Sport: Baseball's Declining Art

There hasn't been a .400 hitter in baseball since 1941. And there aren't even many .300 hitters any more—only ten last year (five in each league), compared with 28 in 1950. How come? Last week in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, the St. Louis Cardinals' Stan Musial, 40, who owns a .335 lifetime average and is getting ready to start his 21st season, put down some of the reasons:

¶ "The shape of the bat has changed because everyone swings for the fences. Used to be bats had thick handles and a big barrel. Then they...

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