But observe the year-by-year trend:
.235
.246
.256
.272
Plus, over the four year period, his K%AB dropped from 39.9% to 31.6%. Meanwhile, his BB rate (BB%PA) improved from 5.3% to 9.6% during the last 3 yrs.
Personally, I don't see how someone improves dramatically beyond those numbers after the age of 27.
Normally, you'd be right; a player usually peaks in the 27-29 age range. But remember that Bo was essentially learning on the fly. He only had 53 G of minor league experience before debuting in the bigs. And prior to that, I don't believe he had played baseball competitively since high school (i.e., for six years).
Given the steep slope on Bo's learning curve and the rapidity with which he made adjustments, I'd project Bo's best years would've come at age 29-31.
Was this because of injuries, or did he cut his baseball seasons short to play in the NFL?
My recollection is that Bo initially left the Royals in September, once the NFL season started. Later on, he might've been splitting his September weeks between football and baseball.
Good points, but I still don’t see him putting up Hall of Fame numbers there ... unless he played into his 50s, of course. LOL.