Iconic Players from each decade (50's/60's/70's)

[Vintagevault13]

I was sitting at home today on a lazy, rainy Sunday looking at some of my 1970's cards (the decade I collected as a kid) when I began thinking about the players that immediately come to mind when a decade is mentioned. I don't necessarily mean the BEST players, but the ones that are immediately connected to a time period. These would be the players that even non-baseball fans would have known about during each respective decade. I am sure this will elicit a variety of answers, but I am looking forward to reading the responses. I will get the ball rolling with mine from each decade. I was born in the mid 60's, so my pre-70's choices are based upon perception and things I have read/heard.

1970's:
1. Reggie Jackson - love or hate him, Reggie was the 70's (member of 5 World Series winners, the Bronx Zoo, sunglasses, mustache, Reggie Bar)
2. Tom Seaver
3. Nolan Ryan
4. Johnny Bench
5. Pete Rose
6. Mike Schmidt

1960's (It seems as if the 60's was a "national league" decade):
1. Hank Aaron
2. Roberto Clemente
3. Sandy Koufax
4. Bob Gibson


1950's:
1. Mickey Mantle
2. Willie Mays
3. Ted Williams
4. Yogi Berra
5. Duke Snider



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[KCRfan1]

I would add Musial to the 50's.

[Vintagevault13]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

I would add Musial to the 50's.

100% agree.

[Big Red Machine]

I think you would have to include Frank Robinson in the 1960's. Three World Series appearances and two MVP's (including a triple crown). He is always under appreciated.

[Kurri17]

Your lists are great. Lots of great players, but to be truly iconic and representative of the decade is tough. Whitey Ford comes to mind, along with Ernie Banks. From the '70s Catfish Hunter comes to mind, but again, your original list looks pretty good.

[rats60]

I would associate Mike Schmidt with the 80s.
1x World Champion
1x World Series MVP
2x NL Champion
3x NL MVP

all from 1980-89. During the 70s only 4 of 12 AS games, 3 of 8 HR titles and 4 of 10 gold gloves.

[Vintagevault13]

Originally Posted by rats60

I would associate Mike Schmidt with the 80s.

1x World Champion

1x World Series MVP

2x NL Champion

3x NL MVP



all from 1980-89. During the 70s only 4 of 12 AS games, 3 of 8 HR titles and 4 of 10 gold gloves.

Agreed. Great point.

[Neal]

For the 50s, I'd add Jackie Robinson, as well as Aaron. I'd also add Mays and Mantle to the 60s.

Carew is a very iconic 70s player, in my opinion, and Carlton moreseo than Seaver.

[Peter_Spaeth]

70s Carlton, Palmer, Morgan.

50s Spahn

60s Killebrew

[pokerplyr80]

Banks won a couple of MVP in the 50s. I think he deserves a spot.

[David W]

I was born in 1963, and raised in Central Illinois. I'll leave the 50's and 60's alone except to say it would seem Willie, Mickey, and the Duke along with Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson would be tough to beat for the 50's and Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Juan Marichal would seem to be the stars of the 1960's.

In the 1970's when we played baseball we were almost always one of these guys.

I think Pete Rose and Reggie were far and away the most popular baseball players where I was.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Neal

For the 50s, I'd add Jackie Robinson, as well as Aaron. I'd also add Mays and Mantle to the 60s.

Carew is a very iconic 70s player, in my opinion, and Carlton moreseo than Seaver.

Seaver is better than Carlton by any measure. Philly bias!!
Agree on Carew, something like 7 batting titles is nothing to sneer at even if the statisticians don't like his lack of power and low walks.

[David W]

And for the 80's in the Midwest, you had these guys. No one was bigger than Mike Schmidt and Dale Murphy, and every wanna be pitcher tried the peek a boo wind up like Fernando.

I ran a little league and pony league program in the early 80's between college years, and every coach for about a year always had to "Check the pine tar" hahahaha.

In 1984 all the Cub fans went nuts over Ryno, and gave new hope to that franchise.

Meanwhile, Gooden burst on the scene and the Cardinals and Mets had a nice mini rivalry for a few years.

Then Rickey, Raines, Willie, and Vince brought the stolen base to prominence.

Throw in a few back flips by the Wizard of Oz, and this was baseball in the Midwest in the 80's

[Peter_Spaeth]

Gotta include Gwynn and Ripken on any 80s list.

[Neal]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Gotta include Gwynn and Ripken on any 80s list.

agreed ....

since the 80s are being discussed, the decade begins and ends with Michael Jack Schmidt.

Add Brett, Rickey, Ripken, Gwynn, Boggs, and Rose as well

[jason.1969]

Biased on the first one by my Angeleno roots, but Steve Garvey, Pete Rose, and Reggie seemed like the 3 icons of the 70s to me. Anyone else voting for Garv6?

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[KCRfan1]

Love Garvey, and he was one of the games best clutch hitters. Super nice guy as well. I will always associate him with Dodger Blue!

[David W]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

Biased on the first one by my Angeleno roots, but Steve Garvey, Pete Rose, and Reggie seemed like the 3 icons of the 70s to me. Anyone else voting for Garv6?

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In the Midwest to us Cardinal fans, Garvey was a swear word, as he stole the 74 MVP from it's rightful owner, Lou Brock.

But he was an iconic 70's star.

1950's

Jackie Robinson

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

Love Garvey, and he was one of the games best clutch hitters. Super nice guy as well. I will always associate him with Dodger Blue!

Between getting a reputation as a jackass and sabrmetrics not liking his numbers so much, his stock has really dropped since his peak playing days.

[Touch'EmAll]

1960's = Jim Brown
1970's = Muhammad Ali

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by 100backstroke

1960's = Jim Brown
1970's = Muhammad Ali

Ali dominated the 60s too.

[mrmopar]

I don't care personally, but it is funny that the conversations that ultimately include Garvey as a fringe in most people's minds (HOF, this topic, best of ___), almost always turn into a minor bash session on him.

I have collected his stuff for pretty much my whole collecting career but have only met him once. He definitely gets downplayed now, but he was big in the 70s and was often referred to as a shoo in for the HOF. I guess for the sake of my wallet, I am glad he never did make the HOF. Imagine the rash of crap that would be made to commemorate that event, as is the case with every inductee now! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I would give a nod to Garvey for the 70s for sure.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Between getting a reputation as a jackass and sabrmetrics not liking his numbers so much, his stock has really dropped since his peak playing days.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

I don't care personally, but it is funny that the conversations that ultimately include Garvey as a fringe in most people's minds (HOF, this topic, best of ___), almost always turn into a minor bash session on him.

I have collected his stuff for pretty much my whole collecting career but have only met him once. He definitely gets downplayed now, but he was big in the 70s and was often referred to as a shoo in for the HOF. I guess for the sake of my wallet, I am glad he never did make the HOF. Imagine the rash of crap that would be made to commemorate that event, as is the case with every inductee now! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I would give a nod to Garvey for the 70s for sure.

Not bashing on him, just stating factually what happened. His personal life turned into a very well-publicized disaster. And he does not fare well by the sabrmetrics. He ranks 50TH at first base in JAWS for example -- kinda shocking given what seem to be some very good numbers.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

70s Carlton, Palmer, Morgan.

50s Spahn

60s Killebrew

Peter, you have no idea how many times I'm going to post something, only to find you've stolen my thunder as I scroll down.

Warren Spahn won a whopping 202 games in the 50s. How good is that? Consider the best win total by decade in the modern era (post 1919).

1920-1929:
Burleigh Grimes 190 wins
Eppa Rixley 166 wins

1930-1939:
Lefty Grove 199 wins
Carl Hubbell 188 wins

1940-1949:
Hal Newhouser 170 wins
Bob Feller 137 wins

1950-1959:
Warren Spahn 202 wins
Robin Roberts 199 wins

1960-1969:
Juan Marichal 191 wins
Bob Gibson 164 wins

1970-1979:
Jim Palmer 186 wins
Gaylord Perry 184 wins

1980-1989:
Jack Morris 162 wins
Dave Stieb 140 wins

1990-1999:
Greg Maddux 176 wins
Tom Glavine 164 wins

2000-2009:
Andy Pettitte 148 wins
Randy Johnson 143 wins

2010-2016:
Clayton Kershaw 104 wins
Max Scherzer 99 wins

While a couple other pitchers came close, Warren Spahn is the only pitcher in the modern era to average 20 wins a season for a full decade.

He had eight 20 win seasons, leading the league in wins six times in the 50s. Spahny is one of the most under-appreciated pitchers in the history of the game, if you ask me. He pitched twenty-one seasons, and won 20 or more in thirteen of them. And he threw a whopping 382 complete games.

And don't forget about Hank and Warren's teammate, Eddie Mathews. He was a stud in the 50s, as well. The guy hit 299 home runs in the decade even though he didn't play in 1950 or 1951. Only Duke Snider (326) and Gil Hodges (299) hit more in the decade, and they both played in all ten seasons.

Ted Williams and Joe Dimaggio would be the first two guys I think of for the 1940s.

[the 'stache]

Garvey, to me, was always a very good player, and incredibly consistent. But I just never thought he was a superstar. Even in the season he won the MVP, he only had a 130 OPS +.

I remember Garvey for playing every game, every season. And, every season, it seemed, he was getting 200 hits, 20 + home runs, and driving in 100 RBI. That's pretty good. But his career OBP is only .329. The National League OBP average between 1969 and 1987 is .320. His OBP is only 9 points higher than the league average during his career. If we're going to say that Roberto Clemente's career .359 OBP is somewhat low for a superstar, how low is a career mark 30 points lower than Clemente's? And Garvey's career SLG is only .446. I ran a report for all NL first baseman who had at least 3,000 ABs between 1969 and 1987. Keith Hernandez had a SLG one point lower than Garvey's, and he certainly was not a power hitter.

And while Garvey did win four Gold Gloves, metrics now show that perhaps he didn't deserve them. In the simplest terms, his dWAR for that four year period was a -2.4. Now, I take that with a grain of salt, because if we believe dWAR is accurate historically (I have my doubts), then Keith Hernandez, who is probably the best defensive first baseman I've seen in my lifetime was only worth slight over one win defensively (1.2 dWAR) during the 11 year period of 1978 to 1988, when he won twelve Gold Gloves.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Not bashing on him, just stating factually what happened. His personal life turned into a very well-publicized disaster. And he does not fare well by the sabrmetrics. He ranks 50TH at first base in JAWS for example -- kinda shocking given what seem to be some very good numbers.

[KCRfan1]

Nice points Bill. Spahn usually seems to be overlooked by some, including me.

[KCRfan1]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Between getting a reputation as a jackass and sabrmetrics not liking his numbers so much, his stock has really dropped since his peak playing days.

I can't speak for others experiences with him, but my personal experiences with Garvey were always very good.

Garvey was a very good player. Most teams would have loved to have had him playing for them. His OBP is skewed by his early and later years stats. During his peak with LA his OBP was only less than .341 once, and that was in '77 at .335. This covered a 7 year span. I would have loved to have had him on KC! The guy played almost every game, was good for almost 200 hits, 20+ home runs, 100 RBI's, and .300.

He raised his game in the post season hitting .338.

Sure he may not be HoF, but he was one of the best, if not the best, all around first base men in the game during the 70's.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Spahn had a great sense of humor too. Once Mays crushed a monster home run off him, in his rookie year I think, and reporters asked Spahn what had happened. He deadpanned, for the first 60 feet it was a great pitch.

[jason.1969]

Evaluation of Garvey retroactively sells him short vs who he was in the 70s. If you went back in time to the late 70s, he and Reggie ruled baseball, along with Carew, Rose, Reggie, Bench, Morgan, Seaver, Parker, Foster, Rice, Lynn, and a few others we practically ignore today.

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[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Spahn had a great sense of humor too. Once Mays crushed a monster home run off him, in his rookie year I think, and reporters asked Spahn what had happened. He deadpanned, for the first 60 feet it was a great pitch.

I once sat directly in front of Spahn at old County Stadium in 1977 at a Brewers game. He didn't crack a joke.

[the 'stache]

I don't think anybody here disagrees with the assertion that Garvey was a good, consistent player. We're talking Hall of Fame here.

As for his OBP being skewed by his early and late years, couldn't you really say that about any player? I mean, Robin Yount was a career .285 hitter. Between 1978 and 1989, twelve years, he hit a combined .301. We talked about Clemente's lifetime .359 OBP as being a bit low. Well, eliminate his first five years, leaving his last thirteen years, and his career OBP is .375.

Garvey's OBP, even during his prime years of 1974 to 1981 (only eight seasons), was still only .346. He was a .309 hitter during that span, but only walked, on average, 36 times a year. He averaged only 26 walks a season for his career, or 33 per 162 games played.

It's not a knock on Garvey. New metrics have changed the perceptions of some players. Garvey, unfortunately for his fans, might be one where his stature is diminished slightly. The guy only missed 8 games between 1974 and 1982. And he was very productive in his prime. I'll take consistency and reliability on my team any time.

Garvey is one of those guys I consider a .300 hitter, even though his lifetime is only .294. Mantle is another (and it killed him that he finished below .300 for his career). A few really down seasons at the end of a career doesn't sour an otherwise brilliant career. But for those players who really remained truly great hitters at an advanced age, like Clemente, it should only add to their reputation.

Originally Posted by KCRfan1

Garvey was a very good player. Most teams would have loved to have had him playing for them. His OBP is skewed by his early and later years stats. During his peak with LA his OBP was only less than .341 once, and that was in '77 at .335. This covered a 7 year span. I would have loved to have had him on KC! The guy played almost every game, was good for almost 200 hits, 20+ home runs, 100 RBI's, and .300.

[Peter_Spaeth]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/87...-espn-magazine

[KCRfan1]

I'm in agreement with you Bill.

Garvey was very good, just not good enough for the Hall.

Baseball seems to have become overly reliant on saber metrics at times, rather than sticking to the basics, like the stats on the back of a ball card.

[mckinneyj]

No Garvey wasn't "great" - but that's not what the OP was listing... he wrote this (see post #1)

> I don't necessarily mean the BEST players, but the ones that are immediately connected to a time period. These would be the players that even non-baseball fans would have known about during each respective decade. <

And I think that by that criteria Garvey fits - so too would a meteor like Fidrych in the 70s, and very good pitcher named Valenzuela in the 80s - even my non-sports fan grandmother knew who they were back in the day. She'd have known their names just as well as Jackie Robinson, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and Reggie Jackson. Their celebrity trascended the sports page - so even the "non sports fan" knew their names.

[blackandgold]

I think you could add Willie Stargell to the 1970's list.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Stargell is another one of those guys whose sabrmetrics seem out of line. I would have expected him to rank much better than this.

Hall Of Fame StatisticsPlayer rank in (·)


Black Ink Batting - 17 (135), Average HOFer ≈ 27

Gray Ink Batting - 125 (147), Average HOFer ≈ 144

Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 106 (151), Likely HOFer ≈ 100

Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 44 (128), Average HOFer ≈ 50

JAWS Left Field (15th), 57.5 career WAR/38.0 7yr-peak WAR/47.7 JAWS
Average HOF LF (out of 19) = 65.1 career WAR/41.5 7yr-peak WAR/53.3 JAWS

[jason.1969]

But can we all agree on Ruth for the 1920s? :-)

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[blackandgold]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Stargell is another one of those guys whose sabrmetrics seem out of line. I would have expected him to rank much better than this.

Hall Of Fame StatisticsPlayer rank in (·)


Black Ink Batting - 17 (135), Average HOFer ≈ 27

Gray Ink Batting - 125 (147), Average HOFer ≈ 144

Hall of Fame Monitor Batting - 106 (151), Likely HOFer ≈ 100

Hall of Fame Standards Batting - 44 (128), Average HOFer ≈ 50

JAWS Left Field (15th), 57.5 career WAR/38.0 7yr-peak WAR/47.7 JAWS
Average HOF LF (out of 19) = 65.1 career WAR/41.5 7yr-peak WAR/53.3 JAWS

Peter,
Thanks for posting those stats. I think that's one of the great things about baseball, you can have a discussion, and come at it from many different angles.
When I mentioned Stargell, it was coming from having the word "Iconic" in the thread. People still talk about his tape measure home runs, most of us imitated his windmill in the batters box, and the memory of his "Stargell stars" and the "We Are Family" 1979 World Series Championship team are familiar to even non-Pirates fans who are old enough to remember.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I don't think anybody here disagrees with the assertion that Garvey was a good, consistent player. We're talking Hall of Fame here.

As for his OBP being skewed by his early and late years, couldn't you really say that about any player? I mean, Robin Yount was a career .285 hitter. Between 1978 and 1989, twelve years, he hit a combined .301. We talked about Clemente's lifetime .359 OBP as being a bit low. Well, eliminate his first five years, leaving his last thirteen years, and his career OBP is .375.

Garvey's OBP, even during his prime years of 1974 to 1981 (only eight seasons), was still only .346. He was a .309 hitter during that span, but only walked, on average, 36 times a year. He averaged only 26 walks a season for his career, or 33 per 162 games played.

It's not a knock on Garvey. New metrics have changed the perceptions of some players. Garvey, unfortunately for his fans, might be one where his stature is diminished slightly. The guy only missed 8 games between 1974 and 1982. And he was very productive in his prime. I'll take consistency and reliability on my team any time.

Garvey is one of those guys I consider a .300 hitter, even though his lifetime is only .294. Mantle is another (and it killed him that he finished below .300 for his career). A few really down seasons at the end of a career doesn't sour an otherwise brilliant career. But for those players who really remained truly great hitters at an advanced age, like Clemente, it should only add to their reputation.

One of the things that I don't like is the use of OBP for middle of the lineup hitters. Garvey's peak was HOF worthy. Throw out the strike year of 1981 and from 1974-80 he averaged 201 hits and 104 rbis. I would rather have that than 150 hits 100 bbs and 75 rbi. Garvey may not have walked a lot, in part because he wasn't a big HR hitter, but he drove in runs. I think his relatively short peak of 74-81 keeps him out of the HOF.

[KCRfan1]

That stupid strike in ' 81 hurt a lot of players stat line.

[jason.1969]

Here is a different angle, focused on how the players were viewed during the decade rather than now. I don't want to confuse this approach with anything perfectly scientific, but it shows the relative frequency of each player's name within the Google corpus of works published in the 1970s. (You may have to click on it to make it legible. Or you can try making your own pretty quickly.) Based on the dozen or so names I tried, Reggie and Pete Rose seem head and shoulders above all others.

1970s NGrams.jpg

[jason.1969]

And here are the 50s and 60s...
1950s NGrams.jpg
1960s NGrams.jpg