Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankWakefield
I first thought 'free-swinging' would have referred to the strike out peaks of 60, 50, and 36 in a season....
But I think it refers to his first 3 seasons.
Absent those... he would have hit .300 or higher every season, and have a lifetime batting average pretty close to Rogers Hornsby's. Both would be about the best right handed hitters for average, lifetime.
The Sowell book about his death, is about so much more about the formative years of what we consider baseball... the leagues, the contracts, and all.
Sowell, July 2, 1903. It should be required reading here.
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Hi Frank,
You are on the right track. Two years into his career, Big Ed had matured and started using his mind more so than his brawn. He was mainly a pull-hitter; however, when the opportunity
arose, he would often slice the ball to the opposite field for a Hit. A practice that I wished Ted Williams would have done, which would have resulted in Ted achieving a
.400 career BA.
Calculating Big Ed's BA for his best 13 years results within a Point (or two) of equaling Cobb's .366 BA.
I did the math in a hurry....so, I will go and double-check my numbers.
Thanks for suggesting the Sowell book....I will chek-it-out.
TED Z
T206 Reference
.