I love baseball. And I think why I enjoy reading this book so much. Before this fact, Gould lists the pitcher as covering first base, the development of the cutoff play, the hit-and-run and signals from runners to batter as occurring in the 1890s. Things that I took as common place in baseball actually had to have their origins, but once they originated, the tactics spread like wildfire. Coaches invent something novel in baseball, but when others see that it works, it would be asinine not to adopt the strategy. Examples: coaches figured that they could waste time so they can have the clubhouse look at the video before requesting a replay. What an obvious strategy employed by all; although this tactic begs regulation.
"The list of the hundred best seasonal ERAs shows a remarkable imbalance. More than 90 percent of the entries were achieved before 1920," p126
This fact is the proof of the pudding for Gould. Hitting didn't become worse. Pitching alone didn't improve. Everything improved and the outliers disappeared. I would venture to say that any team, even the worst teams would be able to beat champions in the 1920s.
Gould made a similar point about evolution in his book Wonderful Life, phylum diversity was rich, but once competition created specialized species, a drastically new phylum would have so much pre-established competitors that phylum diversity decreased.
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