Same As It Ever Was

An editorial from The Sporting News:

[T]he lazy ballplayer is one of the reasons the game is falling back in popular esteem today. Take the National League for instance: it does not have near the number of smart ballplayers it did ten or 15 years ago. The youngsters of the present do not seem to study the game or apply themselves like they did years ago. The crop coming up from the minors, in consequence, is inferior. There are players in the league today who could not have held jobs years ago. Nowadays, the young [player] ... tries to hide his weakness and he does not court criticism.

Dated: December 6, 1917