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Lajoie, Collins, Hornsby, Morgan or Robinson?
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5 Comments:
I am surprised by how good Frankie Frisch and Joe Gordon were defensively (not really surprised, but I just didn't know). Poppo's got a Frisch autograph on a plaque thing (along with Dizzy, Paul, Ducky, and someone else... maybe Durocher). I also met Durocher when I was a kid... so I always dug the gas house gangers. And Frisch was (intangibly a good manager)... That said... Hornsby. decent glove... sveet bat... and a good manager too... though he really only had ten amazing seasons... His 1926 season is rad in that he was a second year manager who won the World Series while putting up a .317/ .388./ .463 slash in a down year. Frisch also won a World Series as a player manager... and an MVP (not the same year)... his 1931 MVP is bizarrely pedestrian... it makes you reconsider what the real sluggers were doing at the time (same year Babe Ruth finished fourth in MVP voting with this slash line .373/.495/.700 as a drunk, overweight thirty six year old - fourteen years before Koprowski began testing the Polio vaccine). Ruth was a space alien.
Joe Morgan is an idiot, but my goodness he had 5 amazing seasons in a row 72-76, two MVPs. Not bad. Too bad he’s a moron. It does make for good comedy though.
por ejemplo:
Miller: There's a base hit by Utley.
Morgan: You know, I've always said Chase Utley is a great hitter. Great hitters get hits.
And for old times sake, a classic joe chat:
Mitch: joe, do you see ken griffey jr. finishing his career with 6-700 homeruns and reestablishing himself as one of the best players of all time?
KT: Tell you what, Joe. Right off the bat here, why don't you answer this question by firing off some crazy sentences, and some reasonable sentences, in no particular order, and then, after babbling for a while, answering the guy's question in one simple swift maneuver?
Joe Morgan: With Griffey it is all about health.
KT: Okay.
Joe Morgan: He never lost his ability to play.
KT: Probably true.
Joe Morgan: It's tough enough to play at 100 percent, so it's twice as difficult with the injuries he has had.
KT: I'd say it's more than twice as hard to play when you tear your hamstring. I'd say its infinity as hard to play, since, well, you can't play.
Joe Morgan: His potential is still unlimited as it has always been.
KT: His "potential?" We're still talking about Ken Griffey, Jr.'s potential? And not only are we talking about it, but we are saying it's "unlimited?" That's the thing we are saying about almost-36-year-old Ken Griffey, Jr. That his "potential" is "unlimited." Fine.
Joe Morgan: He's a phenomenon.
KT: Unclear why you added this. But you've done a good job by firing off like five weird sentences, so why don't you go ahead and just answer the guy's question easily and succinctly.
Joe Morgan: If he can stay healthy, he will hit into the 600's.
KT: Perfect. Thanks.
Robinson is a classic “what could have been” situation. He didn’t begin playing in the majors until he turned 28.
He had 10 great seasons, but I think he would have had several more productive seasons if he had been given the chance, not to mention the “unique” environment that he actually had to play in.
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Eddie Collins?
go here: http://i.a.cnn.net/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/2005/07/08/3000.club/collins.jpg
then go here: http://greenewable.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/681dopey-posters.jpg
Dopey? Actually, Collins nickname was “Cocky” (no lie). I was unable to verify the origin of this nick name, but some believe it can be traced to a back alley in Chinatown.
Collins is good. - A ton of walks, sb, runs, hits, total bases, triples, high obp. - Really good. I just think that Hornsby is better. And Collins played for the White Sox so I hate him.
Nap Lajoie is cool for the fact Cleveland named its team after him. Can you imagine the possibilities if the team was still called the Cleveland Naps? It would be awesome.
“Hornsby only had 10 excellent seasons?”
His 162 game average for 1920-1929 was .382/.460/.637/1.096
OPS?
1920 NL .990 (1st)
1921 NL 1.097 (1st)
1922 NL 1.181 (1st)
1923 NL 1.086 (1st)
1924 NL 1.203 (1st)
1925 NL 1.245 (1st)
1927 NL 1.035 (1st)
1928 NL 1.130 (1st)
1929 NL 1.139 (1st)
1931 NL .996 (1st)
That’s insane.
It’s weird, he played well after that, but he really just didn’t play much after the 29 season.
Then of course he was a sonofabitch. He was a legendary asshole. As in, he was greater at being a prick than he was at playing ball.
My favorite story is when the players of the St. Louis Browns presented own Bill Veeck with an engraved trophy because they were so happy that he fired Hornsby as manager.
And he wouldn’t read the paper or go to movies because he said it would ruin his eyesight. Sounds like a fun guy to hang out with.
But he's still my pick.
It's better to burn out than fade away.
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