Yes but don't you agree that guys like Ruth and Ted William's stats look that much more impressive these days? They couldn't have been on anything but booze and hookers.
No, because teams didn't utilize the bullpen the way they do in the modern era. In those days, if a pitcher didn't "have it" on a particular outing, they still pitched the game. Williams and Ruth got to face them 4-5 times that day. Today, the face a variety of specialists who have been training for it since they were 8.
That's one of the main reasons outside a ton of other variables why I don't think we can accurately compare the eras. One way would be to measure the variance of a player's numbers to the league mean at the time and do that for each era, but, even then what's the point. I think Ruth and Williams were incredible, but I don't find it any more impressive than what the elite of the sport do today.