PCL Pinch Hitting in 1903

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One of the things that I had always wondered about, but never wanted to spend the time doing much about, was early pinch hitting. With an upgraed of the stat-compiling software I use, StatTrak 10.0, I was able to tease out the pinch hitting stats for the 1903 PCL season.

I would say 95%+ of the pinch hitting that season was done in the last inning of a game, and the pinch hitter batted for the pitcher. Roster were small, and so a manager's options were limited.

What is amazing, though, is the numbers: Pinch hitters compiled a .307 batting average in a season where the final batting average for all players was .260. Of course, pitchers hitting for themselves brought that average down, but still the gap would be large. And an enormous edge over the pitchers.