Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
I forget if Bill James addressed the Forbes Field factor. The notion that he could hit HRs when he wanted to, though, strikes me as absurd. Who would NOT want to, ever?
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Why did Harry Walker have to ask Clemente to try to hit HRs? Clemente valued hitting for a high average over trying to hit HRs. Just because you think every player should try to hit HRs doesn't mean every player does. Clemente was quoted as saying he didn't want to hit HRs because it would hurt his average because of Forbes Field.
What I find absurd is saying that one player could hit 600 HRs and another only 300 when head to head it was 33 to 29. If Clemente could hit 29 HRs when he tried to in the most difficult park in the NL, why couldn't average that in an average park if he wanted to?
Also in regards to Clemente's fielding percentage, that same argument has been made against Ozzie Smith. Clemente made 23 more outfield errors than Hank Aaron. He also produced almost 300 more put outs and 65 more assists. When you are making that many more plays than other players, those plays are going to be difficult, those are balls Aaron couldn't even get to, and that is not counting hits Clemente fielded that Aaron didn't. That is tremendous value.