2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

You missed the whole bit about that being the same as basing a global warming argument on today's weather, didn't you?

 

Hey jerkwad I haven't been here for months. There's a lot I've missed.

(Left you a wide-open layup there, you're welcome!)

 

Losing Markakis hurts, obviously, but the Orioles have been defying the odds all season. See no reason why it will stop now.

 

Maybe you and I read that list differently. I read that as saying that an overweight recovering alcoholic is way off the pace. He's 30 behind Aaron, who was a paragon of fitness and an excellent home-run hitter into his 40s.

 

if not for korea, we'd probably have a different true home run king other than aaron.

 

Probably not, but Willie Mays also stayed in great shape for most of his career.

 

hey, it was in a time leading up to his wheelhouse and nearly two full seasons. he stood an outside shot ... plus it supports me crowning him the best player ever much better. : )

 

he hit 92 in the two years after he came back from the war.

 

Right, and he was 85 off Aaron's pace and missed about 1.75 seasons, so he might have challenged it. But he was younger in those years and still not at his power peak.

The real problem for Mays was that he tailed off in his mid-30s. At 37:

Barry Bonds: .370/.582/.799, 46 homers
Hank Aaron: .327/.410/.669, 47 homers
Babe Ruth: .341/.489/.661, 41 homers
Willie Mays: .289/.372/.488, 23 homers

After his 35-year-old season, Mays hit 118 homers. Bonds hit 268, Aaron 201, Ruth 149.

I support Ruth as the best ever because of his pitching but Mays as the best position player ever. I don't think the home run crown really matters that much.

 

bonds doesn't deserve to even be mentioned in the same breath as those guys. we all know why he's the "home run champ," so there's no need to throw him in there in a conversation with me.

also, as far as mays is concerned, he sure did find his stroke the day he returned from korea, so we really don't know what he may or may not have done if he had stayed.

and mays vs. ruth? well, i don't think the two of them can even be compared defensively ... not even in the same breath. you can throw out ruth's pitching, and i can toss out the fact that mays faced guys like gibson and jenkins.

for my money, i've always had to go with mays. it's difficult to argue ruth ... although i just might have. ; )

 

My argument for Babe Ruth isn't based in statistics because eras and playing fields are very difficult to account for by any measure. Ruth was one of the five best pitchers in baseball for a couple seasons, then he was the best hitter in baseball for at least 10. That includes Negro leaguers.

And revisionists say he was actually a fine fielder and baserunner, much faster than his figure might indicate.