Quote:
Originally Posted by jayshum
Are you saying you don't think either Rose or Ichiro were at least very good players? That's hard to agree with.
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No, I think they were great at one thing, I'm just not sure that one thing has enough value to elevate them to greatest living player.
It's impossible to ignore a player like Ichiro's peak, but when you look at his entire career and compare his final stats to other HOFers, I do think you're looking at a low-tier HOFer and I would say the same is true of Rose.
Ichiro: 757 career OPS with an OPS+ of 107
Rose: 784 OPS with an OPS+ of 118
All that to say I'm a big Ichiro fan and I loved watching him play. I just don't think he has a case for greatest living player and I don't think there's all that much separating him from Rose, so I have a hard time seeing Rose in the conversation. I think Wade Boggs was better than both of them and is probably the greatest living hitter from a batting title / average perspective. I think it was always Gwynn then Boggs as long as Gwynn was still alive.