Quote:
Originally Posted by campyfan39
A thought I had is that Hank isn't as beloved for whatever reason as those other guys. His personality since retirement (talking about race so much and being unfriendly at card shows) may have something to do with it.
His accomplishments are amazing regardless.
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You are confusing Mays and Aaron w/r/t card show behavior. I have had the pleasure of meeting Aaron at a couple of shows and he was always a perfect gentleman, cordial and pleasant. Mays acts like fans are something nasty he tracked in on his shoe.
I don't follow all the stats gobbledygook like I should, but one thing to consider is that Mantle's great seasons took place in a concentrated period; at the start of his career he was promising and for five of the last six years he played he was mediocre and injured; by the time he was 33 he was basically finished as an elite player. Aaron stayed on track as an elite player for 18 years, even through the greatest surge of pitching in history, and into his 40s. Some people piss all over consistency, but consistency is a good thing if I am building a team. Here's what I love about Aaron if
I am building a team, over Mantle:
Total Bases:
1955 NL 325 (6th)
1956 NL 340 (1st)
1957 NL 369 (1st)
1958 NL 328 (3rd)
1959 NL 400 (1st)
1960 NL 334 (1st)
1961 NL 358 (1st)
1962 NL 366 (3rd)
1963 NL 370 (1st)
1965 NL 319 (4th)
1966 NL 325 (4th)
1967 NL 344 (1st)
1968 NL 302 (2nd)
1969 NL 332 (1st)
OPS
1955 NL .906 (9th)
1956 NL .923 (5th)
1957 NL .978 (3rd)
1958 NL .931 (4th)
1959 NL 1.037 (1st)
1960 NL .919 (5th)
1961 NL .974 (3rd)
1962 NL 1.008 (2nd)
1963 NL .977 (1st)
1964 NL .907 (6th)
1965 NL .938 (2nd)
1966 NL .895 (8th)
1967 NL .943 (3rd)
1968 NL .852 (5th)
1969 NL 1.003 (2nd)
1970 NL .958 (6th)
1971 NL 1.079 (1st)
1972 NL .904 (5th)
1973 NL 1.045 (2nd)**
He beat the...snot out of the ball during three decades and got on base a lot, and kept it up as compared to his peers for a very long time. The proof is in the cards. Really. As any Aaron collector can tell you, one of the most annoying things about collecting Aaron cards is that if you decide to go after leader cards you have to pick up
so many of the damned things; it is just a good thing they didn't make them in the 1950s.