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john/z28jd Gilbert,that would be true if the Collins example wasnt based on 5 or 6 eras,not just the best from his era. The other thing to consider is that another poll done mid-80's said Mike Schmidt passed Traynor as the best 3rdbaseman ever.If you consider that 20+ years after Traynor retired a majority of people thought Collins was actually better,then youre adding another era of players it took to have someone better come along.
How many great 3rdbaseman have come along since then? George Brett immediately comes to mind but he played over 1000 games at a position besides 3rdbase. Wade Boggs was a great hitter but because of the era differences its hard to say if he was really a better 3rdbaseman overall.Fielding-wise it was a more important position back in Collins era and he was known for his great glove and strong arm,so youd have to give him a big advantage over Boggs who started as a weak to average fielder and developed into a respectable one later in his career winning 2 gold gloves.
You might not look at Collins stats and be real impressed(except his fielding stats should) but its hard to argue with how well he compares to his peers thru the years