Baseball Player Comparison

[Dick Whitman]

Without giving away too much, positions matter. So does being a key member of the modern version of the '27 Yankees. MVP's matter, too. <b>And All-Star Game selections.</b>

Less than you think.

I woudn't give them huge weight, because of the fan vote being a popularity contest. However, it is at least a quick reference on whether a man was considered a premier player at his position, in his league, during his era. And that has always been a popular criteria.

 

[spnited]

What is "rare" about the other guy's position?

It's the second- or third-least offensive position in the league for most of baseball history.

He's a good player, never been considered a great player, never the best in his league at his position, never close to being MVP and his best power years have to be viewed as possibly PED aided.

MVP awards can be pretty subjective, and playing on a great team in the middle of a great lineup can help a player pad the stats that win MVP votes.

And if people didn't think Player A was the best in the league at his position for a few years, they weren't paying enough attention.

The PEDs are a fair point. Each voter can decide for themselves how much weight to give that.

Considering the players I grew up watching in his position, it was always a major offensive positon.


And while some might have considered him the best defensvely at his posiiton at times, he was never the best all-around guy at that position that I can recall.
Again, a very good player. But this is not the Hall of Very Good

 

[RickStain]

Who was a better center-fielder in 1990 than that guy?

 

[JC]

What is "rare" about the other guy's position?

It's the second- or third-least offensive position in the league for most of baseball history.

He's a good player, never been considered a great player, never the best in his league at his position, never close to being MVP and his best power years have to be viewed as possibly PED aided.

MVP awards can be pretty subjective, and playing on a great team in the middle of a great lineup can help a player pad the stats that win MVP votes.

And if people didn't think Player A was the best in the league at his position for a few years, they weren't paying enough attention.

The PEDs are a fair point. Each voter can decide for themselves how much weight to give that.

Considering the players I grew up watching in his position, it was always a major offensive positon.


And while some might have considered him the best defensvely at his posiiton at times, he was never the best all-around guy at that position that I can recall.
Again, a very good player. But this is not the Hall of Very Good

Que Rick going off on his hall of FAME rant.

 

[spnited]

Who was a better center-fielder in 1990 than that guy?

Do you mean 2000? He wasn't in the majors in 1990.

 

[RickStain]

Who was a better center-fielder in 1990 than that guy?

Do you mean 2000? He wasn't in the majors in 1990.

Yes. Dates are hard.

 

[Boom_70]

The key to me is dominant at position which tilts the balance to player B.

Player A is compared to a bigger pool because of the position he played.

If Player A does get in it opens up debate to a long list of marginal HOFers

 

[spnited]

Player A is never getting in.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

For those who haven't checked the numbers or figured it out - Player A is Jim Edmonds and Player B is Johnny Bench.

Normally I wouldn't dream of comparing those 2 but I was struck by the similarities in numbers. Maybe if Edmonds had spent his whole career with the Angels then more people would consider him Hall worthy. I admit to cherry picking some stats but they were the stats many sabermetricly inclined folks normally base their comparisons on.

Again - normally I wouldn't be making the argument for Edmonds and the Hall of Fame but I'm guessing someone will and the comparisons to people people like Bench or Jim Rice or Andre Dawson will be used to further Edmonds' case.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

I think the experiment was interesting in that 4 people voted for player A while only 2 voted for player B (and I'm guessing both of those votes knew who they were voting for).

 

[RickStain]

Bench probably did have a better peak, which is the reason he's considered more of a HOFer (besides the obvious reason that he played on great teams).

But Edmonds' 2000-2004 is going to be criminally underrated by some, unless they are just discounting it for possible PED reasons.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

Without giving away too much, positions matter. So does being a key member of the modern version of the '27 Yankees. MVP's matter, too. <b>And All-Star Game selections.</b>

Less than you think.

I woudn't give them huge weight, because of the fan vote being a popularity contest. However, it is at least a quick reference on whether a man was considered a premier player at his position, in his league, during his era. And that has always been a popular criteria.

Mike Williams, mediocre relief pitcher, was a two-time All-Star because somebody from the Pirates had to be picked.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Scott Cooper has more All-Star games to his name than Kirk Gibson.

 

[RickStain]

Joe Girardi made the All-Star team by not having any plans for his days off.

 

[Boom_70]

This exercise drew me to the top 500 HR list - some interesting names just below the magic 500 :

Andruw Jones - 401 - who knew

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

This exercise drew me to the top 500 HR list - some interesting names just below the magic 500 :

Andruw Jones - 401 - who knew

Baseball Reference has Andruw Jones as Jim Edmonds most similar player

 

[outofplace]

How is 401 "just below the magic 500?"

 

[spnited]

How is 401 "just below the magic 500?"

C'mon, OOP. Isn't 4 just below 5?

Maybe math isn't Boom's strong suit.

 

[outofplace]

Yeah, silly me.

Regarding the actual comparison, taking the era, level of team success and the position out of the equation makes the comparison a joke. I don't see how anybody can logically use a comparison to Bench to make an argument for Edmonds making the Hall.

 

[imjustagirl]

Oh, those were Bench and Edmonds? I was just going to ask who we were talking about here.