OT: Trout vs. Mantle

[RTK]

I barely recall Mantle only from televison after his prime, still, his aura was huge from what I recall. I've seen Trout play, he's a player for the ages. It's unreal how Mantle like he is. We should feel blessed as baseball fans to have his enthusiasm for the game, in the game. If you haven't seen him in person, you should.

[Runscott]

First time I saw Trout was in 2012 at Seattle. We sat right behind the Angels' dugout. Trout made a point of jogging over to Tori Hunter at the end of each inning and joking around with him all the way to the dugout. When Hunter came out of the game, his replacement tried to talk to Trout on the way in from the outfield after each inning, and each time Trout totally ignored him.

Seemed to me that Trout was letting his 'maybe-a-Mantle' status go to his head quite early in his career.

[Centauri]

Wasn't Barry Bonds the next Mantle?

[Runscott]

It's a long list. I believe the first one was Bobby Murcer.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Centauri

Wasn't Barry Bonds the next Mantle?

So was Kirk Gibson.

[Runscott]

ML history is littered with guys who were studs for 5-8 years, then fell off the charts. Early comparisons are fine, and unavoidable if you follow baseball with any passion, but we'll see if he goes the way of Mattingly, Garciaparra, etc.

As he's a friggin Angel, I sort of hope he fades away in some manner that doesn't involve much pain.

[Peter_Spaeth]

What's gone wrong with Bryce Harper, speaking of can't miss prospects?

[shelly]

I saw Mantle play his first and last games. In ten years ask the question.

[icollectDCsports]

The Greats of the Game are so revered that it's natural (so to speak) to wonder which of the players we're now watching will join that group.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

What's gone wrong with Bryce Harper, speaking of can't miss prospects?

You can't expect every can't miss prospect to live up to their hype the way Strasburg has.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

What's gone wrong with Bryce Harper, speaking of can't miss prospects?

His health.

He missed 44 games last year and has missed 60 this year.

[three25hits]

Not a bad list...

Similar Batters through 21
Compare Stats to Similars

Frank Robinson (957) *
Mickey Mantle (939) *
Orlando Cepeda (929) *
Al Kaline (924) *
Jimmie Foxx (922) *
Vada Pinson (922)
Ted Williams (918) *
Hank Aaron (917) *
Ken Griffey (915)
Tony Conigliaro (907)

* - Signifies Hall of Famer

[Section103]

Why Mantle? Its not even a given that he was the best centerfielder in his era.