Stephen Jay Gould wrote a chapter in one of his books saying the same thing. He noted that competitive systems start with wide variations in fitness and then move towards a mean. So there is a lower standard deviation of averages now, and thus no more .400 hitters.
It's interesting to note that the steroids era destabilized things, and that's how we got the McGwire/Sosa race. At the time, I had attributed it to excessive expansion. On Tue, May 17, 2011 at 7:25 AM, Dan DiBiase <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't think we'll ever see either one again. With the advent of 1-inning > closers and relief specialists, there is just too > much pitching (although certainly diluted by expansion). In this case, you > can't really go by past history (i.e., other > players hitting .400 prior to Williams). And we seem to be in a > pitching-dominant time period right now (Jose Bautista > excepted). > > Great win last night..... When they were down 6-0, I was pretty frustrated > with the possibility of only spending 1 day at .500 > before dropping down again. But this may be the game that springs them onto > a nice winning streak for a while. No one else > has run away with the division (although Tampa Bay certainly looks like > they could). Time for the Sox to do just that. > > Dan D > Central NJ USA > > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Steve Gendron <[email protected]> > *To:* "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Mon, May 16, 2011 5:33:09 PM > *Subject:* Williams or DiMaggio > > Boy, it sure is quiet in redsoxnation on the morning after a sweep in the > Bronx. It is good to see the boys getting on track. Beckett looks like an > ace again, Gonzalez looks to be worth every penny, Papelbon is focused, > …good stuff. > > > > Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of the start of the historic 56 game > hitting streak by Joe D. The streak happened in the same year that Teddy > Ballgame hit .406. There was a discussion on the air last night about which > accomplishment was greater. All three commentators agreed that the 56 game > streak was the greater of the two. And indeed, DiMaggio was awarded the MVP > in 1941, due in large part to his feat. > > > > I have to take issue with that. It seems to me that a hitting streak has a > lot more to do with luck than anything else. Batting average is a much > better indication of how great a hitter you are. Admittedly, Joe D. had a > great average as well (.357 in 1941), and I think the Yankees won the World > Series that year, so maybe you could make the case that he deserved the > MVP. But was the streak a greater accomplishment? I don’t think so. In my > opinion, it is more likely that we see the 56 game mark broken in our > lifetimes, than to see someone bat .406 again. > > > > What do you think? > > > > Steve G. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > -- Author of Robot Haiku<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1440511977?ie=UTF8&tag=rayspicks&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1440511977> : Poems for humans to read until their robots decide it's kill time. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en.
