Quote:
Originally Posted by uruguru
It's a different problem.
The issues you talk about can be addressed well by using era-adjusted stats. Using OPS+ and ERA+, for example, instead of OPS and ERA.
Low talent level is a more insidious problem to solve because it allows good players to look like great players, and great players to look like all-timers. You can't just look at player-to-player variation because the left side of the curve (the bad players) are constantly replaced throughout the season.
We know the effects of thin talent levels exist but we have no way of understanding how to account for it. Josh Gibson hits 20 homers in 39 games in a league full of minor-league equivalent players and everyone wants to pretend he was Babe Ruth.
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You're right we have no way to account for thin talent levels Babe Ruth played against.