MLB Greats Who Bordered on Post Season Zero's Or Mediocre

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by rats60

Barry Bonds .191 with 1 HR and 3 RBI without steroids was a total zero.

Willie Mays .248/.343/.325 1 HR in 134 PA was almost as bad.

Clayton Kershaw 4.22 ERA in 194 is the worst for pitchers with 100+ innings.

Roger Clemens was almost as bad with his 3.75 ERA (3.88 ERA 1-2 in 9 starts without steroids).

Its true that Mays was not his dominant self with the bat in the postseason. Unfortunately for him, much of his postseason experience was well before and after his prime. I believe the stat line you sight includes the Negro League World Series, when Willie was just 17 years old. Mays also struggled in the WS during his rookie year in the MLB in 1951 when he was 20. In limited playing time, he also wasn't his dominant self with the Mets in 1973, his final season, at age 42.

But if you look at his other postseason appearances (ages 23, 31 and 40) he was was a little better. His slash line for those years was .263/.353/.403. Not great for Willie, but not a total disaster either.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Its true that Mays was not his dominant self at the bat in the postseason. Unfortunately for him, much of his postseason experience was well before and after his prime. I believe the stat line you sight includes the Negro League World Series, when Willie was just 17 years old. Mays also struggled in the WS during his rookie year in the MLB in 1951 when he was 20. In limited playing time, he also wasn't his dominant self with the Mets in 1973, his final season.

But if you look at his other postseason appearances (ages 23, 31 and 40) he was was a little better. His slash line for those years was .263/.353/.403. Not great for Willie, but not a total disaster either.

WIllie was on deck when Bobby Thomson went deep.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

WIllie was on deck when Bobby Thomson went deep.

Its true. I also heard about a Catch he made in the '54 Series. Supposed to have been really impressive or something.

[G1911]

Political insults by post 12. Sounds about right.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by G1911

Political insults by post 12. Sounds about right.

Working our way up to personal attacks and fat jokes. Just getting warmed up!

[G1911]

Originally Posted by raulus

Working our way up to personal attacks and fat jokes. Just getting warmed up!

We don’t get many good fat jokes, but I’m crossing my fingers.

The only thing larger than the backlog at PSA is some card collectors’ waistlines.

I won’t quit my day job.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by G1911

We don’t get many good fat jokes, but I’m crossing my fingers.

The only thing larger than the backlog at PSA is some card collectors’ waistlines.

I won’t quit my day job.

There were a few attempts here:

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=326441

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Its true. I also heard about a Catch he made in the '54 Series. Supposed to have been really impressive or something.

The astonishing thing about the catch is not how much ground he covered so quickly, but how he instantly judged the flight of the ball and ran to the exact right place.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

The astonishing thing about the catch is not how much ground he covered so quickly, but how he instantly judged the flight of the ball and ran to the exact right place.

And then fires a bullet to 2nd base to keep the runner on first from advancing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7bLt2xKaNH0

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

And then fires a bullet to 2nd base to keep the runner on first from advancing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7bLt2xKaNH0

Clemente would have thrown the ball on a fly to the first baseman and doubled up the runner.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

The astonishing thing about the catch is not how much ground he covered so quickly, but how he instantly judged the flight of the ball and ran to the exact right place.

What got me was how after the catch he instantaneously turned and fired the ball back to the infield.

[Yoda]

I believe it was the '52 WS, between the Yanks and the Dodgers, when poor Gil Hodges seemed hopeless at the plate. He was about 0-15 when his local priest in Brooklyn asked at Mass for all to pray for Gil. The Yanks won in 7 games, thanks in major part to Billy Martin's sensational infield catch. 'Dem Bums! Wait till next year.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Its true that Mays was not his dominant self at the bat in the postseason. Unfortunately for him, much of his postseason experience was well before and after his prime. I believe the stat line you sight includes the Negro League World Series, when Willie was just 17 years old. Mays also struggled in the WS during his rookie year in the MLB in 1951 when he was 20. In limited playing time, he also wasn't his dominant self with the Mets in 1973, his final season, at age 42.

But if you look at his other postseason appearances (ages 23, 31 and 40) he was was a little better. His slash line for those years was .263/.353/.403. Not great for Willie, but not a total disaster either.

He was ROY in 1951, so I don't think it is fair to discount that WS. I forgot bbref adds the NMLBs. Taking just his Giants postseasons .241 BA .342 SLG and 1 HR in 22 games. Mays was always great in the field, but he never had a great offensive postseason. Compare that to Clemente and Aaron who were exceptional and Mantle, although his BA was . 257, slugged .535 with 18 HRs.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by rats60

He was ROY in 1951, so I don't think it is fair to discount that WS. I forgot bbref adds the NMLBs. Taking just his Giants postseasons .241 BA .342 SLG and 1 HR in 22 games. Mays was always great in the field, but he never had a great offensive postseason. Compare that to Clemente and Aaron who were exceptional and Mantle, although his BA was . 257, slugged .535 with 18 HRs.

Mays slugged .600 with an OPS .989 during his 1971 postseason. Even by Mays' standards, that is pretty great.

No one is claiming Mays was better than Clemente, Aaron, or Mantle in the postseason.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Mays slugged .600 with an OPS .989 during his 1971 postseason. Even by Mays' standards, that is pretty great.

No one is claiming Mays was better than Clemente, Aaron, or Mantle in the postseason.

And yet the World Series MVP is named after him…

[rats60]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Mays slugged .600 with an OPS .989 during his 1971 postseason. Even by Mays' standards, that is pretty great.

No one is claiming Mays was better than Clemente, Aaron, or Mantle in the postseason.

In the same series Bob Robertson hit .438/.438/1.250/1.688 with 4 HRs.

Mays was ok, Robertson was great.