Comments on: Video: Nelson Cruz has a WTF moment re: Joe DiMaggio

By: The Rabbit

The Rabbit — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:39:05 +0000

Each era really needs to be looked at in its own context. As a retired statistical analyst, the reasons for disparity are always more interesting than data.
Pitchers were utilized much differently. The composition of a typical 1940′s bullpen was not even close to what appears today: No “specialists”, setup men, and closers.
You can’t compare the mid 1940′s to anything else because many of the best players were serving in the WWII military.
In the later era, once segregation ended in baseball with the fewer number of teams than there are today, you would expect to see a different trend in stats….but still different from what you’d see today with the protection of young pitchers, team expansion, ballpark configurations, etc.
The game evolves and the record and stats are relative to its time.

By: holleywood9

holleywood9 — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:27:26 +0000

I wonder if that strike out rate has anything to do with the fact we now let Pedro come overseas to throw 90 mph junk balls.

By: beefytrout

beefytrout — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 16:13:31 +0000

Whew! I was worried we were running short on Rangers to criticize.

By: thefalcon123

thefalcon123 — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:55:35 +0000

In 2012, AL batters strike out 7.3 times per nine innings

In 1940, they struck out 3.9 times per nine innings.

By: hammyofdoom

hammyofdoom — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:53:08 +0000

Hah! I loved the genuine look of shock on his face, almost seemed like a mixture of “Wow! That’s impressive!” and “… I must work harder. Much, much harder”.