[skelly423]

Originally Posted by Mark17

I know this is an unpopular take on it, but Robinson was historically important largely because he was selected by Branch Rickey to be so. Could've been one of several black ballplayers with superior talent and extreme mental toughness, and there were guys like that who came later, like Doby, Aaron, Mays, Campanella, Newcombe, George Crowe, and later Clemente, Frank, Gibson, and etc.

I'm not taking anything away from Robinson or his historical significance, just saying Rickey was the one who had the ability and the will to break the color line, and he had several viable options. He chose Robinson and it was an excellent choice. But there were other black players, some who were better talent wise.

On talent, Ruth was the most important baseball player in history.

I won’t argue he was more talented than Ruth, and I don’t think anyone does. I’ll give you Aaron and Mays as well (again I don’t think you’ll get any debate there). I think my claim he is top 20 talent is legitimate. He put up 61 WAR in 10 MLB seasons, under the most extreme pressure a player ever faced, and those years don’t include any of his prime age 22-27 years. His WAR in his 10 seasons beat Joe DiMaggio’s WAR over the last 10 seasons of DiMaggio’s career (which began at age 24). His pioneer status rightfully draws the attention, but Robinson was a much better player than he gets credit for.