dxmnkd316
Lucia Apologist
Re: 2017 MLB Season - The Goat Memorial Thread
Agreed. Classic correlation/causation confusion (over a caucasian). They dipped but we have no idea what caused it. Kepler is right in that we would need to do an analysis of many players to make assertions like integration made white people suck.
And if you look at the major stat classes for WIlliams over his career, they didn't really dip. Most stayed relatively the same within his career bounds outside of his last three years when he was pushing 40.
Agreed. Classic correlation/causation confusion (over a caucasian). They dipped but we have no idea what caused it. Kepler is right in that we would need to do an analysis of many players to make assertions like integration made white people suck.
And if you look at the major stat classes for WIlliams over his career, they didn't really dip. Most stayed relatively the same within his career bounds outside of his last three years when he was pushing 40.
For very top level players, the numbers probably changed a lot less than most players, because how many players - any race - can bump Ted Williams down from anything? The talent level getting higher is a big reason - besides overt racism - that many players did not want integration. They were afraid they'd lose their jobs, because frankly, they weren't that great at their jobs when compared to a broader set of talent. I can't imagine it can be statistically proven, because you'd have to quantify what was missing, pre-integration, and compare it to post-integration to allow for the differences, and quantifying the talent in the Negro Leagues is an age old problem. Whether it's willful ignorance, bad record keeping, or aging - it's hard for people to imagine what MLB would have been like if it was integrated, and it's certainly not quantifiable in any way I can imagine. Common sense, with a little knowledge about the Negro League, stands that the lower level or even average players in MLB would have been bumped out of the league by average or high level Negro League talent, thus raising the bar.
