Token starts??? Really? Never heard that before.
Interesting.
Makes good info for debate about baseball records.
I’ve been in discussions about comparing records such as home run records.
For example, some minimize Babe Ruth’s 714 homers, because he played all day games, and starting pitchers had far more complete games in his day. Babe didn’t face the parade of relievers batters today face. Babe didn’t have to cope with fatigue of coast to coast travel .
Others talk of how Barry Bonds alleged use of steroids gave him an advantage, while others say steroids won’t help you hit a baseball, won’t help with the hand eye coordination needed to hit.
Others argue that Koufax in his prime was the greatest pitcher ever, while others argue that his lifetime stats aren’t very good because his career was far shorter than most. He retired at age 30.
Some say Ted Williams would have been the all time home run champ, if he hadn’t lost a number of years to military service. And they wonder what his numbers would have been if he played in Yankee stadium rather than having to cope with the deep right field in Fenway Park.
These discussions are part of the fun of baseball.
Starting a game and coming out of the lineup after an out is nothing but padding your stats. Ripken did it and so did Steve Garvey.