Sat May 09, 2020 7:47 pm
Thought I would do a little research and see whether cutting off hitters pre-1901 is warranted...
Cap Anson 1871-1894 5 seasons .371 or higher.
1872 .415
1873. .398
1881 .399
1886. .371
1894. .388
Napster. .
1901. .426
1904. .376
1910. .383
1911. .365
1912. .368
Willie Keeler
1897. 425
1898. .398
1902. .333
1903. .313
1904. .342
Honus Wagner
1899-1911 hit betwen .334 and .363 (except for one year he was .381 (1900) another he was .320 (1900)
Pete Browning
1881 .378
1885 .362
1887 .402
1888-1892 three seasons under .300 but a .373 season a .342 season in 1893.
Top 10
1870s. 8 seasons of a batter hitting .400 or more, Ross Barnes had 4 of them. 3 batting titles 1871-1876, second and three two other times. He was the league's dominant hitter.
1887 7 hitters .357 or better with O'Neil at .435 and Browning at .402.
1888 Cap Anson wins with .343 with number ten being .304
1889-1890 rebound years top ten ranging from .326 to .373 in 1889 and .339 to .373 in 1890
1891 top 10 .309 to .349
1892 .297 to .335
1893 .338 to .380
1894 5 players over .400. Remaining 5 .392, 383, .387., .376, 371.
1895 2 .400 hitters, top ten from .368 to .405
1896 two .400 hitters. top ten from .355 to .409
1897 1 .400 hitter, top ten from .353 to .423
1898 top .327 to .385
1899 1 .400 hitter, top ten .340 to .409
1900 .322 to .381
1901 .335 to .406 (1 .400)
1902. .329 to .377
1903 .330 to .355
1903-1908 only three players hit over .360 total
It does not appear that even with the rule changes that hitters from early eras could not still be good in later onrs. Cap Anson was great in 1872...but could still hit in 1893 with massive rule changes. A good hitter is still a good hitter...
However, it is pretty clear thst rules changes had a significant effect and skewed certain years. In 1887 rules changes appeared to favor the pitcher as the batter could no longer call for high or low pitches However, for that year only walks were counted as hits and that calls into question the stats for that year and we get a .435 year from O'Neil and .402 year from Browning. Then in 1889 4 balls became a walk and hitting rebounded after a slow 1888. But apparently pitchers adjusted and not having to throw balls where the pitchers wanted offense plummeted in 1891-1892. Then, apparently (I do not know but it is a reasonable inference) the pitching mound was moved back from 50 feet to 60 feet six inches to increase offense. And offense pretty much exploded until 1903 when a foul ball became a strike.
1887 stats seem questionable to me. There are two .400 cards from that year. And there are four .400 cards from 1894, the year after they moved the mound back. I would get rid of all the cards for those years (just use more representative cards for those players because they were great hitters). I would get rid of Nap's, Delahanty's, and Keeler's .400 years. Any pre-1903 years. Just use years that are more realistic. Once you get rid of those outlier cards then making them part of the entire default set makes more sense to me.
Anyway, no one cares about my opinion on this--owners love these cards BECAUSE they are outliers--but the facts are interesting at any rate.