The Stark Truth

[BigPapaVol]

Center Fielders:

Overrated:
1. Andruw Jones.
2. Hack Wilson.
3. Juan Pierre.
4. Mickey Rivers.
5. Omar Moreno.

Underrated:
1. Duke Snider.
2. Richie Ashburn.
3. Jimmy Wynn.
4. Tris Speaker.
5. Andy Van Slyke.

what's his point about Andruw Jones? Very streaky hitter but likely best defensive CF ever.

 

[tidwell]

Looking at Hack Wilson's career numbers, you can see why he's where he is on that list.

Aside from the 56 HR, 191 RBI season where he batted .356 (1.177 OPS!), he never had a season with more than 40 HR and only 5 other seasons with 100+ RBI (One of which was another amazing total of 159).

 

[tidwell]

More Hack Wilson information. Stuff that I didn't know about him, anyway.

Although only 5'6" tall, he weighed 195 pounds, mostly muscle, and had an 18" neck but only size-6 shoes. One sports writer wrote that he was built along the lines of a beer keg, and not unfamiliar with its contents.

His excessive alcoholism led him to a premature death at the age of 48.

Hack Wilson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I was wondering why he had a relatively short career...

 

[TennNC]

Aside from the 56 HR, 191 RBI season where he batted .356 (1.177 OPS!), he never had a season with more than 40 HR and only 5 other seasons with 100+ RBI (One of which was another amazing total of 159).

Tid, those are still remarkable stats. I mean, is Hack Wilson put on the same pedestal as Ruth, Mantle, Williams, Mays? This might be a submission that's more relevant to older baseball fans (like, really, really old fans) and the most ardent baseball historians.

Also, we had a thread going awhile back about Andruw.

http://www.volnation.com/forum/mlb-baseball/29571-andruw-jones-overrated.html

BPV, I think Stark says that his fielding is vastly overrated. There are numbers behind his statements, but to me, fielding is a very difficult stat to measure objectively, other than errors. Should someone have made that play? Did they make a difficult play look easy, or was it easy all along? Were they playing out of position or was the ball unreachable?

From what I've seen of Andruw (live and on TV), he's remarkable in CF. His teammates would back that up too.

 

[hatvol96]

likely best defensive CF ever.

If you think that, you apparently disagree with every scout in baseball and you haven't seen his abysmal range factor numbers the last four years.

 

[BigPapaVol]

If you think that, you apparently disagree with every scout in baseball and you haven't seen his abysmal range factor numbers the last four years.

I'm thinking more through the mid and late 90s. he was incredible for years. I wouldn't pick him up as free agent now, but he changed the game in the mid 5 years of his career and very few have had that ability. Then, he was underrated.

I don't think he's overrated today. Most would agree that he's not what he was.

 

[tidwell]

Tid, those are still remarkable stats. I mean, is Hack Wilson put on the same pedestal as Ruth, Mantle, Williams, Mays? This might be a submission that's more relevant to older baseball fans (like, really, really old fans) and the most ardent baseball historians.

I don't know if it's that he's put in the same league as the guys you mentioned (I've never thought he was, maybe he was at one time), but I'm guessing Stark believes he's overrated for the run he gets from his RBI record season. He had other fine seasons with the Cubs, but didn't have the sustained greatness to get as much pub for his one legendary season.

 

[hatvol96]

Right Fielders:

Overrated:
1. Dave Winfield.
2. J.D. Drew.
3. Darryl Strawberry.
4. Chuck Klein.
5. Bobby Abreu.

Underrated:
1. Frank Robinson.
2. Dwight Evans.
3. Bobby Bonds.
4. Pete Rose.
5. Johnny Callison.

 

[tidwell]

5. Bobby Abreu.

I love this. I got sick and tired of hearing how underrated and overlooked he was throughout his career before he went to New York.

 

[TennNC]

Right Fielders:

Overrated:
1. Dave Winfield.

Oh, come on, Stark. The mere fact that Winfield got drafted in 3 sports and still performed at the level he did in the big leagues should get him a free pass off the overrrated list.

The guy epitomized consistency for the overwhelming majority of his career.

 

[hatvol96]

I love this. I got sick and tired of hearing how underrated and overlooked he was throughout his career before he went to New York.

It speaks volumes that Stark worked for the Philaelphia Inquirer for most of Abreu's career there. There are few people who have seen Bumbling Bobby play more.

 

[TennNC]

Oh, come on, Stark. The mere fact that Winfield got drafted in 3 sports and still performed at the level he did in the big leagues should get him a free pass off the overrrated list.

The guy epitomized consistency for the overwhelming majority of his career.

I'm waiting for Hat's response: "Stark's point, which I agree with 100%, is..."

 

[hatvol96]

Oh, come on, Stark. The mere fact that Winfield got drafted in 3 sports and still performed at the level he did in the big leagues should get him a free pass off the overrrated list.

The guy epitomized consistency for the overwhelming majority of his career.

Consistent? Yes. Great? Not so much.