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Old 01-08-2016, 08:32 AM
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z28jd z28jd is offline
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Default OT: 100 Years Ago Today, Baseball's Best Record

On this date in 1916, the Pittsburgh Press posted results of a poll, which was asked of ten managers of the day. Those managers were Connie Mack, John McGraw, Wilbert Robinson, Clark Griffith, Hugh Jennings, Miller Huggins, Buck "Large Ass" Herzog, Jimmie Callahan, George Stallings and Pat Moran.

They were given six choices and were also able to write in another feat if they desired. The question was simple. What was baseball's best record/feat. The final voting was as follows:

Six chose Old Hoss Radbourn's record of 72 games pitched.
Two voted for Willie Keeler never striking out during the 1896 season with nearly 700 plate appearances.
One voted for Harry Stovey stealing 156 bases in 1888
One voted for Rube Waddell setting a strikeout record with 343 in 1904.
Tip O'Neill batting .492 in 1887 didn't get any votes and neither did George Gibson catching 140 consecutive games in 1909.

The poll has obviously taken a hit over time with better research. Only the Gibson stat is correct now and Radbourn, Waddell and Stovey weren't the record holders at the time. It's a lot of names we talk about here often, so figured it was interesting to share.
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