Quote:
Originally Posted by CMIZ5290
So....Based on this, Speaker and Johnny Mize are comparable in your data??
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only as hitters, and only when compared as just hitters.
Speaker maintained that level for nearly 1000 more games and 3800 more plate appearances, and played the OF rather than 1b like Mize (which gives his defensive value more of an edge. Not to mention Speaker was an elite baserunner and Mize was a below avg one.
for the first 9 years of his career Mize was an elite hitter, his last 5 seasons brought him down a good bit. (whereas Speaker had 18 years of elite hitting, which is pretty damn amazing)
Speaker was a great player for 18 years, an above avg player for 3 and an avg player for one. Mize was an elite player for 9 years an above avg player for 1 and an avg player for 4 years.
The reason their total WAR is so much different (130.6 for Speaker vs 68.6 for Mize )comes down to longevity, quality of production over time , base running and defense (tho speaker doesn't have elite defensive numbers, but by playing a harder position he gets a little more credit versus playing 1b which is the easiest position defensively after DH (which didn't exist then))
ETA: to sum up, if two guys had about equal bats but one guy did it for 19 years and the other for 9 I think you'd value the length of the production more (which is why Speaker is an elite player, production + longevity of said production)