A new service for baseball scholars has recently become available, it is called Retrosheet. It allows statistical breakdowns that were never possible before. Unfortunately for Browns historians, Retrosheet only goes back to 1919, cutting off one-third of Browns history. However, some interesting statistics can be drawn out.
For example:
When the great Babe Ruth played, which player did he face on the opposite team the most games (Think of great contemporary rivalries like Aaron-Mays, Musial-Snider, etc.). Of the Babe’s top ten rivals, half were Browns.
Here are Ruth's most frequent opponents from 1919 on:
1. Sam Rice (286)
2. Joe Judge (247)
3. Goose Goslin (246)
4. Jimmy Dykes (243)
5. Willie Kamm (232)
6. Marty McManus (224)
7. Heinie Manush (220)
8. Bing Miller (217)
9. Harry Heilmann (212)
10. Lu Blue (209)
(Browns are in bold)
In case you are wondering where George Sisler is, Sisler faced Ruth in 151 games from 1919 on. The Holy Grail for Browns fans would be to find out if any one of Sisler's 24 pitching appearances was against Ruth, as a pitcher. Since there were about 7 daily newspapers in St Louis and 10 in Boston in 1915, there are enough accounts to piece together to make a box score, it would seem. Plus Sporting News.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR A VOLUNTEER RESEARCHER TO RESEARCH THIS. SABR membership, a plus, for access to the right databases. ANY TAKERS?.
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