Why Are MLB Averages Lower?

June 18, 1965 - Brooks Robinson leaned on his 33-ounce bat and his .313 batting average the other day and field a question, which is a pretty good trick, even for the MVP in the American League. Why are the batting averages in the majors 50 to 100 points lower than a generation ago?

“Playing baseball is more difficult these days,” he replied. “Jet flying and night games and all. But the real reasons, I think, are better equipment and better defense. The gloves are much bigger than they used to be, so more hits are being stopped.”

Rogers Hornsby was baseball’s top hitter in 1928 at .387. Last year, the American League produced just six .300 hitters, none higher than Tony Oliva at .323.

“Most bats today weigh 32 or 33 ounces,” Robinson said. “More guys are trying for home runs. You know, home runs mean more money. I switched to a really light bat two years ago, 31 ounces, but it didn’t work. Now, I’m back to 33. Do I try for home runs? Every time. But I don’t get them.”He was grinning. He got 28 last year.

Whitey Ford, in the Yankees’ clubhouse, said: “Better equipment and better scouting. In the old days, Eddie Lopat and I used to talk over the other team’s hitters. But now, we have regular meetings and go over the hitters carefully. Each hitter is recorded on a card, and his performance against each Yankee pitcher is marked by different colored pencils. So, we know how to pitch to a guy better and where to play him.”

“In the old days,” said Casey Stengel recently, “you could hit .370 and still not be near the top. In 1922, I hit .368, and you’d have thought that’d win something. But on the last day of the season, I looked up, and Hornsby finished with .401.”

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