You're asking for history to be consistent, but it never is.  Batting average was defined in the 1860s.    Sacrifice Hits were "excused" from at bats. . that is, the batter was given a pass when he bunted to advance a teammate. . .about 1900, forget the exact year.   After several ill-fated efforts to re-define Sac Hits, Sacrifice Flies were taken out, and were also excused in the 1930s, reaching completion in the 1950s.  

The official on base percentage formula was developed in the 1970s, at the urging and leadership of Alan Roth.   Alan's idea was that Sacrifice Hits and Sacrifice Flies were distinct in that Sac Hits were deliberate actions, whereas Sacrifice Flies were "beneficial accidents" to the team, rather than something that could be done deliberately.   He thus "excused" sac hits from the on base percentage formula, but not Sac Flies. 

Couldn't agree any less.  

It's been that way for a long, long time.  Any ball that hits the dirt has been thrown out since. ..at least 1970, I would say. 

Well, it's kind of like being a good parent, I think.   The father who is highly concerned that his child excel in the Little League.  ....is that being a good parent?   The guy who yells and screams at his kid to do better. .. is that really productive, in the big picture?    I think that "parent teams" are rather like parents--that they like to see their children excel, they enjoy seeing them get some victories, and they understand the role of success in the development of skills, but they also understand that there's something else gong on here that it is perhaps more important in the big picture. 

Exactly the same way that the soul fits into medicine. 

Well, yes and no.   The trend toward more relievers has certainly led to a decline in pinch hitting, since there simply are not enough roster spots to carry six relievers and five pinch hitters.   But this is not the REASON that teams are keeping pitchers over bench players; rather, the decline in pinch hitting is a CONSEQUENCE, not a cause. 

I did advocate this somewhere, and I still believe in it.   The Union has the right to sign off on rules changes, but I would predict that the Union would sign off on the new rules if the current players were grandfathered in, and allowed to use the current bats.    This would eliminate 90% of the problem within five or six years, and also contribute powerfully to restoring batting stats to historic norms. 

I kind of depends on who you're dancing with. . .

OK.    I thought the phrase went back before Bill Russell, actually.

In general, in-season batting trends have very little predictive significance. 

Right. . .I remember that.   It was a response to the then-comment remark that basketball was a non-contact sport.   That was Russell's--or whoever it was--his way of saying that basketball was NOT a non-contact sport. 

Regularly.   Only show of its kind I do watch.

Ishtar.

OK. 

Some economist had to be the first to measure the Cost of Living.  I am certain people asked him if this accounted for the winter sale at Macy's.    It's the same question.   The Pythagorean Formula doesn't adjust for EACH run; it adjusts for all the runs.   Every team, in the long run, is going to have close games where every run counts and blowouts where they don't, with some variations which are relativley minor in most cases and significant is a few cases.

He is certainly the greatest player in baseball history named either "Chase" or "Utley".   Here's a Home Run Call for Chase Utley:   C  U ,  C  U  Later.

1893 was the last season for Tim Keefe, Bob Caruthers, Jim O'Rourke, King Kelly, Harry Stovey, and several lesser stars like Henry Larkin and Mark Baldwin.    There was a group of stars that retired in 1908 and another group in 1909--in 1908, Joe Kelley, Kid Gleason, Fielder Jones, Jimmy Collins, Joe McGinnity, John Anderson, Deacon McGuire.   I should say "left the majors". . .several of these players continued to play for years afterward in the minors. . Joe McGinnity for another 20 years.    In 1909 George Davis, Bill Dahlen, Roy THomas, Al Orth, Jesse Tannehill, Jack Chesbro JImmy Williams. 

A bigger group than that left the majors after the 1917 season, including at least six Hall of Famers (Honus Wagner, Sam Crawford, Eddie Plank Johnny Evers, Ed Walsh and Chief Bender). . also many others, including Ed Reulbach and Chief Meyers.

There was a huge flood of players went out in '27, '28 and '29, although I don't know that any one year outranks 1917. . .Walter Johnson, Zack Wheat and Jacques Fournier in '27, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Stan Coveleski and others in '28, Eddie Collins, Max Carey, Dave Bancroft and others in '29.   Or did Collins play a little bit in '30?   Think maybe he did. 

There was a pretty good group went out in '37 (Rogers Hornsby, Frankie Frisch, Mickey Cochrane, Pie Traynor, Jim Bottomley, Jesse Haines, Chick Hafey).   That's 7 Hall of Famers, but 3 of them not really deserving Hall of Famers.  

Of course, there was a big group that went out in 1945, at the end of the war (Jimmie Foxx, Paul Waner, Joe Cronin, Bob Johnson, Lloyd Waner, Dolh Camilli) but a probably MORE impressive group that exited after 1947 (Mel Ott, Red Ruffing, Stan Hack, Billy Herman, Hank Greenberg, Mel Harder, Doc Cramer, Ernie Lombardi, Rick Ferrell, Dizzy Dean, Al Lopez).   

There was a fairly good group that left after 1959 (Enos Slaughter, Mickey Vernon, Larry Doby, Del Ennis, Carl Furillo). . .good, but not historic.    After '66 Koufax retired--retiring as clearly the best pitcher in baseball--also Robin Roberts, Jim Gilliam, Joe Adock, Harvey Kuenn, Bob Friend.  Again, good, not historic. 

There were a series of big classes exiting '71 through '74. . .not one above the others, though.  The next REALLY big class was 1979, which was th elast year for Lou Brock, Willie Davis, Catfish Hunter, and an unusual number of memorable minor stars like Roy White, George Scott, Rico Carty and THurman Munson. 

1983 was a huge class, monster class:  Carl Yastrzemski, Gaylord Perry, Johnny Bench and Fergie Jenkins, also Jim Kaat, Bert Campaneris, Bobby Murcer and others.   They were joined in '84 by Joe Morgan, Jim Palmer, and perhaps the greatest player who ever lived, Amos Otis.  

1986 is huge. . .Pete Rose, Tom Seaver, Tony Perez, Cesar Cedeno, many, many others (Bobby Grich, George Foster, Dusty Baker, Vida Blue, Dave Kingman).  

1987 almost as big. . .Reggie Jackson, Phil Niekro, Steve Garvey, Bill Madlock, Hal McRae, Cecil Cooper. 

After that the next really big exit group is 2001--Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Mark McGwire, Harold Baines, Tony Fernandez, Jose Canseco, Bobby Bonilla, Paul O'Neill, Wally Joyner, Ken Caminiti, Eric Davis.

OK, I haven't answered your question, have I?  I guess we'll let time sort it out.   Some of the players you mentioned may play again.   If not, it might well rank as the gaudiest exit class of all time.

I would guess that the distraction of having Ruth around was 95% responsible for what happened to the Braves that season.   Signing Ruth sent a message to the other players on the team that can be interpreted as "We don't believe in you" or "We're not serious about winning here."   Maybe it SHOULDN'T have been taken that way, maybe it shouldn't have come out that way, but. . .it did.