Posnanski: Don Mattingly was the epitome of baseball, should be in the Hall of Fame

[manky_jimy]

Hall or not, Mattingly was epitome of game

Highlights:

*Best player in baseball from 1984-89
*Highest fielding percentage of all time
*Only 444 strikeouts in his career (5% of his at bats)
*Had diminished power after his back injury but still a .300 hitter into the mid 90s
*The Yankees lack of postseason success in the Mattingly era was due to the volatility of Steinbrenner (9 managers in 14 years, famously including Billy Martin three times)
*Six years of greatness was enough for Koufax

 

[Songbird]

Is that you, Jonah Keri? Is this me?

 

[RickStain]

Fielding percentage remains an awful, awful, awful statistic and should never be used in service of any argument.

I'd probably put him in because I'm a big hall guy who would probably put everyone in. But he'd be one of the worst players in there.

 

[jr/shotglass]

* Very, very debatable.
* Point given.
* One in 20 strikeouts? Pretty good.
* He doesn't get points for having been injured for part of his career.
* Total conjecture.
* Don't insult us by comparing Mattingly's best six years with Koufax's best six years.

 

[cyclingwriter2]

Will say from 84 to 87, mattingly was best player in baseball, but he regressed greatly in 1988 and 1989. Four years as best with little else isn't getting you into cooperstown

 

[manky_jimy]

* Very, very debatable.
* Point given.
* One in 20 strikeouts? Pretty good.
* He doesn't get points for having been injured for part of his career.
* Total conjecture.
* Don't insult us by comparing Mattingly's best six years with Koufax's best six years.

It was Posnanski (one of the most respected baseball writers) who compared Koufax and Mattingly.

 

[HanSenSE]

Is the mancrush on Jetes over?

But what everyone else said. Brief run of greatness exaggerated by being in New York.

 

[manky_jimy]

Fielding percentage remains an awful, awful, awful statistic and should never be used in service of any argument.

I'd probably put him in because I'm a big hall guy who would probably put everyone in. But he'd be one of the worst players in there.

I understand there's more to defense than fielding percentage, but even as a flawed statistic, to be #1 all-time tells you something about how good a fielder he was.

 

[manky_jimy]

Is the mancrush on Jetes over?

But what everyone else said. Brief run of greatness exaggerated by being in New York.

There is zero debate over whether Jeter belongs in the Hall.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Oh, I think we'd all give you Jetes.

But HanSen nailed the other part. If it happened in New York, the media magnifies it.

 

[manky_jimy]

Oh, I think we'd all give you Jetes.

But HanSen nailed the other part. If it happened in New York, the media magnifies it.

Quite the opposite...if New York favoritism was a thing, Posada and Bernie would have gotten the support they deserve on the Hall ballot.

 

[jr/shotglass]

And that marks you as the part of America who thinks the rest of the nation revolves around the Bronx.

 

[cjericho]

Quite the opposite...if New York favoritism was a thing, Posada and Bernie would have gotten the support they deserve on the Hall ballot.

Defensively, both of them are average at best. Bernie's arm was weak. Posada had a strong arm, but didn't catch and frame the ball well. Many times he would stab at the ball. Remember one year, they tested his vision.

 

[manky_jimy]

Defensively, both of them are average at best. Bernie's arm was weak. Posada had a strong arm, but didn't catch and frame the ball well. Many times he would stab at the ball. Remember one year, they tested his vision.

Bernie wasn't Andruw Jones, but he did win 4 Gold Gloves.

 

[cjericho]

Bernie was very good. He also is a class guy. But we don't really need to examine the sabremetrician advance stats to know he was average or a little above average defensively.

 

[manky_jimy]

Bernie was very good. He also is a class guy. But we don't really need to examine the sabremetrician advance stats to know he was average or a little above average defensively.

All-star, gold glove centerfielder and 4 time World Series winner for the NY Yankees. Most postseason RBIs of all time and 2nd in postseason HRs. That's not a Hall of Fame resume?

 

[Batman]

This debate almost inspired me to post a picture of someone eating popcorn.
Then I realized Mattingly would just come over and steal it.

 

[cjericho]

All-star, gold glove centerfielder and 4 time World Series winner for the NY Yankees. Most postseason RBIs of all time and 2nd in postseason HRs. That's not a Hall of Fame resume?

Mr. Manky, he was a great Yankee. As a Yankee fan, I would like to see him in the HOF. I do not think he should get in though. The most postseason RBIs has a lot to do with him playing in so many postseason games. He has a lot more postseason RBIs than Mickey Mantle. I don't think he was better than Mickey Mantle.

 

[manky_jimy]

This debate almost inspired me to post a picture of someone eating popcorn.
Then I realized Mattingly would just come over and steal it.

 

[cjericho]

I hope ARod was doing the popcorn trick.