I guess I'm asking why a player of Ted's caliber routinely missed 20-60+ games a year for big chunks of his career?
Even before he left for Korea, he only played in 89 games in 1950. He also missed a lot of games after he came back in '54 and '55 before your 1956-60 average kicks in.
Did he have chronic health issues that weren't quite as publicized as Mantle and his creaky knees? Did he come out of that plane crash as unscathed as some reports suggest, or were there lingering injuries as a result?
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