Baseball, it seems, is always trying to take records away from Ferdie Schupp.
It was with great fanfare that Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs was reported to have set a record when he compiled a 0.75 E.R.A. in the second half of the season, from July 19 onward. By the modern definition, in which “second half” means after the All-Star break, that is truly a record. But in 1916, there was no All-Star break, and Schupp’s 0.71 E.R.A. after July 16 was better than Arrieta’s.
It was not the first time Schupp’s remarkable 1916 season for the New York Giants had been pushed aside by modernity.