By Roger Schluete mlb.com

In 1893, long before Babe Ruth stomped boldly into the center of the room and loudly popped the cork on the live-ball era, baseball witnessed an equally vivid scenario of the men with the bats in their hands taking greater control of the game.

Prior to the 1893 season, the distance between pitcher and hitter was lengthened to the expanse that remains in play today: 60 feet, six inches. This alteration, of course, saw an immediate effect on offensive production.

In 1892, while the National League as a whole was batting .245, not a single qualifying player reached a .300 batting average, a .400 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. In '93, the league batting average rose to .280, and five players put together a .300/.400/.500 line.

Sandoval's solo tater
One of these five was a third baseman for the New York Giants named George Davis. Davis -- playing in his age-22 season -- batted .355 with a .410 on-base mark and a .554 slugging percentage to finish the year with an OPS+ of 154, good for fourth-best in the league. Davis' season -- wonderful in its own right -- is also notable for how it can mark a starting point for switch-hitters.

Since Davis posted that 154 in 1893, there have been 126 other occurrences of a switch-hitter playing in at least 100 games and getting to a 140 OPS+. Mickey Mantle is responsible for 15 of the 127 instances, Chipper Jones owns nine of the rest, Lance Berkman has eight, and Eddie Murray, Ken Singleton and Reggie Smith are tied for the fourth- most, with six apiece. Twenty-two other players have done this multiple times, including Davis and the current Giants third baseman, Pablo Sandoval.

Sandoval reached these heights in 2009 (144) and '11, when, in his age-24 season, he batted .315, slugged .552, and posted a 153 OPS+ in 117 games. This latest round of hitting excellence has moved the man known as "Kung Fu Panda" into much more exclusive company. Of the 28 switch-hitters since 1893 to have multiple seasons with an OPS+ of at least 140 in 100 or more games, only Mantle and Sandoval had at least two such years before their age-25 season.

In 2011, Sandoval missed six weeks with a broken hamate bone in his right hand. It was the only bit of individual dreariness in what otherwise was a resounding season. After hot-shotting it through the Majors with a .345 average in 41 games in his debut year in '08, Sandoval then played in 153 games in '09 (his age-22 season), batted .330 (second in the NL), slugged .556 and assembled a .943 OPS, which worked out to a 144 OPS+.

With that year in 2009, Sandoval became the youngest switch-hitter since Murray in 1978 to post a 140 OPS+ in a qualifying season, the first switch-hitter since Mantle in '54 to have at least a 144 OPS+ in his age-22 season (or younger), and the first switch-hitter since Tom McCreery in 1896 to qualify for the batting title in his age-22 season (or younger) and hit as high as .330 with a slugging percentage over .500 (Davis also did this in 1893).

Just 54 days past his 23rd birthday when the Giants finished their 2009 season, Sandoval appeared to have the brightest of futures ahead.

In 2010, as Sandoval's Giants were improbably capturing an NL West title, then the NL pennant, and then a World Series crown, their third baseman was just as improbably suffering through a disastrous year. Sandoval's average dropped to .268, his slugging percentage fell more than 140 points and his OPS+ plunged down to 99. Additionally, questions about his weight and his plate discipline made his once-promising role on the Giants and place as one of the game's great young switch-hitters much more cloudy and uncertain.

His rebound in 2011 not only reestablished Sandoval (now much lighter, but still an impatient hitter) as a force in the batter's box from either side of the plate, it also brought his career numbers into a switch-hitting group populated by only a few names. From 1890 ( Davis' first Major League season) through 2011, 45 switch-hitters have accumulated at least 1,500 plate appearances through their age-24 season (Sandoval has 1,869): of these 45, Sandoval's career OPS+ is the third-highest.

BIG BAT FROM BOTH SIDES
Highest career OPS+ for switch-hitters with at least 1,500 plate appearances through their age-24 season (1890-2011)
Player OPS+ PA BA OB% SLG%
Mickey Mantle 165 3493 .308 .412 .560
Eddie Murray 133 2726 .291 .353 .486
Pablo Sandoval 129 1869 .307 .356 .501
George Davis 126 3524 .304 .374 .450
Tim Raines 123 2559 .293 .380 .412
Mickey Mantle
From 1951 (his age-19 season) through his age-24 season in '56, Mantle enjoyed five campaigns during which he played at least 100 games and posted an OPS+ of at least 140. Since 1890, for all other switch-hitters in their age-24 season or younger, only 10 other seasons with 100 games and an OPS+ of 140 (or better) exist. During this span, Mantle posted four of the 32 highest OPS+ seasons for a qualifying switch-hitter (regardless of age), including the second-highest of all-time in '56.
That year, while he was becoming the third-youngest player in the modern era to win the Triple Crown (behind Ty Cobb and Ted Williams), Mantle assembled a 210 OPS+ in 652 plate appearances. By OPS+, Mantle's 210 in 1956 is the third-highest since '01 for all qualifying players in their age-24 season, trailing only Lou Gehrig's 220 in '27 and Ruth's 219 in '19.

Also worth noting:

• Mantle's 161 OPS+ in 1952 is the fourth-highest since 1901 for any qualifying batter in his age-20 season, and the best for any switch-hitter.

• His 143 in 1953 is tied for the 15th-highest for any player in his age-21 season, and is the best for any switch-hitter.

• His 158 in 1954 is the 14th-highest for any player in his age-22 season, and the best for any switch-hitter.

• His 180 in 1955 is tied for the eighth-highest for any player since 1901 in his age-23 season, and the best for any switch-hitter.

Mantle's career OPS+ of 165 through his age-24 season is tied with righty-swinging Jimmie Foxx for the seventh-highest for any player since 1901 with at least 1,500 plate appearances. Under these same qualifications, Mantle also owns the 10th-highest on-base percentage (tied with Mel Ott), the 11th-highest slugging percentage, the fifth-most home runs, the second-most walks, the sixth-most total bases and the sixth-most extra-base hits. It was a stunning, staggering, stupendous start for Mantle -- and it didn't end there. From his age-25 season through the end of his career, Mantle posted a 176 OPS+ -- the sixth-highest for any player in the modern era with 3,000 plate appearances, and the highest for any switch-hitter.

Eddie Murray
Eddie Murray finished his age-24 season in 1980 with 32 home runs, 116 RBIs and a slash line of .300/.354/.519 for a 138 OPS+ in 158 games. With this season in the books, Murray's first four years in the Majors, by OPS+, looked like this: 123, 140, 130 and 138.

For virtually any player, this range would look wonderfully consistent. By the standard Murray would set over his next five seasons, it looks as erratic as a bush leaguer's knuckleball. From 1981-85, Murray's OPS+ by year went 156, 156, 156, 156, 149. In every one of those five seasons, Murray made the All-Star team and finished in the top-five in the American League Most Valuable Player Award voting.

Although he had just a single 140 OPS+ season through his age-24 season, Murray's run of consistency over the next half-decade led him to having six such seasons through his age-29 campaign. Those six through that age are the second-most all-time for any switch-hitter, behind Mantle's 10.

For all switch-hitters through their age-24 season, Murray is third in homers, fourth in RBIs, ninth in hits, eighth in walks, fourth in total bases, fourth in extra-base hits, third in slugging, and, as noted earlier, he owns the second-highest OPS+.

Murray's beginning was not as thunderous as Mantle's (a sentiment that can be imposed on 99 percent of the rest of the men who played Major League Baseball), but his ever-lasting consistency not only supported his "Steady Eddie" nickname, it also helped him accumulate some historic counting numbers.

From his age-25 season to the end of his career, Murray owns -- among all switch-hitters -- the second-most home runs, the most RBIs, the third-most hits, the sixth-most walks, the second-most total bases and the third-most extra-base hits, and he is tied for the eighth-highest OPS+ among those with at least 3,000 plate appearances.

Pablo Sandoval
Earlier, it was noted that Mantle's age-24 season in 1956, by OPS+, is the third greatest in the modern era of the game. When looking at just switch-hitters with 100 or more games in that age-season, Sandoval's 153 in 2011 comes in a distant second.

For the moment, let's move away from switch-hitting and contextualize Sandoval's accomplishments thus far through the prism of his position and age. A few points:

• For all third basemen since 1901, Sandoval is one of five to have multiple years -- through their age-24 season -- of at least a 140 OPS+ in at least 100 games. The others: Eddie Mathews (four such seasons), Dick Allen (two), George Brett (two) and Miguel Cabrera (two).

• Sandoval's 144 OPS+ in 2009 is the fourth-highest since 1901 for any third baseman in his age-22 season or younger with at least 100 games. In '54, Mathews (age-22 season) posted a 172, which followed his own 171 in '53. And in '64, Allen had a 162 in his age-22 season.

• Sandoval's 153 OPS+ in 2011 is the fourth-highest since 1901 for any third baseman in exactly his age-24 season with at least 100 games. He trails Ron Santo's 164 in 1964, Mike Schmidt's 158 in '74 and Jim Thome's 157 in '95.

• For all players through their age-24 season with at least 400 games and at least 75 percent of those games at third, Sandoval's career 129 OPS+ is the eighth-highest, his .307 batting average is the fifth-highest, and his .501 slugging percentage is the seventh-highest.

George Davis
In each season from 1893-95 (his age-22 through age-24 seasons) Davis qualified for the batting title and hit at least .300, compiled an on-base percentage of at least .400, and slugged at least .500. Over this three-year stretch, his combined slash line of .349/.420/.534 worked out to a 142 OPS+, for the NL as a whole owned an amazingly splashy .300/.372/.412 line.

Even so, Davis can make the claim as one of only four players from 1893 through 2011 to post a .300/.400/.500 line and qualify for the batting title in his age-22, age-23 and age-24 seasons. One of his contemporaries -- Joe Kelley -- also did this, as did Cobb (during the dead-ball era, leading to an otherworldly OPS+) and Mantle, from 1954-56.

To be fair, Davis' 142 OPS+ is only tied for the 43rd-highest for any player since 1893 with at least 300 games in his age-22 through age-24 seasons. Cobb is at the top, with a 198, and is followed by Shoeless Joe Jackson and then by Mantle, at 183. Murray is tied for 63rd at 136, and Sandoval sits tied for 88th, at 130.

Tim Raines
In his age-24 season in 1984, Raines led the NL in doubles and steals: a leadership combination that is not often seen. In fact, going back to 1886, it has been done only 10 other times, by six players: Honus Wagner (1902, '04, '07, '08), Cobb ('11, '17), Benny Kauff ('14), Charlie Gehringer ('29), Lou Brock ('68) and Craig Biggio ('94).

Raines combined extraordinary baserunning acumen with special patience at the plate and a modicum of power -- also a combination that hasn't graced the ball field all that often. Raines had 321 steals to go along with his 123 OPS+ through his age-24 season. That adjusted on-base-plus-slugging value came from a .380 on-base percentage and a .412 slugging percentage.

In the live-ball era, he is one of only 10 players to have 150 steals through his age-24 season (Raines' 321 are the second-most). Among this group, his 123 OPS+ is the third-best (behind the numbers sculpted by Cesar Cedeno and Rickey Henderson), his on-base percentage is the second-highest (behind Henderson's .401) and his slugging percentage is the fourth-best (behind the averages posted by Cedeno, Carl Crawford and Jose Reyes).

Raines' age-24 season began a wonderful four-year stretch in which he put up a 146 OPS+ in 2,674 plate appearances. Other players to have the same combined OPS+ in those age-seasons (24-27) with a minimum of 2,000 plate appearances are: Harry Heilmann, Mathews, Jimmy Wynn, Rusty Staub, Reggie Jackson, Jim Rice and fellow switch-hitter Berkman. The 146 ties Raines and the rest of this bunch for the 60th-highest since 1901. Among switch-hitters, those with a higher OPS+ for this age range are the ubiquitous Mantle (192) and Murray (151).

Mantle (first), Murray (seventh), Davis (tied for 12th) and Raines (10th) are all in the top-20 all-time for OPS+ among switch-hitters, as are five other players who played as recently as 2011. But among these five, Jones is entering his age-40 season, Berkman is readying himself for his age-36 season, Carlos Beltran is just a few months shy of his 35th birthday, Mark Teixeira will turn 32 in about the same span of time, and Jorge Posada just retired.

Twelve members of the top-20 began their careers in 1977 (Murray's debut season) or later. The time seems ripe for Sandoval to find a year-to-year consistency and proclaim himself as the game's newest elite switch-hitter. If he can, he will be building on a wonderful, historic start and will continue a trend that has seen the contemporary game produce more than its share of superb hitters who can produce from both sides of the plate.