1950 was one of those rare occasions when the baseball writers actually picked the most valuable player on a team rather than the most productive person. By that standard, the obvious choice would have been Ralph Kiner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who knocked out 47 home runs and nearly 120 RBI.

By the beginning of the 1930 Major League Baseball season, George Herman Ruth—better known by…

“Baseball statistics are like a girl in a bikini. They show a lot, but not everything.” Former player Toby Harrah had this to say about baseball. More so than any other sport, baseball is about numbers.