This morning a posted a graph of BABIP back 100 years. Someone suggested I just look at April BABIP, and I could do that back to 1957. Here are the results:
April BABIP, 1957-2011. Click for a larger version.
Looking at this, 2011 might turn out to be okay in terms of this statistic.
So far in May the major league BABIP is .285. That puts it back to 1980s territory. Combine the low BABIP with a record-high strikeout rate, and the major league OPS has crumbled to .680 in May, typical of second deadball era (1963-72) levels.
Not surprisingly, with the almost lockstep correlation between OPS and run scoring, the majors have averaged 7.6 runs per game in May, almost exactly the same as the 1963-72 average. So far this month we’re getting a very good replica of that era’s baseball.
Except there are a smidge more stolen bases and not nearly as many complete games.
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David, two points:
1. Can you show the “diff” between April and rest-of-season for each year?
2. Can you show the diff between starters and relievers BABIP for each year?
Tangotiger » Yes on 1. Yes on 2 from 1974 on. I have a lot on my plate the next few days, so remind me if you don’t see it by the weekend.