I live in Indianapolis, a child of the 1970s. Played Little League Baseball, but drifted away from the game in High School. I am a numbers geek and they brought me back to the game. Once back, the history got me. I started working with the numbers and rating players. At that point, I realized that the most respected historians alive (like Bill James) have Starting Pitchers like George Uhle rated higher than Smoky Joe Wood. Trust me, Uhle was not better than Smoky Joe. If history is important, then let's get it right. That's my objective. Got a ton of respect for Bill James and what he started with his rating system, he's correct on 95% of the players he rates. I'm worried about the 5% that are mis-rated.

"There I was after the 1912 season, including the World Series I'd won 37 games and lost only 6, struck out 279 men in days when the boys didn't strike out much, and I'd beaten Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson one after the other. And do you know how old I was? Well, I was 22 years old, that's all...And do you know something else? That was it...My arm went bad...and all my dreams came tumbling down around my ears like a damn house of cards. The next 5 years, seems like it was nothing but one long terrible nightmare...The old zip was gone from the fast ball. It didn't hop any more, like it used to...Still, in 1915 I led the league with an ERA of 1.49...So in 1916 I didn't play at all. I retired. I stayed on the farm...Only 26 years old and all washed up. A has been...I stayed on the farm all through the 1916 season. That fall, though, I began to get restless...I could hit and I could run and I could field, and if I couldn't Pitch why couldn't I do something else?..1917, I was sold to the Indians...all of 27 years old and a relic from the distant past. I'd hear Fathers tell their kids, "See that guy over there? That's Smoky Joe Wood, used to be a great Pitcher long ago."..for 5 years I played the Outfield for Cleveland. In 1921 I hit .366."---Smoky Joe Wood, The best Player in the history of Major League Baseball that is NOT in the Hall of Fame