second base, 58 in the outfield, and one as a pinch runner
Earlier this month, the Veterans' Committee elected six new Hall of Famers, five of whom I advocated for previously on this blog. They are -
Tony Oliva
Jim Kaat
Minnie Minoso
Gil Hodges
Buck O'Neil
Bud Fowler
I advocated for the first five.
Oliva was an outfielder from 1962 through 1976 for the Twins who won three Batting Titles and had a career batting average of .304.
Kaat pitched from 1959 through 1983, primarily with the Twins and White Sox, and won 283 games. He is also a famous broadcaster.
Minoso was an outfielder from 1949 through 1964 in the Majors, with three years in the Negro Leagues from 1946-1948 and two publicity stunts in 1976 and 1980. He batted .299 lifetime and won three Gold Glove awards.
One of the most debated Hall of Fame candidates ever, Hodges played first base and caught from 1943 through 1963, mostly for the Brooklyn "Boys of Summer", and finished with 370 home runs and three Gold Gloves. He also managed the 1969 Miracle Mets.
Buck O'Neil and Bud Fowler made it as pioneers of the Negro Leagues.
I knew that I would eventually have to write this post, but a few things surprised me. (1), six men were inducted at once. This is one of the highest totals in any one year in history. (2), I never thought that I'd write this post so soon. I thought that it was at least a few years away.
WHY I THINK WILBUR COOPER SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By- Damien
Wilbur Cooper is almost universally unheard of nowadays, but he was the greatest pitcher in Pittsburgh Pirates history and one of the top ten lefthanded pitchers of all time. His lifetime record of 216-178 is not overwhelming, but Cooper was a hard luck pitcher who never played for a pennant winner and sometimes posted losing records despite convincing ERA’s. Nevertheless, Cooper had four 20 win seasons and two others with 19. Cooper also had many supplementary skills other than his pitching. He was a good fielder, was remarkably hard to steal on because had a great pickoff move, and was a very good hitter for a pitcher. He was also one of the first pitchers ever to appear in 100 games in relief, finishing off 83 of them, and even led the NL in saves in 1918. Wilbur Cooper started his career with the Pirates in 1912, tossing two shutouts in four starts and going 3-0. By 1914, he was a regular in the starting rotation, and went 16-15 with an ERA of 2.13. In 1916, Cooper made 23 starts and 19 relief appearances, winning 12 and saving two others, and finished with an ERA of 1.87 in 246 innings. He won 17 games in 1917 and won no fewer than that many in any season until 1925. Cooper led the NL with 22 wins in 1921 and paced the circuit in losses two years later, the consequence of the team’s poor hitting. As teammate Pie Traynor recalled, Cooper would often bat in the eighth slot in the batting order when he started, batting as high as .346 one season and .318 in another. At any rate, Cooper won 20 games again in 1924. After the season, he was traded to the Cubs and won a dozen games with them in 1925. Cooper played his final season in 1926, going 2-5 for two teams. Wilbur Cooper was a great pitcher, troublesome for both batters and baserunners, and a fine all around baseball player. He would be a good pick for the Hall of Fame.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games Pitched career: 517 season high: 44 in 1920
Starts career: 406 season high: 38 in 1921 and 1923 led NL: 38 in 1921 and 1923
Complete Games career: 279 season high: 29 in 1921 led NL: 27 in 1919 and 1922
Shutouts career: 35 season high: 7 in 1917 led NL: 4 in 1924
Games Finished career: 83 season high: 15 in 1913
Wins career: 216 season high: 24 in 1920 led NL: 22 in 1921
Losses career: 178 season high: 19 in 1923 led NL: 19 in 1923
Winning Percentage career: .548 season high: .622 in 1922
ERA career: 2.89 season low: 1.87 in 1916
WHIP career: 1.226 season low: 1.039 in 1918
Innings Pitched career: 3,480 season high: 327 in 1920 and 1921 led NL: 327 in 1921
Strikeouts career: 1,252 season high: 134 in 1921
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings career: 3.2 season high: 4.1 in 1916
Walks career: 853 season high: 80 in 1921
Strikeouts Per Walk career: 1.47 season high: 2.19 in 1920
Saves career: 14 season high: 4 in 1915 led NL: 3 in 1918
Fielding Percentage career: .955 season high: 1.000 in 1918 and 1922 led NL P: 1.000 in 1918 and 1922, .989 in 1920
Double Plays career: 27 season high: 5 in 1922
Putouts career: 102 season high: 15 in 1916
Assists career: 785 season high: 75 in 1920
Caught Stealing Percentage career: .494 season high: .611 in 1918 (Cooper’s caught stealing information from before 1916 is unavailable)
Pickoffs career: 22 season high: 4 in 1920 (Cooper’s pickoff information from before 1916 is unavailable)
DID YOU KNOW?
-has the lowest career ERA of any lefthanded pitcher in NL history with at least 3,000 career innings
-is the Pirates’ record holder for career wins (202) and complete games (263)
-his 1.87 ERA in 1916 is the Pirates’ franchise record
-led the NL in batters faced (1,377) in 1921
-was the first, and so far only, pitcher ever to start two triple plays in one season (1920)
-batted .269 with four home runs and only six strikeouts in 1922
The most asked question about baseball and the Hall of Fame is how the skill level of MLB changes from era to era. Quite frankly, nobody has been able to come to any conclusive evidence on the subject, and nobody probably ever will. However, there are a lot of factors that have affected the quality of play in a number of different ways, in favor of old over new or vice versa. Let's take a look.
For example, the entire NL batted .303 in 1930, while the AL batted a meager .237 in 1968 (not to compare different leagues, but different time periods). Usually, batting average is quite incremental, but that is quite a difference. There are three explanations for this - either the hitters were better in 1930 than they were in 1968; the pitchers were better in 1968 than they were in 1930; or there was some outside factor affecting the outcome of the batting averages. Which one was truly dominant, we'll never know.
When evaluating this question, I tend not to think about the quality of play as much as the quality of the players. I will explain factors that might explain why the whole MLB "experience" changes from era to era, why, and how it would affect whether a player performs at his full potential.
There are a lot of advantages today that might make it easier for Major Leaguers to play better than they did a century ago. The ballparks, bullpens, gloves, catchers' gear, increased usage of relief pitchers, and the DH are changes that have made baseball easier for many players. The DH's never have to do anything but hit, and AL pitchers never have to worry about hitting, giving them more time to focus on mastering their craft - pitching. (Generally, AL pitchers from 1973, when the DH was introduced, through 1997, when interleague play began, faced better hitters than NL pitchers as a whole.) Starters have an easier time with five man starting rotations and relievers who save the strain on their arms. If Big League parks had padded walls like they do today back in the 1940’s, Pete Reiser probably would have been a Hall of Famer (for those of you who are unfamiliar with Pistol Pete, he was an incredible talent whose career was ruined by many impacts with concrete outfield walls, and he was often carted off the field). Up until the 1950's, teams traveled by train instead of by plane, making for a rougher journey. I think that the Majors today offer the best environment for a man to play at his best.
This is to say nothing of what the old timers had to endure that modern Major Leaguers don't. First of all, baseball was a job back then. The players had to deal with the stress of making a living, and often worked during the offseason. Nowadays, the salaries are so ridiculous that 23 year old Juan Soto could never work again and be rich for the rest of his life. Additionally, if a player got injured, there were no fancy surgeries to save them. You probably know a bit about Civil War era surgery - well, the Major Leagues set up shop less than a decade after the end of the Civil War, so an injury that would today only require a simple surgery would end the careers of most 19th century players. Additionally, you always played, even if you were sore. Nobody had any "off days" when they just sat on the bench and enjoyed the show. None of that malarkey. Another interesting factor is the fact that, if a ball went out of play, umpires would give the pitcher a new one, and before 1920, he was supposed to "dirty it up", spit tobacco juice on it, rub it down with dirt, scratch it, anything they wanted until it was deemed worthy for play. This of course made the ball very hard to see, and after Ray Chapman was beaned in 1920, the rule was quickly discarded, and the spitball was also outlawed (two distinct advantages for batters). Additionally, there were no night games back then, which meant that it got painfully hot, especially with their wool (yes, wool) uniforms. Finally, it wasn't really a game back in the dead ball era - it was your job, and your job was to win. Rookies were despised by veterans whose jobs they were about to take, and opponents were vicious. Many players sharpened their spikes as a ruthless attempt to frighten opposing players (who wants to get ripped to shreds, anyway?). Ty Cobb has a famous quote about this very subject. There was also no dilly-dally that you see so often in today's games, when baserunners laugh and make merry with infielders, who love it just as much. (A quote from Hall of Famer Frank Chance, dated 1910 - "
Many people like to think that today's players are better than they have ever been. They actually make some pretty good arguments - for example, black players weren't allowed in the MLB until 1947; international players were quite uncommon until decades later; the minor league systems are much more finely tuned today than they were before the Cardinals' farm system in the 1940's; national exposure poses an additional pressure on the players. They also criticize 19th century baseball, saying that baseball was just getting started, and that the players didn't really know what they were doing. The first few objections are good and valid arguments, but my opposition to the last objection is this - baseball was one of the biggest businesses in America by the turn of the 20th century, and there were minor leagues at that time, so the players really were the best that the era had to offer and, as an aside, quite good. Just like they do today, fans payed a ton of money to see the best baseball players in the world. Another statement that many modern fans point to are the higher fielding percentages of today and look at them as proof that today's players are superior (at least in the field). If you've ever seen a Big League game, then you'll notice three things: (1), there are more strikeouts than there have ever been; (2), modern gloves are so big that it makes fielding easy (in the 19th century, gloves were designed to let the hand catch the ball, not the glove, and for decades there were no such thing as fielders' gloves); and (3), many players slowly jog down the first base line, giving fielders who bobble the ball much more time to still throw him out. That players can be so lazy is actually evidence to the contrary - that today's players are inferior. If someone tried to pull that garbage in another era, he would probably lose his job. Another fact that modern fans like to point out is that pitchers throw way harder and that breaking balls are more advanced, thus proving that modern pitchers (and the batters who have to deal with them) are superior. These can be explained by the anatomy of the baseball. The seams on the ball protrude further than they used to, allowing for better grips.
Nowadays, I sometimes wonder if the Big Leaguers even know what they’re doing. So many times I see apparent stupidity - baserunners forgetting to retouch bases on a fly ball, infielders going deep into the outfield on popups until the outfielders call them off, the above play, and those ridiculous infield (and outfield) shifts. If anybody knew how to bunt anymore, then this wouldn’t be a problem, but so many pull-happy hitters play along with it and get out. I also personally have a problem with batters swinging for the fences with two strikes, and taking until they get a strike, both common but not universal practices among today’s current crop of players, and these are the primary reasons for the high strikeout totals in recent years.
As time went on, the outside effects on the game always favored hitters. Obviously, we have the banishment of the spitball, but in 1969, the mound was shortened from 15 inches to 10, making for a much straighter pitch that was much easier to hit. Additionally, the baseball, from 1920 onward, got livelier (bouncier). In 1987, they did it again (as teams averaged over a homer a game for the first time in history), and today's baseball's are, in comparison, those 25 cent rubber balls that you get from crank machines. Home runs have soared at an alarming rate in recent years.
The most challenging factor is the strike zone. Here is the link to the chronological history of the strike zone (start reading at 1907).
This poses a huge challenge, as a larger strike zone is an enormous advantage for pitchers, and the modern strike zone is smaller than ever (essentially, belt to knees as compared with armpits to knees less than 50 years ago). For those players whose careers spanned two strike zones, pitchers can adjust because they have time and control to hit their spots, but batters must have a natural sense of the strike zone. With such radical changes in the zone, it makes batting almost impossible.
From 1993 through 2009, scoring rates were higher than they had been since the 1930's. Of course, engineering with the baseball played a part, as well as expansion (which momentarily waters down the quality of play) and a new strike zone, but a lot of the credit goes to players who injected themselves with anabolic steroids. Those players' muscles grew out until they looked like comic strips, and they hit home runs at a Ruthian pace. Not to point fingers, but many players have admitted to doing the drugs, and they have shared some of the effects with us. In conclusion, I will not have a bias from era to era because there is not enough evidence on either side as to whether Big League play has become better or worse. I also think that the Hall of Fame should represent each era fairly equally in order to teach people more about the whole of baseball history.
some players perform markedly better in day or night games
