Who was the Greatest Magician with the Lumber?

[Klrdds]

I don't know who would be the best magician but 2 things.
I played baseball in high school at the same time as Wade Boggs did in Tampa, FL and he was already a hitting legend then . The ball came off his bat literally like a rocket with a sound that you had never heard before. If you saw him play or had the unfortunate experience of pitching to him you knew he was special.
Also a friend of mine did spring training with the Padres back in the Gwynn era and he loves to tell stories of Gwynn's hitting practiices after regular BP during spring training. All the hopefuls would watch Gwynn hit baseballs after BP with a live arm full speed pitcher and hit the balls into 3-5 Home Depot buckets placed on their sides around the infield and outfield, and not finish until he had hit a set number of baseballs into these buckets. He always moved the buckets to different spots everyday and set a pre-determined number of balls to hit into them before he started. He did this everyday without fail my friend said and he had a number of people watching , and when he finished he would just smile at them with a confidence that said ...See that's how it's done !
That isn't a stat but shows true magic with the bat .

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

I don't know who would be the best magician but 2 things.
I played baseball in high school at the same time as Wade Boggs did in Tampa, FL and he was already a hitting legend then . The ball came off his bat literally like a rocket with a sound that you had never heard before. If you saw him play or had the unfortunate experience of pitching to him you knew he was special.
Also a friend of mine did spring training with the Padres back in the Gwynn era and he loves to tell stories of Gwynn's hitting practiices after regular BP during spring training. All the hopefuls would watch Gwynn hit baseballs after BP with a live arm full speed pitcher and hit the balls into 3-5 Home Depot buckets placed on their sides around the infield and outfield, and not finish until he had hit a set number of baseballs into these buckets. He always moved the buckets to different spots everyday and set a pre-determined number of balls to hit into them before he started. He did this everyday without fail my friend said and he had a number of people watching , and when he finished he would just smile at them with a confidence that said ...See that's how it's done !
That isn't a stat but shows true magic with the bat .

Another infuriating thing about Boggs -- in BP he would hit pitch after pitch out of the park, starting with left field and moving across to right. He had serious power but except for one weird year where he hit 24, seemed to prefer to hit for the high BA.

[frankbmd]

Unlike Boggs, Peter doesn't like chicken.

[Mike D.]

I didn't see Carew in his prime, so can't comment.

I grew up watching Boggs, but due to the state of baseball media at the time and the whole time-zone thing, didn't see a ton of Gwynn even though they were contemporaries.

Beyond the skills at getting hits, which both had in spades, they were different in more ways than they were similar.

One was an OF. One a 3B. One played in the NL. One the AL. One on the West Coast. One on the East. One was part of the biggest rivalry in sports (on both sides). One was in somewhat forgotten San Diego.

Boggs usually batted 1st. Gwynn usually batted 3rd, I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong on that).

Both AVERAGED 200 or more hits per 162 games played, which is nuts.

Both hit doubles in spades, and not nearly as many HR or triples.

Gwynn averaged 21 steals per 162 games. Boggs averaged 2.

Boggs averaged 94 BB and a .415 OBP per 162. Gwynn 52 and .388.

I think the difference in BB/OBP is the key difference when talking about a "magician" with the bat.

Oddly enough, Boggs used to get a lot of bad press about the walks (taking a walk and clogging up the bases instead of "trying to win the game".) We now know that kind of talk to be mostly foolish. OBP is one of the biggest ways a player can help a team win.

Anyway, if you give credit for the walks as magicianship (AKA "knowing the strike zone"), maybe that puts Boggs ahead.

At any rate, what we can all agree on is that they were all amazing hitters and players, and awesome to watch!

[DaMo]

I saw him play in his prime as a kid. He was thought of as a singles guy - but I went to a double header against the A's, and he went something like 6-8 with 3 doubles and a triple if I remember correctly. And all those balls were off the wall- hitting with a thud. The ball just jumped off his bat, and kind of like Aaron, it was a with a magician-like quick snap of the wrists.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Unlike Boggs, Peter doesn't like chicken.

Or Margo Adams.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Or Margo Adams.

How about insane amounts of Miller Lite?

[homerunderby]

Great hitters all of them but only Boggs got 3 hits right after drinking as many as 70 beers in a coast-to-coast flight. RIP Wade Boggs.