Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
I've seen this estimate.
The statisticians tell us that Williams, who was obsessed with personal achievements, would have compiled a .342 career average, 3,452 hits, 2,380 RBI and 663 home runs had he played without war-time interruption.
I think that's still second to Ruth -- God would have finished second to Ruth -- but obviously remarkable.
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Don't disagree, but then go look at their career WAR. Different sites seem to always have slightly different figures and exact ways they're calculating it, but if you look at them just for offensive WAR, Williams would likely just have topped Ruth if he hadn't missed those five years. But then add on Ruth's pitching WAR also and now he's back on top for total WAR over even Williams then. And even if looking just at offensive WAR, it would have taken Willams several more seasons than Ruth to just catch and equal him, still leaving Ruth in the top spot IMO, just Williams looking a lot closer maybe.
Replace Ruth's first 4-5 years as primarily a pitcher for the Red Sox, and back out the approximately 20.0 pitching WAR he generated during that time, and instead replace it with 4-5 years worth of his average offensive WAR, and you're likely looking at a career WAR for Ruth of 200.0 or better, even farther beyond what anyone else ever put up.
My one earlier comment about Williams possibly catching and besting Ruth is still true in regard to just offensive WAR, but that would primarily be due to Williams having played longer, not necessarily better, than Ruth.
And I still hate and don't fully understand a lot of these modern metrics and statistics, but because so many worship and quote them like they're gospel, one is forced to use or repeat them in conversations like this occasionally.