I wouldn't even argue that Cy Young is one of the top 10 pitchers of all-time. The first part of his career was spent in a statistically different era. The second part in the dead ball era. His numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. One of the greats, without question. Doesn't even belong in the discussion of "greatest," in my opinion. I know that will be an unpopular view on this board.
I get the point about looking at average yearly performance vs. aggregate numbers, but there is also something to be said for sustained excellence. I'm not talking about mere longevity. No one is trying to say Jim Kaat was better than Sandy Koufax. But Mantle would have to have been MUCH better than Mays on the average to make up for how far behind his career numbers are. And he just wasn't.
I'm assuming you consider Mark McGwire to be the all-time home run king, right? He's the all-time career leader in HR per AB.
-Ryan
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