| Careful of misplaced nostalgia. In the 2000 NL, when the league ERA was 5.00, 36% of batting title qualifiers hit .300; in the 1930 NL, it was 68%, two-thirds of all full-time hitters. We've always had to put statistics into context if we want to learn anything from them.
Incidentally, run scoring last year was down to about the same level as it was in the late 50's or late 70's, and in the AL it was lower than it was during any year from 1920-1941. Home run rates were pretty identical to the late 50's-early 60's (slightly higher in the AL, lower in the NL). The one thing that seems to have changed irreversibly is strikeout rates; in the NL they fluctuated between 4.92 and 6.01 per game between 1957-1993, but they just hit a new all-time record of 7.37 last year. |
MLB .400 Hitters
MLB 40-HRs by 4-letter players
MLB 10,000 ABs, .300 Avg
