Quote:
Originally Posted by packs
I agree wholeheartedly that if Mantle was healthy his whole career, he's the best player since Babe Ruth. But he wasn't and I'd rather have Hank for 23 years than Mantle's injury laden career. In Mick's final 4 seasons his RBI high was 56. That's pretty bad. And he was only 33 years old when he went into his decline. Hank would hit 40 homers or more 3 times after his 33rd birthday.
As a complete player over an entire career, if I'm starting my team and I want to have a cornerstone for the next 20 years I'm picking Hank first.
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Considering that Mantle averaged fewer than 400 official ABs over those four seasons and that his leadoff men were the OBP-challenged Bobby Richardson and Horace Clarke his RBI #s are not bad. In fact, in those seasons the highest single year OBP for a Yankee regular other than Mantle was .350 (Roy White). You can't knock in people who are not on base, particularly when you are constantly pitched around.
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