He was good before, but it is doubtful he would have broke Aaron’s or Marris’ (not debating McGuires) records without it.
MLB: Who’s the greatest hitter of all time?
- Thread starter ClonesTwenty1
- Start date
That's the thing though. This is about the greatest hitter of all-time, not the greatest homerun hitter of all-time (which is what the steroids helped). I think Bonds would have hit just fine in previous era without steroids.
The at bat that broke his 44 game hot streak exposed how big of a jerk that he was. First, he opened the at bat by trying to lay down a bunt. Then he had a weak foul ball swing. Then he ended it with a feeble swing at a changeup. Instead of tipping his hat to Gene Garber for doing his job, he ripped him for not throwing him a fastball. Not the kind of sequence that puts you in the GOAT discussion.
Two players I've seen where I'm pretty certain the ball was heading exactly where they meant for it to go.
Guys today get paid a lot to hit .260 and hit 40 homeruns- so they are OK to hit against a shift.
Go back a generation or two and even elite ballplayers would have tried to hit the other way to make defenses pay for being in a shift. There was something magic about hitting .300.
Game has just changed. Stolen bases are just about non-existent.
Pitchers trying to heal shredded arms?Sorry boys, we only allow surgery to fix those....
Williams or Bonds. Cobb was good from his stats but he also played in the early 1900s where pitchers were barely throwing in the 90s. Just like any sport, any of the great players now would dominate as they are now in the early part of the sport. Only a couple outliers exist over all time.
You probably have a good point. I know I saw an article talking about this with Pujols, and the shifting having a major effect on his avg. No doubt, not having the shift would help a lot of today's hitters, but the truly great hitters can't be shifted on. Think a shift would work on Gwynn, or Ichiro, or Boggs, or Cobb?
Rizzo is actually exactly the example I would use of someone who wouldn't be able to do what he does in a previous era. He can't cover the outer half without practically standing on the plate, and there's no self respecting pitcher that would allow him to stand where he does in yesterday's game. He'd end up with cracked ribs or worse, and literally no one in the game would have felt sorry about it.
Why isn’t he in the Hall of Fame? He played more games, had more at bats and made more outs than any other player in the history of the game. Mr. Singles hitter.
Besides hitting Clemente might have had the strongest throwing arm of all time. He had a gun.
For off the field reasons. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be included in best hitters ever conversation....Not really sure what you are getting at here.
There are so many factors that you can consider in this that it could go on forever.
Ruth and Williams played shorter 154 game seasons.
Until 1968 only 2 teams made the postseason.
Players on better teams get more AB's because of the postseason opportunities. These stats count towards a players career numbers.
Home games at smaller ballparks.
It goes on and on.
You left the greatest hitter of all time off the list - Rod Carew. Never saw another player who could place the ball like he could.
While Clemente and Brett are my personal favorites, I would nominate Rogers Hornsby. A .358 career with a .434 on-base percentage over a 23-year career, in 1924 he hit .424 with a .507 OBP. During one four-year span (1922-25) he hit over .400 three times.
Most players back in that day had other jobs to pay the bills. They didn’t focus solely on baseball. Didn’t have the trainers and nutritionists. Medical field and physical therapists are so superior also. Too many variables, IMO to fully compare.
One thing I want to say about the old guys.
Hell, I cannot remember who played last year and most teams have a mystery line-up. If we are super familiar with a name from the olden days, there is a reason! We know the names Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, etc. because they were damn good! Nobody remembers Joe Shmoe (ode to Crash Davis).
Just sayin'
Hank Aaron is severely under appreciated
It could be said that anyone who played before the integration of the negro league should be discounted. How many good players did those old timey guys avoid because of racism in this country?
Ichiro or Tony Gwinn for best overall hitters. For pure swing, it Ken Griffey Junior. Those would be my top 3.
