Posted by: Tim () on Sun Aug 31 16:09:47 2008

> Pitching strategies of today? What does that mean? What strategies?
> Look, there's certainly good hitters today, no doubt.
> But, the fact is, is that guys that are beefing their numbers up, are doing it against some, that wouldn't even be in the big leagues in years past.There is no way the talent can't be watered down with the large number of teams now in the league, as opposed to in the past.
> Mantle, Williams, Banks, Mays,Killibrew, were facing guys like Koufax, Feller, Ford, Trucks, Spahn, Gibson, Mcdowell, Marichal.Those were guys that did it over a period of years and, the list go's on.There's no way that the hitters of the past 20 years had to face anything close to that kind of talent.And, some of the most notorious long ball hitters of the recent past, have been linked to steroids.
> Wipe the floor?!!
> I'd use the photo's of Sosa's, Mcguire and, Bonds' historic homeruns, to wipe the floor alright...

Forget about steriods, pitchers and hitters used them so they cancelled each other out.

Guys like Mantle, Williams, Banks, Mays, Killibrew, were facing guys like koufax, Feller, Ford, Trucks, Spahn, Gibson, Mcdowell, Marichal.

I can say the same thing. Guys like Manny, A-Rod, Guerrero, Griffey, and Pujols have/had to face guys like Santana, Hernandez, Beckett, Webb, Zambrano, Peavy, Martinez, Johnson, Clemens.

And then don't forget the advent of relieve specialist and closers which make things more difficult.

The only reason Pedroia has been batting 4th is because of injuries and because Manny was traded. Trust me I'd much rather face Ted Williams with his awkward seemingly unbalanced and full effort swing because he was so scrawny he could barely swing his own bat. Than have to face Manny Ramirez with his smooth powerful stroke.

I'm guessing that you guys who posted probably got to see those old geezers play when you were younger so you romanticize about the past and how great it was back then, but lets be real. Common sense tells you that as time passes things evolve, increasing getting better. Sports is no different, it should be expected that the players of this era would be better than the players of yesteryear. That's not to say that if the players of yesteryear came up in this era they wouldn't be as good. Ted Williams would probably have dominated in this era having the same access to scouting reports, video tape, and of course a weight room. But taking Ted Williams out of his respective era unchanged and having him stand against guys like Manny, Griffey, A-Rod, and Pujols... it'd be no contest. Williams wouldn't be able to hold their jock-straps.