OT: Trout vs. Mantle

[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.

[darwinbulldog]

I have my own formula for calculating how great a career someone has had. Using that formula (I acknowledge you have every reason to be skeptical of its validity, but if you trust me...)

I've scaled the scores so pitchers and non-pitchers can be ranked fairly on the same list.

Babe Ruth (1st) scores a 45.7,
Mickey Mantle (21st) scores a 17.0,
and Mike Trout is at a 5.2, which means he's already had one of the 200 greatest total careers in MLB history if he retires today! In all likelihood he moves into the top 100 next year.

Anything over an 8 almost always gets a guy into Cooperstown, so the 5.2 is ridiculous for someone who is at the age when a big league career would normally be starting. If I had to put money on it, I'd say he'll end up ahead of the Mick, but of course [insert your favorite sports cliché here].

[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.

[Sean]

I think the comparison is being made to Mantle because Trout is more similar in skills and abilities to Mick than to Mays. That's not to say that Mantle was better than Mays.