Baseball's split from its past feels more severe than previous shifts, and more observations from Cooperstown

Boston Globe

5 days ago

All that said, the current version of this universal push-pull is truly different. In the summer of 2025, baseball is largely unrecognizable to old-time greats and, even worse, today's Hall of Famers increasingly feel estranged from the people who run the game. Analytics and new methods of teaching have removed the endearing layer of tutelage that's always connected the sport.
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Through the decades, young players sought help from the all-timers. Twenty-year-old Ted Williams thought he could learn from Cobb and Rogers Hornsby. Yaz thought he could learn from Ted. Jim Rice thought he could learn from Yaz.
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In 2025, few players are encouraged to learn from those who came before.
'We're all Mr. Irrelevent now,' said
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Baseball owners and front offices have
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There were
But in casual chats with dozens over the weekend, I kept hearing about new distance they feel from the game they mastered. Without even asking.
When I came upon 79-year-old Rod Carew in the lobby of the Otesaga, he had one question for myself and two other veteran scribes.
'What do you think of the baseball that is being played today?'
We delivered our answers to the man who hit .388 in 1977. (Bet his exit velocity was pathetic.) Too many strikeouts, too many pitchers trying to throw 100, pitchers throwing instead of pitching, no bunting, difficulty advancing runners from second to third, few batters changing their approach with two strikes, and few young players tapping into the minds of older stars who used to be pretty darned good.
The conversation reminded me of
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'I was minding my own business, having a cup of coffee, and a young kid came out of the cage and asked about loading and his front foot,' Rice recalled Saturday as he stood under statues of Babe Ruth and Ted Williams in the plaque gallery. 'I didn't know him. He was a catcher. I talked to him about loading up and how to hit line drives and, while we were talking, one of the instructors came over and said 'That's not how we teach it.' I said, 'Did you play?' He said he played Division 1 college . . . OK.
'Here's the thing. These instructors want them to hit everything in the air. I tried to hit line drives. I think line drives are the way to go. The ball doesn't need to go 500 feet to get over the fence. If you hit a two-run homer and it goes 500 feet, you don't get extra runs for the extra 100 feet.'
Eddie Murray hit 504 home runs over a 21-year career, and received MVP votes in eight straight seasons with the Orioles after he won Rookie of the Year in 1977.
Seth Wenig/Associated Press
While Rice and I were talking, Hall of Famers Eddie Murray and Barry Larkin, plus two-time All-Star Eric Davis joined the conversation. All great hitters, they echoed the sentiments and experiences. They said they are not encouraged by their old teams to work with young talent.
'I try to talk to young hitters about all the motion they have, loading up at the plate to swing for the fence,' said Murray. 'I think a lot of that exposes them because they have more trouble getting out of the way on the ball thrown up and in, but they don't want to listen.'
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It was largely the same when I spoke with Cal Ripken Jr. and
'I used to get asked if I could have more walks than strikeouts. Nobody does that now,' said Griffey. 'I was at least able to get more hits than strikeouts. Now I see good teams where the top three or four guys in the lineup all have more strikeouts than hits.'
Indeed. Of the nine players in Boston's starting lineup for
'And let's talk about those cards inside their hats that tell them where to play guys,' he added. 'We didn't need that. We watched the games. We knew where to play guys.'
Ken Griffey Jr. was in Cooperstown over the weekend after he attended All-Star festivities in his new capacity as a photographer.
Carson Ming/Getty
'I saw a team positioning players more to the pull side on 0-2 counts,' said Larkin. 'I said, 'Why would you do that? That's moving them in the wrong direction.' And I was told, 'No, we expect guys to try to pull even more with 0-2 counts.' It's just crazy what they're teaching.'
'I don't watch any baseball anymore,' said Kaat. 'Last night at the Phillies party, I was sitting with Larry Bowa, Mike Schmidt, and Ted Simmons, and everyone was saying the same thing. It's the same with my morning coffee buddy, George Brett. It's almost sickening. I have yet to find one former player who thinks the game is great today. There's such a divide.
'I was talking with Tony Oliva and he said that Twins hitters are looking at a [tablet] after every swing they take. It's the same with pitchers. I think we could teach them how to pitch and control their fastball, but nobody asks. I had a nice conversation with
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'It's over for us,' said Kaat. 'The old-school GMs who knew baseball are gone. The scouts are gone. Ownership has decided this is the way they want to go. We've all become
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Cooperstown-area hotels have concerns that other hotels needn't prioritize in block letters.
Dan Shaughnessy/Globe Staff
⋅ You know your hotel is in Cooperstown when the stenciling on the indoor pool door reads, 'No food, drinks, bats, or balls allowed in pool area.'
⋅ Sunday's induction was delayed for about an hour by rain. Dave Parker's son, who looks exactly like his dad (who
'They told me he was too expensive for a singles hitter and I said, 'Yes, but it's a lot of singles,' ' recalled Valentine. 'I told them he was one of the five best players in the world.'
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I asked Valentine if he's the best athlete in the history of Stamford, Conn.
'No,' he said. 'That would be [former New York Football Giant] Andy Robustelli.'
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Here's Valentine on
⋅ Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred stumbled briefly while giving a speech at Ichiro's Hall party on Saturday night. When the commish stated that Ichiro never played for Japan in the World Baseball Classic, Ichiro said, 'Yes, I did!'
A chagrinned Manfred made things worse by blaming the mistake on Wikipedia.
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⋅ Albert Pujols, who should be enshrined in the summer of 2028, made his first trip to Cooperstown,
⋅ Ryne Sandberg, the great Cub second baseman, was unable to attend because of a relapse of prostate cancer. Wade Boggs, who was enshrined the same summer as Sandberg and recently
'I think about Ryno every day,' said Boggs. 'It can be overwhelming. I was able to ring that bell, but he hasn't been so lucky.'
Boggs and other Hall of Famers have recently been victims of AI social media scams in which they are rumored to be near death from illness. Boggs's family was alarmed by such a report last week, and his wife, Debbie, fielded a call from a television network asking for comment.
Sandy Koufax, whose 90th birthday is Dec. 30, made it to the stage on Sunday.
Jim McIsaac/Getty
⋅ Carew,
⋅ John Smoltz played golf in Cooperstown on Friday, flew back to Boston to broadcast
⋅ Kaat was on Boston's north shore a couple of weeks ago and played golf with Ray Bourque, Mike Andrews, and Dwight Evans.
⋅ No
Rollie Fingers attended a 33rd consecutive induction.
Receiving plaques on Sunday were, from left, Billy Wagner, Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Willa Allen (widow of late inductee Dick Allen), and Dave Parker II (son of late inductee Dave Parker).
Seth Wenig/Associated Press
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at