Comparing Prewar Statistics with Postwar Ones...Help me out

[mintacular]

Not looking to repeat a thread I started about most overrated pre-war players specifically but instead wanted to learn about how to better analyze/crunch statistics of pre-war era vs. post-war players.

I've been reading the T206 Players book and am trying to figure out which of those "great" feats would hold water in today's context, or, to the contrary which ones are even more remarkable considering the evolution of modern baseball

To me (again as newbie) the wins category some of these starting pitchers racked up (40 wins+ ) is an obvious one and these #'s should be taken with a grain of salt as the starting rotation and lack of bullpen are two major factors that impact the win total. For example, how great was Cy Young or is fame and totals more a result of his ability to chug alot? (Perhaps the Cy Young reference should be its own thread )

The other assumption that I have is to add an asterisk to some of the numbers as these great prewar players and teams were facing terrible oppenents whereas the current day MLB has much great parity/competition (The Pittsburgh Pirates notwithstanding)

So I guess as a newbie please chime in and tell me which great records of that time era should still be held in the highest esteem and which ones are diminished due to changes the game has endured over the years. Thanks!

[fkw]

One that I always remember....

Hall of Fame pitcher Ed Walsh in 1910....
Led the league with a 1.27 ERA and a crazy .82 WHIP, but also led the league with 20 Loses

18-20 overall

35 unearned runs may have something to do with it...

Deadball No Hit Wonders is right

[leftygrove10]

I saw a book about 6 or 7 years ago where I guy corrected all of the statistics (may have just been pitchers, but I can't remember for sure) for players that played in the past so that he could compare them to today's players. He corrected for the number of games in a season, the number of starters in the rotations, etc, etc. He may have down batters as well, but I can't remember. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the book but I think it was written around 2004.