There is no doubt at all in my mind that the old-time ballplayer was smarter than the modern ballplayer. Now the game is all power, lively balls, and shorter fences.
On Ty Cobb: "He was still fighting the Civil War, and as far as he was
concerned we were all damn Yankees. But who knows, if he hadn't had
that terrible persecution complex he never would've been about the best
ballplayer who ever lived."