Quote:
Originally Posted by oldjudge
Obviously, by this time everyone knows that Player A is Joe DiMaggio and player B is Mickey Mantle. After Mantle retired in 1969 baseball selected its’ all time team. the outfield: Ruth, Cobb and DiMaggio. In 1994, Ted Williams was asked to rank the greatest hitters ever. On his list DiMaggio was number 5, Mantle was number 12. I just think that after both have been long retired Mantle continues to get better relative to DiMaggio. This is just hitting. As a fielder DiMaggio was clearly better. Mantle was routinely replaced in late innings for defensive purposes. DiMaggio was the premier center fielder of his day.
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In that same ranking, Pie Traynor was selected as the greatest third baseman of all time, and Mickey Cochrane was the greatest catcher. DiMaggio, meanwhile, refused to go to events for the rest of his life unless he was introduced as "the greatest living ballplayer," which was probably never true for a single day of his life.