Quote:
Originally Posted by PhillyFan1883
This past February, I posted a thread regarding "Big Ed" in which I made the case for Delehanty most likely would have
exceeded Cobb's lifetime BA (.366)....if Delahanty had not had an untimely death. Check it out......
I will check this out Ted thank you. Looking forward to it. I agree it is possible he could have eclipsed Cobb. Did you account for foul balls becoming strikes around the turn of the century in 1901 ? in 02,and 03 it did not seem to bother him much-- which helps his case..
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Hi Connor
Ed Delahanty was a 20 year old rookie in 1888 when he joined the Philadelphia Phillies. His first 5 years he averaged only .270 BA.
Then in 1893, he hit for a .368 BA. For the following 10 years of his career, Big Ed consistently hit well above .300 (including .400+
in 3 of the 11 seasons). If you calculate his Batting Average for these 11 years (1893 - 1903), it is an amazing
.373
It is very unusual for a batter's Batting Average to increase as his age increases. Off the top of my head, the only major ballplayers
that I can think of that have increased their BATTING STATS as they have aged are Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Ed Delahanty. I'm
sure there are more (if I take the time to do some research).
TED Z
T206 Reference
.