What’s the obsession with Mickey Mantle?

[oldjudge]

Batting third for the Yankees, Mantle’s most important job was to knock in runs. In his 18 seasons he finished with 1509 RBIs. In less seasons those all time greats Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Jeff Bagwell and Harry Hellmann had more RBIs. Lou Gehrig had 473 more RBIs in two less seasons. DiMaggio had more RBIs than Mantle and he played five fewer years.

[ls7plus]

Nice try, but all of those pure counting numbers are context dependent, i.e. directly related to the conditions under which the game in those respective eras was being played, and the relative ease or difficulty in scoring runs. A proper comparison, entails the use of statistics which control for the difference in those conditions. Those that I have used above perform exactly that function.

Sincerely,

Larry

[oldjudge]

Larry, I repeat, Mantle’s job batting third for the Yankees was to drive in runs. I took a look at one of the players I mentioned, Harry Hellmann, and compared his impact on his team to the impact of Mantle on his. What I compared was, over the course of their careers what percentage of their teams runs did the knock in. Interestingly, Mantle knocked in 12% of the Yankees runs. Hellmann, hardly the face of the hobby, knocked in 14% of his team’s runs.
In 1961, after he had left the Yankees, Casey Stengel put together a list of the greatest players he had seen, by league, at each position. He listed three American League center fielders: Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio. Mantle didn’t even get an honorable mention.

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Larry, I repeat, Mantle’s job batting third for the Yankees was to drive in runs. I took a look at one of the players I mentioned, Harry Hellmann, and compared his impact on his team to the impact of Mantle on his. What I compared was, over the course of their careers what percentage of their teams runs did the knock in. Interestingly, Mantle knocked in 12% of the Yankees runs. Hellmann, hardly the face of the hobby, knocked in 14% of his team’s runs.
In 1961, after he had left the Yankees, Casey Stengel put together a list of the greatest players he had seen, by league, at each position. He listed three American League center fielders: Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio. Mantle didn’t even get an honorable mention.

Interesting that you brought up Harry Heilmann. One of the most underrated hitters of all-time. In the 1920s, he had one .403 season and batted over .390 three other seasons to the tune of a .342 lifetime average. 5 separate seasons exceeded a 1.000 OPS. Hornsby & Cobb-like figures. Incredible numbers. One could easily argue that along with Hornsby, Foxx, Aaron, Ramirez, Pujols and Cabrera, he resides as one of baseball’s greatest all-time right-handed hitters.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Interesting that you brought up Harry Heilmann. One of the most underrated hitters of all-time. In the 1920s, he had one .403 season and batted over .390 three other seasons to the tune of a .342 lifetime average. 5 separate seasons exceeded a 1.000 OPS. Hornsby & Cobb-like figures. Incredible numbers. One could easily argue that along with Hornsby, Foxx, Aaron, Ramirez, Pujols and Cabrera, he resides as one of baseball’s greatest all-time right-handed hitters.

Just wanted to acknowledge the props for HH

[aconte]

Harry Heilmann

Most people have no idea who this guy is.

Most collectors know the name Scott Hileman of SGC better than Harry
(not here of course).

So you can't be surprised why Harry and most other players take a major
back seat when it comes to card prices of Mick.

[Throttlesteer]

Originally Posted by aconte

Most people have no idea who this guy is.

Most collectors know the name Scott Hileman of SGC better than Harry
(not here of course).

So you can't be surprised why Harry and most other players take a major
back seat when it comes to card prices of Mick.

Arguably the best HOFer that your average fan has never heard of. Not a lot of Slug cards out there.

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by aconte

Most people have no idea who this guy is.

Most collectors know the name Scott Hileman of SGC better than Harry
(not here of course).

So you can't be surprised why Harry and most other players take a major
back seat when it comes to card prices of Mick.

delete