MLB's outliers, part II

[@ryanthompsonthompson820]

Part 3 please.

[@michaelinminn]

Take out the druggies and you are left with Ruth, Yost, and who else?? Thanks for bringing up Cal and Ozzie in the same post!

[@big8dog887]

It may not be in our lifetimes, but the Cubs record drought will definitely be broken. (No, I'm not talking about the end of the human race when baseball will no longer be played.) There are 30 teams, if everyone took turns winning, you expect a drought of 29 years. In the next 120 years, each team expects to win 4 times. That's not going to happen. The Yankees aren't going to win another 27 championships (itself an outlier which should be mentioned), but it's not unreasonable to expect, say, ten. That takes 6 championships away from other teams. If other good franchises with money or good organization or both win, say 7 or 8, it's not at all impossible to imagine less fortunate franchises skipping 3 or more cycles.

[@thebaseballprofessor]

Sharp and insightful comment as always. Sixteen major league teams in 1955. Thirty teams today. And the teams possess the same sabermetric knowledge. Player draft. MLB is more competitive than the 1950s, but it's destined to produce long-term losers in the current environment.

[@corgibuttes]

only 1638 more for dusty baker to go

[@peachykeen3194]

3:00 and where is your proof that he wasn't juicing back then too?

[@thebaseballprofessor]

The visible proof would be his body size. Bonds got much bigger after 1999. Notably, he had the best performance of his entire career in 2004 at the age of 39. It's possible he juiced to some degree before 1999, but if he did it was of a different sort.

[@peachykeen3194]

@@thebaseballprofessor Juicing of any sort is still juicing. Steroids don't have to dramatically alter one's physical appearance, guys like Dee Strange-Gordon and Ryan Braun both used steroids while maintaining their normal slim physiques. My point is that just because he didn't look like he was juicing as much back then as later in his career doesn't mean that he wasn't. At the end of the day, the only person who will know for sure is Bonds himself, and the fact that we know he used steroids at all throws his entire career into question, not just the years when his neck was as thick as a telephone pole. Assuming otherwise is giving the benefit of the doubt to someone who has given no reason to deserve it.

[@thebaseballprofessor]

@@peachykeen3194 I acknowledge your point completely. Game of Shadows (2006), the book about Bonds' use of steroids suggests it started in 1999 and not before, but as you write, who knows. Not all steroids increase bulk. Super lean spriters and cyclists have been juicing for decades, taking oxygen treatments before races, etc.

[@corgibuttes]

@@thebaseballprofessor Correct me if I'm wrong, but didnt Game of Shadows allege he began using Winstrol in 1998?

[@thebaseballprofessor]

@@corgibuttes I'd have to go back and check, but as I remember the book alleges he started using an array of steroids in 1999 due to the McGwire/Sosa homerun race.

[@TheBatugan77]

36 triples (Chief Wilson). The second highest total is 26. I think Joe Jackson is second.

[@thebaseballprofessor]

At some point I want to do a video on triples. Everybody who managed the feat of hitting 25 or more in a single season did so before 1915. Curtis Granderson had 23 triples in 2007. No one has come close to that mark since 1949!