If you’ve spent any time perusing statistics on baseball-reference.com, you know how easy it is fall down a rabbit hole and end up someplace you never expected.
The recent inclusion of Negro League statistics to the popular website found me marveling at Satchel Paige’s league-leading 0.72 ERA in 14 starts for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1944, which led me to Jacob deGrom’s amazing 0.54 ERA in his first 11 starts this season for the New York Mets.
Baseball always has been a sport in which comparisons of the greats from different eras are made, whether it’s Babe Ruth versus Mike Trout or Bob Gibson versus deGrom.