Most overrated baseball player of all time

nw, teams were more than happy to take their walks and advance on a wild pitch against ryan.

 

He also put two more guys on base via walk on average every game.

Has Maddux's ERA gone up? Yes. But it is still under the league average. It's not like Maddux is out there flailing around like Willie Mays on the Mets. Maddux's performance last year is not all that far removed from Ryan's 1992 when compared to the rest of the league. And if Maddux retires after this year, Ryan has a slightly better ending, but not by much. And the reason Ryan's looks better is because you don't have a strasopheric peak to compare him against.

 

Now, now ... leave bobble out of this, Zeke.

 

Ryan didn't have stratospheric stats? Bullshit. Granted, not as absurd as saying 19 no-hitters wouldn't mean anything, but still...

 

The Lions ain't been right as an organization since they threw about $17 million at Scott Mitchell in the winter of 1994. It has nothing to do with Barry Sanders. Pat Swilling was a really bad sign. The run and shoot became outmoded with the infusion of ill-suited talent. You can go on and on.

 

no leg to stand on, so you make it personal. i'd expect nothing less.

 

Kirby Puckett. Good player, but never should have made the HOF.

 

Yeah, better to walk a guy and give him one base instead of serving up homers.

Ryan: Allowed 321 HRs in 5386 IP
Maddux: Allowed 298 HRs in 4406 1/3 IP (entering this year)

Yeah, Ryan spent a lot of time in Houston, but he bookended that stint with long tenures in hitter-friendly Anaheim and Arlington.

 

But what the hell does him being thrown for losses have to do with the price of tea in China? To argue that the Cowboys and Lions had equivalent offensive lines and equivalent alternate threats would be absurd. Sanders was great with a fair to middling supporting cast. Smith was great with a great supporting cast. Smith bit it when he was with the Cardinals (granted, he should have retired by then). Sanders quit at his peak, so we'll never know his denouement. So in this case, I don't think we can really say which was better.

 

Now you're just smearing my words. I said stratospheric peak. Ryan had a three-year peak of 1972-74 where he was one of the best pitchers in the league. Not out of this world, but very, very, very good. At Maddux's peak of 1993-98, he was clearly and undisputably the best pitcher in all of baseball and had stratospheric stats. What Maddux is doing right now looks bad in comparison to that Koufaxian peak. Ryan never had that type of peak, so his stats don't look quite as bad in comparison.

 

I think I will since I've never taken part in a thread-jacking. The death of Eric Andolsek hurt the O-Line--which had a solid core of Lomas, Glover, Utley (another tragedy)--immensely. So naturally, they go out and throw tons and tons of money at the time for Bill Fralic, Dave Richards and some other scrub I can't remember. After Glover and Lomas left, Barry was stuck running behind guys who wouldn't have made the Cowboys second team.

If that line had been able to stay together, I have no doubt Barry would've run for 30,000 yards.

I'm also angry that saying "Barry" doesn't mean Barry Sanders anymore. Really angry.

 

Even Emmitt has said that Barry would have run away with the record. Sanders' totals behind an offensive line wracked by an injury as severe as they come, an accidental lawnmower death, no fullback to speak of and an offensive system that became a liability is a badge of honor.