great analysis, but...
Intuitively I would probably agree that Schmidt outpaces Jones, Boggs, and all other 3bs, but RBI is only one measure of offensive production, not the only one.
Bill James among others have shown that RBI is EXTREMELY context-dependent (on teammates' ability, batting order, runs/game, etc.). My impression is that Jones batted third more than fourth (as Schmidt did), and certainly Boggs batted mostly leadoff. Inevitably 3 batters are gonna get fewer RBI than cleanup hitters....
When all is said and done, wouldn't OPS (adjusted for the era) be a better measure of batting accomplishments overall? Schmidt probably still wins, though.
Tim
Last edited by timn1; 02-18-2014 at 08:03 PM.
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