most overrated player and pitcher

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Posted By: Peter Spaeth

I don't think we are saying inconsistent things about Mantle. In my original post I acknowledged he was a very great player. I just think that there is a disparity between his status as THE hobby icon (his cards sell for multiples of equivalent Mays cards for example, he is THE card to own in every set from 51-69, he has a mythical quality that greater players do not, and so forth ad nauseum) and his place in baseball history which is probably in the third or fourth team all time outfield. I would personally take Mays, Ruth, Cobb, Williams, Musial, DiMaggio, and Bonds ahead of him, and possibly Speaker and Jackson (Shoeless, that is) too. A great player can be overrated too. That was my only point. EDITED TO ADD You guys who think Koufax is overrated are in disagreement with no less an authority than Casey Stengel who called him the best pitcher he had ever seen.