Chasing the Colonels: Compiling the Early Stats
Today is Saturday, October 18, 2008. I have just spent the last eight days developing a comprehensive roster listing for the 1903 Louisville Colonels. I’ve been doing nearly nothing but working on this. But that’s how long it takes. And there are portions of the record which remain incomplete. But more on that later. Roughly 14 months ago I began the task of compiling the complete rosters for the American Association’s Louisville Colonels form 1902-1954. After completing the initial steps in the process, I was able to advance through the 1915 season before it was time to begin “fleshing out” the roster for each year. A few weeks ago I started with the 1912 season because I knew it would be one of the most demanding, considering that the team had nearly 50 players on its roster at one point or another (at this point I should define “complete roster” -- the approach I’m taking involves establishing the record for each active player, so anyone who did not actually ...