Career stats adjusted for military service

[the 'stache]

I've often looked at some of the greats of the game who lost playing time to military service, and wondered what their numbers would have looked like had their careers not been interrupted. Last night, I selected four Hall of Fame players to examine: Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg and Joe DiMaggio. Using their career numbers, obtained from Baseball Reference, and a spreadsheet I designed in Microsoft Excel, I set out to forecast their career numbers based on their averages immediately before and after their military service.

Of the four players, I must admit that Ted Williams intrigued me the most. He's considered by many (myself included) the best pure hitter to ever play the game. He combined a spectacular natural ability with a tireless work ethic. He studied opposing pitchers, and memorized what they threw in different situations. He took a scientific approach to the art of hitting, perfecting his swing, making sure that his bats were made to his exact specifications. Williams served his country twice, in World War II, and as a naval aviator for the Marines in the Korean War (where he saw combat). I used the two seasons immediately before and after each tour to approximate what his numbers would have been in the time he missed. Of course, there is no way of knowing what he would have done. He could have easily outperformed these numbers. Or, he could have gotten hurt. And there's no telling how long he would have played if he'd not been called to active duty. He might have stopped playing well before 1960. This model assumes constant production.



The next player I examined was Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio missed 3 full seasons in the prime of his career, between ages 28 and 30. However, the two seasons immediately before and after his service do not come close to meeting his career peaks in performance. It's easy to assume that the numbers he'd have produced for these three years would have been better than the ones I've added. But the baseline increase to his career figures are still quite impressive.



Hank Greenberg was one of the greatest power hitters of his generation. He lost four and a half years of his career, and like DiMaggio, those seasons were in his prime. Greenberg is one of the greatest run producers in the game's history, driving in 1,276 runs in only 1,394 games, meaning he drove in a run in 91% of the games he played. With the addition of these games he missed to military service, he surely would have made the 500 home run club.



Finally, we have Bob Feller, the first Major League baseball player who signed up for military service after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Feller is one of the greatest power pitchers to ever play the game, making his Major League debut as a fireballing 17 year old in 1936. His military service cost Feller 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts. While he made the Hall of Fame, there's no doubt that his career numbers would have put him with the greatest pitchers of all time if he'd had those nearly four years in his prime. His military service interrupted a run of five consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins. He averaged 24.4 wins a season.



There are certainly other players who have lost time to military service. Willie Mays, who was a rookie in 1951, lost more than 250 games to military service. It's quite possible that he would have hit 700 home runs, and driven in over 2,000 runs.

What other players can you think of that had their career numbers diminished by their military service?