Posted By:
GlennI don't think it makes sense to estimate how a player (Mantle, Mattingly, McGwire, etc.) would have performed if not for injuries and to give him credit for these projected stats in figuring where he ranks among the greats of the game. The reason is that being in good physical condition is the sine qua non of being a decent athlete, and if you can't even get that part down, you have no claim to being a great athlete.
I would treat differently Clemente or any other player whose failure to play at some point was not a function of his phenotypic quality. That Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Willie Mays and others lost time to military service does not reflect on their physical abilities, not negatively at least; and I think it is fair and conservative, particularly in the case of Williams, to assume that he would have had some good (.340, 30, 110) seasons in his mid-twenties and mid-thirties. Indeed, if one wants to compare him directly to Cobb, Ruth, or anyone else, I think it would be proper to delete the corresponding seasons' hits from the other for a more objective comparison of who was the better player.
[edited to correct typographical error]