EckSportsLab

University of Illinois research lab where stats meet baseball history. Creators of peer-reviewed era-adjusted WAR. Babe Ruth is not the GOAT. Featured in NYT

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@nut_history Albert Pujols. He's 10th in era-adjusted bWAR.

Lou Gehrig was pretty good too. He's 27th.

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@DSzymborski Cool find!

His era-adjusted numbers are even better!

https://t.co/ARrOSnPdKG

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@notgaetti @baseball_ref @CodifyBaseball @theaceofspaeder @TheWARmonger_ @JessicaDBrand @RealMichaelKay @RealCJ10 @ryanripkenshow @BigLeagueDigest @OleTimeHardball Cool! He also picks up a cool 9 WAR and a few OPS points when you adjust for talent pool:

https://t.co/OU6OSFlxT7

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@PapaD1113 @BBGreatMoments That’s a good one!

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@TheCaseFor Freddie is also 72nd in era-adjusted bWAR through 2025, only one spot behind Joe DiMaggio.

The stat is park, league, and talent pool adjusted.

https://t.co/ARrOSnPdKG

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@oweenis @salinasmario2 That’s a common misconception.

Using WAR to compare across eras makes the assumption that replacement level is the same across time.

Moreover, Tom Tango, one of the developers of the stat, says it is not a cross-era metric

https://t.co/gOthnsvTLO

[Tangotiger 🍁 @tangotiger]

@gwisckque Just to be clear: WAR is not missing any of those things. It has no intention to be a cross-era metric. It simply represents what it represents

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@big_cizzy_ @notgaetti Exactly. And when you take talent pool into account Ohtani is ahead of Ruth in peak value

https://t.co/zRFGtrfutO

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

There has been a lot of discussion about Ohtani vs Ruth since Ohtani has been so dominant in 2026.

This discussion has been wrongheaded!

By era-adjusted WAR, Ohtani clears Ruth handily. So do Mays, Judge, Trout, et al.

https://t.co/FTBQ2q44Lu

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

There has been a lot of discussion about Ohtani vs Ruth since Ohtani has been so dominant in 2026.

This discussion has been wrongheaded!

By era-adjusted WAR, Ohtani clears Ruth handily. So do Mays, Judge, Trout, et al.

https://t.co/FTBQ2q44Lu

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@ayyasauliahakim @notgaetti Add in significant barriers to entry for people with Jewish and Italian ancestry

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@tangotiger Is that a reference to the Ralph Kiner era Pirates?

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@BBGreatMoments I'll nominate Willie Stargell

https://t.co/FncXUW6llZ

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@BaseballWRLD_ Ohtani has already passed Ruth for best season by era-adjusted WAR

https://t.co/EYhLR8FfqD

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@OleTimeHardball Bonds has way higher era-adjusted WAR than Ruth

https://t.co/ARrOSnPdKG

The stat accounts for talent pool changes

[ctarailfan7003 @tallindianman]

Hey everyone, I wrote an article making a hall of fame case for Mariners LEGEND and one of my all-time favorite pitchers Félix Hernández. I'd really appreciate it if you could check it out https://t.co/qjhInl1Rjh

[Cyber Musk @MuskelonRe8264]

Give us 22 minutes & we'll tell you about all going on in MLB. Since there's not much. Our latest episode:
Watch: https://t.co/xbdjQv2rnH
Listen: https://t.co/AcqrxFCHh4
@IBWAA @sabr @threeinningfan @KallmanJeff @JeffCohen41 @writerstevens

[EckSportsLab @deck1388]

@JustinRocke Here's a good substack on that topic: https://t.co/d7t3K06035

[Tangotiger 🍁 @tangotiger]

This is an EXTREMELY detailed, expansive and well thought-out approach. Well done on the whole crew there

I'd have to give it MUCH more thought and analysis to go through what they did. But it definitely deserves a tremendous amount of eyes from the saber community