Somewhat OT: The 1894 Season
 

Why was this such an explosive year for offensive statistics? It saw a whopping 5 players hit over .400, and Joe Kelley barely fell short of hitting .400 (hit .393). I looked up to see if there were any strange rule changes for that year and didn't see anything.

For the 1893 season the pitcher's mound (no longer box) was moved back to 60' 6".

Wouldn't that have had a bigger effect on the 1893 season than the 1894 season though? No one hit .400 in 1893. Billy Hamilton led the league with a .380 batting average that season.

Going off topic, but what year did they raise the pitching mound from flat ground to a hill?

Moving the pitcher back caused batting averages to spike 35 pts. in 1893 and another 29 pts. in 1894. You missed the change from 1892 to 1893.

Good question. The best hitting team batted .301 in 1893. The LEAGUE batted .309 the next year. Still, the league avg actually increased more from 1892-1893.
I see Jay beat me to it--much like most m101 auctions. Don't you have some traffic you can go play in? :)

I only beat you by theee minutes--I must be slowing down. 🤔