Comments on: Speedster Billy Hamilton an unlikely callup for Reds

By: Roger Moore

Roger Moore — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:43:15 +0000

Well, you can think of the 1890′s as being kind of like the 1990′s, except more so. The mound was moved back 5 feet in 1893, and the batters went wild. 1894 was the highest scoring season in NL history, with teams averaging over 7 runs a game and the whole league (including pitchers) averaging .309/.379/.435. When Hamilton hit .402 in 1894, that was only good for 4th best on his team, and wasn’t even within shouting distance of the league leader, Hugh Duffy, who hit .440.

That’s not to say Hamilton wasn’t a great player- he has a ton of black ink, and it’s in important categories like runs and on base percentage- but you have to understand the context. He spent the prime of his career in an era with eye-popping scoring, and you really can’t naively compare them to anything you’re familiar with. If you use Baseball-Reference’s neutralized batting stats and move him to the 2000 Rockies, his rate stats barely move (though his totals go up because the seasons were shorter when he played).

By: Roger Moore

Roger Moore — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 22:58:33 +0000

It’s not just the speed. His OBP is almost .100 higher than his BA, which shows he knows his way around the strike zone. Sure, he’s not going to keep the .418 OBA in the show, but he’s probably capable of being an above average on base hitter today.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:23:45 +0000

That would be the Catcher. Who will not be stealing for at least a couple of days as a result of yesterday’s collision. Which was (once again)…a clean baseball play.

By: natslady

natslady — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 21:02:57 +0000

Who’s the slowest player on your team, st. louis? You can look forward to him stealing all weekend, maybe that will console you…

By: Tim OShenko

Tim OShenko — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:56:51 +0000

Wow, his numbers really dropped off in ’92. Only 57 stolen bases in 139 games?

By: b7p19

b7p19 — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:50:13 +0000

Never really looked at Sliding Billy’s stats that closely before. I mean REALLY? .521 OBP in 702 PA’s? Holy Crap!

By: theawesomersfranchise

theawesomersfranchise — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:41:53 +0000

Anyone else excited about the Arizona fall league starting soon?

By: thefalcon123

thefalcon123 — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:40:17 +0000

I know for years everyone vastly overvalued stolen bases and vastly undervalued the impact of caught stealing. But I still miss the constant running.

Over/Under that he matches the career stolen base total of his namesake?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hamilbi01.shtml

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:20:41 +0000

Too bad. I was looking forward to seeing him run the bases. Who knows…he still may be called up.
I certainly wouldn’t expect Walt to divulge that right now anyway.