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Message: [QUOTE="connie, post: 2733174, member: 7882"] And I say that without a single exception in every single sport in which human achievement can be measured against some absolute (such as a stop watch or distance), whether it is the shot put, 400m, marathon, 100M backstroke, high jump, long jum, weightlifting, you name it, over time all athletes (men and women) are better today than they were 50 years ago. They skate faster, jump higher, run quicker, lift more, throw farther. Why wouldn't the same be true of hitting, pitching, fielding in major league baseball? In that event, you've got better pitchers and better fielders, with greater access to information, and with more developed techniques creating greater challenges when competing against better hitters. Under these circumstances, I am confident that while Sisler may be competitive in today's game, perhaps even an All-Star, it is highly doubtful that he would ever hit anywhere near .400, or that he would have anywhere near a .340 lifetime BA. Seriously, Williams, Musial and Gwynn are the only MLB players playing since the 1930s in the top 30 for career BA. And only Williams had a lifetime BA higher than Sisler's .340. Since Williams and Musial retired, there are only 3 other hitters (Gwynn, Boggs Carew) in nearly [I]60 years [/I]who have cracked the top 50 for players with the highest lifetime BA. That isn't because the players of yesteryear had better hand-eye coordination, were smarter, played harder, and didn't swing from the heels. It is because their considerable talents shone more brightly when competing against lesser stars within a smaller constellation. Fun discussion. [/QUOTE]

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