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jay berhensbut by the same token, Jim Rice was the most feared hitter in baseball for about the same period of time that Koufax was a dominant pitcher, yet Rice is considered a boarderline HOFer. Why is he not held in the same reverence that Koufax is? Until recently, he was the last player to ahve 400 total bases in season among his other accomplishments.
I'm sorry, but being great for a few years doesn't make for an all-time great player. You need to do it for an extended period of time and 5 years just doesn't cut it, no matter how dominant you may have been for those 5 years.
If this were football, then I would say yes, 5 years of greatness can make for an all-time great, but we are talking baseball where 20 year carreers are not unusual. And if 5 years of greatness is the standard for a great career, then we are going to dilute the hell out the HOF and make the term all-time great meaningless.
Jay