Fritz Maisel
Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:58 pmBy the way, in later years it was commonly reported that Maisel had set a Major League record with those 74 steals, but this was simply an error that somehow became popular, as Collins, Cobb, and Clyde Milan had all topped 74 steals in a season before Maisel reached that figure.
This is one of the things that drives me crazy about the dead ball era and 1800s players. Most of the record books when I grew up pretty much ignored many of those early seasons. Records were often expressed in terms of "modern baseball". Here we see 74 steals as being considered possibly a record. I grew up believing Maury Wills held the record at 104. Was amazed when Lou Brock broke it with his 118. And later Henderson blew that away with 130.
Just an aside, why don't we have that Wills season in our set? How can I have never requested it during any polls or threads on the subject. A little embarrassed at that with my love of the stolen base. But I digress.
Grew up being told Rogers Hornsby held the BA record with .424.
With Strat's inclusion of so many from the 1800s removes that "modern day" limitation. All of that has to be re-examined. Keeler topped Hornsby by .0005 in 1897. Lajoie .427 in 1901, and our Hugh Duffy topping them all with .440 in 1894. And if you include those years now being added to ATG even Henderson's 130 SB is not a record. That would belong to Hugh Nicol at 138 in 1887.
By the way, is the cutoff of 1900 as the beginning of the modern era simply a convenient cutoff point being the turn of the century? Or are there other reasons for that cutoff instead of say 1899 or 19012?