Posted by: Tim () on Tue Sep 2 22:13:55 2008

> Mr. Mays was one of the greats and w/ humility . Did you expect him to say he was better? By the way I'm still waiting for 406 or Holy Cow 56 straight . Been a few years .Floors wiped anyone?

56 was a matter of luck don't make it sound like guys back then were pulling off long hit streaks with ease. .406 batting average is the product of OVERALL crappy pitching back in the day. And don't give me Spahn, Gibson, Feller, and Ford because you know that hitter's back then weren't facing that quality of pitching every game, that's why I capitalized OVERALL.

Today practically every pitcher in the bigs throws 90 with at least one good breaking pitch (command may leave more to be desired), most relievers throw in the mid to upper 90's. Today's game is more power oriented so guys are taking bigger cuts (its not all about steriods) than they did back then since the focus isn't on high averages. (which make sense because power hitters get the bigger paycheck)

The fact of the matter is the modern player is better. If Ted Williams is the greatest hitter of the past and Albert Pujols is the greatest hitter of the present. I'll take Albert Pujols every single day of the week.

And about the Mays comment I didn't expect him to say he was better but I certainly didn't expect him to sya he wouldn't be able to keep up. And contrary to what you said Mays was actually one of the more cocky stars during his time.