Historical Era Adjustments

Intermediate 10 min read 1 views Nov 28, 2025

Historical Era Adjustments

Comparing players across eras requires adjusting for vastly different run environments, ballparks, and competition levels.

Key Adjustment Factors

  • League Run Environment: Runs per game varies significantly
  • Park Factors: Some parks inflate stats dramatically
  • Competition: Talent pool and integration factors
  • Equipment/Rules: Dead ball, juiced ball eras

Run Environment by Era

EraR/GAdjustment
Dead Ball (1900-1919)3.8+25%
Live Ball (1920-1941)5.0-5%
Integration (1947-1960)4.4+8%
Expansion (1961-1976)4.0+15%
Steroid Era (1994-2008)5.1-8%
Modern (2009+)4.4Baseline

Key Takeaways

  • Always use era-adjusted stats for comparisons
  • Park factors can swing stats 15-20%
  • OPS+ and ERA+ are already era-adjusted
  • WAR includes era context implicitly

Discussion

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