Roger Kahn - The Era (3)

Here is one of the key things I learned from this book. We all know that today's football and basketball players are bigger, strong, and better than the athletes of old. Baseball is one sport where this may not be the case. The baseball players from decades gone past may have been just as good as today's players. This may be unique to baseball. Roger Kahn explains why.
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Aren't today's athletes faster, bigger, and stronger than their counterparts in the 1950's? Certainly that applies to football players, runners, and basketball players. But baseball is not a bigger-faster-stronger game. Given a certain minimum standard, major league baseball is timing, coordination, and hand-to-eye response. Jim Thorpe, the strongest, fastest athlete of his time, was a bust as a professional baseball player. For all his strength and speed, Thorpe could not hit major league curveballs.

-Roger Kahn, "The Era," p. 282-83.

Hence, baseball is an exception to the rule. The players of old might be just as good as today's players.