In 1968, Kaline posted an OPS+ (I can't think of a better solitary figure of general offensive performance) of 146. In 1971, 144. In 1972, 149 (which is better than Clemente). He wasn't a slouch in '69 or '70 either. From 1968-1972, Clemente posted an OPS+ of 153, Kaline of 134.
73 and 74, Kaline's bat was league average. Kaline was below the league average 3 times, Clemente was below average for 4 years, though he didn't play out his decline, for tragic reasons. I don't think anything thinks Kaline was performing like a star his final 2 years.
Clemente is definitely better from 1968-1972; which I suppose is the whole point of focusing on this section. Nobody is arguing that Kaline was better in this selected period. Clemente is a player I greatly admire and like. But we need not claim Kaline was performing as an average to below average player at his position(s) starting in 1968; that's just not there in the data. He clearly was not. Let's not get hyperbolic.
Kaline was far above an average player in 1972, as was Clemente. Even if we pretended Kaline was a 1B exclusively for the sake of argument. Average 1B weren't posting OPS' of that caliber, RF's were not either. Nowhere near.
I should probably stop before ClementeFan has a heart attack and goes apeshit on a fourth poster now.
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