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Old 03-08-2006, 09:13 AM
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Default Ranking Joe Jackson

Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

To take that point a bit further:

Cobb RBI/5.9AB Jackson RBI/6.3AB

Cobb was a bit more efficient in the RBI category but all things considered somebody could debate that Jackson had less opportunities for RBI because of his place in the batting order or because he played on teams that didn't score as often as Cobbs teams...

Something to consider is that those totals include Cobbs whole career which was played from the time he was 18 to 42. Jackson played from ages 18 to 31. That means all of Cobbs totals would include his last years which are typically the declining years for a player. Funny thing is that Cobbs declining years would be considered career years for others, I guess that's why Cobb is rated so high.

Longevity and consistency. It would be difficult to compare Cobb and Jackson's careers because of the difference in the amount of time played. Nobody will ever know if Jackson would have put up great numbers for another 10 years? Perhaps he could have had a higher lifetime average than Cobbs if he were allowed to play, maybe his average would have dropped to the .340 level (still great, but that would have put him below Ruth).

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