The Early Coast League Statistical Record, 1903—1957

As Reviewed by Bob McConnell

Bob McConnell wrote this review of my book some time ago, and submitted it to the Minor League Committee, by the chair, for some reason, chose not to publish it, so I am posting it here with a sample page.

The Early Coast League Statistical Record, 1903—1957
by Carlos Bauer

310 pages, published by Baseball Press Books, San Diego, CA

As the title of the book indicates, it covers statistics of the Pacific Coast League from 1903 thru 1957. The complexion of the league changed in 1958 due to the invasion of the major leagues into the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas, thus the 1957 cutoff date. In the introduction Bauer states that he intends to publish a second volume covering the post-1957 period at a future date.

The main feature of the book consists of year-by-year stats as follows:

A. League standings with club managers and Win-Loss records

B. Batting stats (Position, G, AB, R, H, 2B, 3B, BR, RBI, SO, BB, SB, Avg) by club. Only pitchers with 100+ AR are included. RBI, SO and RB not included for early years.

C. Pitching stats (G, GS, CG, ShO, Sv, W, L, Pct, IP, H, R, ER, SO, BB, ERA) by club. ER and ERA are calculated for the early years, using a method explained in the introduction.

D. Batting stats for players with two or more clubs.

E. Pitching stats for pitchers with two or more clubs.

F. Listing of all managers.

Standings for several seasons have been revised from those published originally in guides as a result of extensive research.

Stats are included for LESS THAN players whose stats were not included in the averages published in the guides.

Additional features:

A. Introduction by Chuck Stevens who played in the PCL for many years.

B. Introduction by Roger Osenbaugh who pitched in the PCL for many years.

C. Introduction by author detailing his methodology of compiling the statistics contained in the book.

D. Year-by-year list of league presidents and secretaries.

E. League playoff results.

F. Year-by-year league leaders in all batting and pitching categories.

G. Evolution of league batting and pitching records (player who established record in 1903 and each player who established new record thru the years)

H. Year-by-year club attendance starting with the 1919 season. Table includes the names of the ballparks each year.