Today’s Baseball Stars Are Bigger, Faster--but Are They Any Better?

Few dispute today’s baseball stars are bigger, faster and stronger than their counterparts of the 1950-70 era.

But are they better?

Some Hall of Famers, pointing to seven-figure contracts with incentive clauses covering everything from walks to waistline, say the modern game can’t compete with their golden age.

“I’ve been on the major-league level for 30 years,” says former Dodger right-hander Don Drysdale, “and today’s players may be big and strong but I’ve never seen so many injuries. I know one thing for sure--they’re not any better than we were. They don’t know the game as well, but nowadays they don’t have to. The era of the ‘50s and ‘60s may never be equaled for talent. I don’t know how good the players were before that period, but I know it’s not like that today.”

Only one player in the majors (Darrell Evans) hit more than 37 homers last year--a bad year for Hank Aaron and Willie Mays in their prime. Only one pitcher (Bert Blyleven) had more than 16 complete games; Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal used to reach that figure by the All-Star Game.

“You used to know that if you didn’t win 20 games, you were gonna get a cut the next year,” says Marichal, a six-time 20-game winner. “Now you can have a lousy year and get a raise. Today you hit .260 or .270 and sign a big contract. I think you have the same caliber of players today, but if you sign a $1 million contract I don’t think you’re gonna play as hard.”

Harmon Killebrew, who had eight seasons with at least 40 homers, says big money is taking some joy out of the game.

“I’m all for the present-day athlete . . . they’re better trained and physically more talented,” Killebrew says. “But it seems to me players used to have more fun playing. In today’s era, everyone knows what everyone else is making and that creates problems.”

Warren Spahn has seen quite enough of what he terms today’s pampered stars.

“I’m not so sure the ballplayers around now are better than we were,” he says. “The thing missing from today’s players is pride, simple pride.”

Bob Feller, the Dwight Gooden of his day, offers a tangible explanation for today’s paucity of 20-game winners.

“I think the top players now--guys like George Brett and Dale Murphy--would be equal to the top players of my time,” says Feller, “but the cycle right now is there aren’t too many great arms. That’s because fathers aren’t giving their boys enough time to develop as pitchers. You’ve got to work with your kids and encourage them to improve their pitching techniques.”

Perhaps the most vociferous critic of the modern-day ballplayer is Al Kaline, who cites a lack of dedication.

“Players today in my opinion don’t want to pay the price to be good,” Kaline says. “The very top ones have the pride, but generally I don’t believe today’s players have the good of baseball at heart. They’re not looking 10 or 15 years down the line to visualize what baseball will be like.”