Mays/Mantle/Aaron

[jason.1969]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Fun hypothetical. No wrong answers here, that's for sure!

I personally value peak performance most of all-- and also am assuming we are making this choice in a hypothetical parallel reality, in which each man is starting from their rookie season over with of course the same talent and potential. As if they were alive today and all three were there for the drafting.

Given Mantle's freak injury in that early stage of career, and given how teams today can better "life coach" their players (Josh Hamilton notwithstanding), I would choose The Mick. When all three were performing at their peak level, he had the edge. He also had that "je ne sais quoi," that x-factor, that star quality, which put butts in seats like no other (though the other two had it as well, just to lesser degrees).

Maybe. But I'm thinking Mays and Aaron might have been even better had they been able to sleep on comfortable beds, eat real meals, not heard "nigger" yelled at them while they played, and been supported and accepted by all their teammates. It's obviously hypothetical, but I think these things would have impacted their stat lines and star power were they playing today vs during Jim Crow.

[majordanby]

looks like baseball prospectus (nate silver) appears to select mays, at least on a season by season basis and using one metric (he discusses mantle vs mays and states that peak performance mays was better than peak performance mantle)

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=6734

[majordanby]

and Bill James compares mantle and mays and chooses mantle in his Historical Baseball Abstract.

[brian1961]

All three were players that could, and did, beat you time after time after time.

At the end of the day, I guess it comes down to, for me, what player has left me with an impact that is simply mammoth, and which will not change---Mickey Mantle.

Collectors and/or fans of Hank or Willie are convinced about them, and they are most correct. Both of them were awe-inspiring and the man you had to stop on their respective teams if you were going to beat them, though Willie benefited greatly by the emergence of Willie McCovey. Hank just kept going, and going, and going---amazing.

So, it becomes an endless argument in the Hot Stove League. I get so tired of hearing all the "Mantle should have taken better care of himself" and "Mantle was always partying and drunk". I'm rather certain in his darkest private thoughts, Don Mattingly wishes hard and viciously condemns himself for throwing away a Hall-of-Fame career with that stupid clubhouse wrestling match he had with pitcher Mike Witt (?/?) that resulted in Don injuring his back, and affected him for the rest of his then curtailed career. We will never know how good Mick would have been had he not had that terrible injury in the 1951 World Series. The only thing I will say about the other matters is that the man was absolutely convinced he would be dead by age 40, just as his dad and other men in his family.

There is a great deal of "the underdog" in the personna of Mickey Mantle. As Hank Bauer very vehemently put it, and I am paraphrasing, for someone who was injured as much as Mickey and partied so hard, I think he did awful good. If that makes you gnash your teeth, I would encourage you to stop lest you chip or fracture those choppers. Just ask Yosemite Sam after what Bugs Bunny did to him in "Buccaneer Bunny". I think we could all do with a laugh right now.

We're all correct, and happy in what we collect. Cheers. --Brian Powell

[egri]

For peak--Mantle

For career--Aaron

For all-around--Mays

[D. Bergin]

Let's not forget about Mays, who led the league in OBP in 1971, after he was supposedly washed up. Throw in 23 steals against only 3 caught.

4th in the league in OPS, 5th in the league in Offensive WAR.

Not bad for a 40 year-old.

Those years he was in "decline" were also years most everybody else in baseball not named Aaron or Yaz, were in "decline".

As to the question, I'd have to flip a coin it's so hard to choose. I'd probably have to go with the durability of Aaron, who led the league in Total Bases 8 times, as opposed to 3 for the other two.

Mickey was probably the most electric of the bunch, but when you factor in that the Yankees had to play their 4th outfielder every time he was out, he's gotta take a slight hit for that.

[refz]

Im in favor of the mick.. all three players were spectacular. Aaron was never hurt and I wonder if the braves fences were pushed back how much that would affect his career

[RTK]

Originally Posted by egri

For peak--Mantle

For career--Aaron

For all-around--Mays

Sounds good to me, I second that.