My thanks to Jay M and Ted Z for mentioning Sam Thompson whenever the stalwarts of the 19th century are discussed. Sam got a late start (age 25) before he played professionally, and his total stats (except for RBI and HR) do not stand out. The first Veterans Committee, charged in 1945 with selecting deserving 19th century players, passed him over.
yet, consider the following stats compiled by Roy Kerr, author of the book, "Big Sam Thompson, Baseball's Greatest Clutch Hitter."
1. He was the first man to gain the 200 hit plateau in a season (in only 127 games) and would twice repeat this feat.
2. His RBI per-game ratio, 0.093 is he highest of any man who ever played the game. (although he is a virtual tie with Greenberg and Gehrig)
3. His RBI+Runs Scored per-game ratio is by far the highest of any man who ever played the game.
4. Thompson's 126 career home runs rank second among hitters of his era, and many of his four baggers can vie with those hit by his contemporary, Dan Brouthers, for the title of the longest hit in the 19th century.
5. On the base paths ... he ran well and aggressively, averaging 25 steals per season from 1889 to 1895.
6. ... he compiled the highest fielding average of any outfielder who played 1000 games and whose career concluded before the 20th century.
7. His 283 outfield assists rank twelfth all time, and among all outfielders who played more than 1000 games, his assist-per-game ratio (1/4.9 games) is the highest in history.
8. Thompson, in 1895 either became the first of four men to record three outfielder-to-catcher assists in a game, or the only man ever to record four in a game.
I am a mathematical statistician by profession and understand that statistics can be cherry-picked to deceive and confuse, but ...
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