Who has the best arm out of any Major League outfielder?

#26
#26
lylsmorr said:
The category is "Strongest arm in the majors" not "player who suspiciously still plays outfield even though he has a spaghetti noodle of an arm"
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There was always a rumor that I'm not sure was true or not, but apparently the Red Sox brass actually spoke with NESN producers about not keeping the camera on Damon's throws when there was not a play going on somewhere.

Highly doubt it happened. But if it did, that's some damn fine/smart lobbying.
 
#28
#28
I love Brett Gardner. I just can't help it. Pinstripes cannot stop me.
 
#29
#29
Dbake005 said:
oh i agree. Clemente just as a whole... Gosh I wish i could see him on a baseball field.

Vladdy had that controlling arm for awhile too, as previously mentioned.
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You ask anybody in their 50s and 60s who had the best outfield arm and almost every one of them will say "Clemente." Ask anybody in their late 30s or 40s and almost everybody will say "Mondesi." I don't know that we have consensus yet on who the next guy will be. The fact that you can have a thread like this means that he's not here yet.

(I assume Mondesi was probably just roided up because one day he couldn't do anything. He was pretty much just playing out the string before he was 30. The young arm was something, though.)
 
#30
#30
Vercingetorix said:
You ask anybody in their 50s and 60s who had the best outfield arm and almost every one of them will say "Clemente." Ask anybody in their late 30s or 40s and almost everybody will say "Mondesi." I don't know that we have consensus yet on who the next guy will be. The fact that you can have a thread like this means that he's not here yet.

(I assume Mondesi was probably just roided up because one day he couldn't do anything. He was pretty much just playing out the string before he was 30. The young arm was something, though.)
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Andre Dawson garnered the same respect in his prime.

I think if Ichiro plays his entire career in the States, he would have had the consensus in this generation.
 
#31
#31
I think it was vladdy for so long, with ichiro right there... Ankiel is RIGHT there but not enough of a star to be as commonly named as Hamilton, ya know?
 
#33
#33
Oh i know. I get what you're saying, and he's right there. But ask common fans and you'll hear "Hamilton" a lot more than Ankiel.

the best defensive outfielder is Gutierrez, hands down.

Know who seems like they have worked very hard and become a much better fielder? Ryan Braun. And i think Justin Upton will be one of the top guys defensively before long.
 
#36
#36
NYYVol said:
Andre Dawson garnered the same respect in his prime.

I think if Ichiro plays his entire career in the States, he would have had the consensus in this generation.
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I remember Dawson having a reputation of having a great arm. I don't remember it being anything like the level of acclimation that Mondesi had during those early years. The Dodgers would be playing on Sunday Night Baseball, and every time there'd be a runner on first and a left-handed batter up, they'd start cutting to shots of Mondesi out in the outfield in between pitches, and God forbid that he throw somebody out, because Jon Miller would hump his microphone for two innings afterwards. I detested both the Dodgers and Mondesi, so I'm still eagerly awaiting the next guy who comes along so I can not immediately think of Mondesi's cannon tattoo as soon as I read the words "best outfield arm."
 
#37
#37
Vercingetorix said:
I remember Dawson having a reputation of having a great arm. I don't remember it being anything like the level of acclimation that Mondesi had during those early years. The Dodgers would be playing on Sunday Night Baseball, and every time there'd be a runner on first and a left-handed batter up, they'd start cutting to shots of Mondesi out in the outfield in between pitches, and God forbid that he throw somebody out, because Jon Miller would hump his microphone for two innings afterwards. I detested both the Dodgers and Mondesi, so I'm still eagerly awaiting the next guy who comes along so I can not immediately think of Mondesi's cannon tattoo as soon as I read the words "best outfield arm."
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Nobody in their right mind ran on Dawson.

I played for a coach who played with Dawson in Chicago. He said players in both dugouts would climb to the top step to get a look everytime there was a chance Hawk would have to uncork one.
 
#41
#41
NYYVol said:
Nobody in their right mind ran on Dawson.

I played for a coach who played with Dawson in Chicago. He said players in both dugouts would climb to the top step to get a look everytime there was a chance Hawk would have to uncork one.
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I'm not running down Dawson's arm at all; he had a great one. I remember him gunning down guys at third from the far warning track at Olympic Stadium in the late 70s. I'm just saying that I've been watching baseball fairly obsessively for roughly 35 years, and during that time, there's been exactly one short period -- roughly 94 to 96 or 97 -- that you couldn't have the "who's got the best outfield arm?" conversation because everybody knew who had it. Maybe it was just that ESPN had showed up between Dawson's glory years and Mondesi, but that was the only time I remember absolute acclimation as to who had the best arm.

Apparently you couldn't have that conversation for the entire decade of the 60s, however. Clemente's arm was just a given. My dad used to scoff at Mondesi's arm in comparison. (He once said something like this: "Clemente had the best arm anyone had ever seen when I was in elementary school, and Clemente still had the best arm anyone had ever seen when I was changing your diapers two decades later. And Clemente could probably still throw better than Mondesi now even though he's been dead for 20 years.") I would really like to have seen it in something other than fuzzy, slow-motion highlights.
 
#42
#42
Vlad had the best arm of the last generation.

There is a short list of guys with cannons right now.

Kemp/Ichiro/Hamilton/Ankiel/Young are the best of the best.

Also, not sure Franklin is the best defensive outfielder there is right now he is good but the best? IDK.
 
#43
#43
This is a homer pick because I get to watch him every night, but Melky Cabrera has a very accurate arm. Certainly not in the strongest arm debate, but consistently on the money.

Strongest arm, Francoeur can run it up there with the best of them, but half the time it's going to the screen.

Ankiel has a great arm. Strong and accurate. Hamilton, old Vlad, I remember Mondesi's cannon, etc. Another guy who had it and it faded quickly was Jose Guillen. I remember him unleashing a couple of jaw-dropping throws from the right field corner as a Pirate. Completely fell off the map defensively, though.
 
#46
#46
vols kick balls said:
I always wondered why Ankiel could throw strikes from the out field wall to third or home but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from 90 feet away.
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It's all mental. It takes no thought to pick up a ball from the outfield wall and uncork one to a base or cutoff man.
 
#50
#50
It's a close race between Ankiel and Francoeur, IMO. Not only strong arms, but very accurate. Bo Jackson could sling it back in the day as well. I wish I could find the video of Bo picking up the ball at the base of the LF wall in the Kingdome, turning and throwing in one motion to the plate to nail a very surprised Harold Reynolds.
 
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