CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A new study at the U of I is redefining what it means to be a baseball great. A statistics and history professor mixed their brains with their love of baseball to rank players of all eras.

They say statistics from the past segregated leagues make it hard to fairly compare, but they’re hoping their new method could help to unblur some of the sport’s deep history.

“It can also be useful for maybe hall of fame voting in the future there’s this insanely high benchmark now for comparing the recent players because the people in the past had less competition,” said Daniel Eck, statistics professor.

“This gives us a really neat tool. So, we’ll have ultimately produced a website where people can see stories about these players, look at their stats, and look at our rankings,” said Adrian Burgos, a history professor.

The professors hope to submit their method for publication.

You can see the ranking on the Era Adjustment app.