[the 'stache]

Typically, a team's best hitter will take the three slot in the lineup.

Sam Crawford was widely considered the best power hitter in baseball. Per The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, which I am currently reading:

Most baseball writers of that period agree that Sam Crawford was the outstanding power hitter of the dead-ball era H.G. Salsinger, eminent Detroit sports writer who covered the Detroit Tigers throughout the era of Cobb and Crawford, recalls that "I have seen right fielders, playing against the fence, catch five fly balls off Crawford's bat in one game, five fly balls that would have cleared the fence any time after the season of 1920, when the jackrabbit ball was introduced."

But, curiously, the recollection of Davy Jones, who played in the outfield alongside Cobb and Crawford between 1906 and 1912, is different, as far as the batting lineup went in Detroit.

I was generally the lead-off man in the batting order, because of my speed. Usually, it was Jones leading off, then Germany Schaefer or Donnie Bush, Sam Crawford batting third, Cobb fourth, Claude Rossman next. the first baseman. and then George Moriarity, the third baseman. Jimmy Delahanty was in there somewhere, and Charlie Schmidt, the big catcher.

Originally Posted by jasonc

I've noticed that predominantly Ty Cobb back in day was inserted batting 3rd in the lineup? I tried to do some research on this, and couldn't understand why?

Was the thinking during the deadball era different? Did you seem to have your "best" hitter batting 3rd in the lineup?

It seems like with the type of player he was, he would've been an absolute stud hitting leadoff in the batting order.

From the research I've done, they seemed to have put Sam Crawford 4th, instead of Cobb then Crawford to be the 1st two batters and would have .250 hitters bat 1st and 2nd.

Just something that made me think.