First under appreciated player that pops into your head

[Flintboy]

Bill Freehan
11X All Star
5X Gold Glove
Worlde Series Championship

Not saying he’s a HOF but definitely underrated.

[isiahfan]

Originally Posted by Flintboy

Bill Freehan
11X All Star
5X Gold Glove
Worlde Series Championship

Not saying he’s a HOF but definitely underrated.

12-17-2022 11:49 PM
abothebear I like the Mel Ott suggestions because when I saw them I thought, “oh yeah, I forget about Mel Ott.”

But to answer the question of the OP, oddly, Troy Glaus was the first name to come to mind. But after a minute of thinking, Lance Parrish. So many guys are great for not quite long enough, and then they get sort of erased from memory.


Both of these...Tigers had an almost 30 year run of top C between Freehan and Parrish...and a couple nice years of Nokes.

Get tired of the top 15 guys being mentioned as underrated...by who?....Like me saying Kaline is underrated....not by anyone in Detroit!

Look at Lance's # vs Fisk/Carter...then look at Molina...This guy didn't even get a sniff on the ballot.

I will also add in Lolich...best Lefty of his era not named Carlton...again...no respect....I bet Bob Gibson didn't underrate him!

[skil55voy]

Originally Posted by isiahfan

12-17-2022 11:49 PM
abothebear I like the Mel Ott suggestions because when I saw them I thought, “oh yeah, I forget about Mel Ott.”

But to answer the question of the OP, oddly, Troy Glaus was the first name to come to mind. But after a minute of thinking, Lance Parrish. So many guys are great for not quite long enough, and then they get sort of erased from memory.


Both of these...Tigers had an almost 30 year run of top C between Freehan and Parrish...and a couple nice years of Nokes.

Get tired of the top 15 guys being mentioned as underrated...by who?....Like me saying Kaline is underrated....not by anyone in Detroit!

Look at Lance's # vs Fisk/Carter...then look at Molina...This guy didn't even get a sniff on the ballot.

I will also add in Lolich...best Lefty of his era not named Carlton...again...no respect....I bet Bob Gibson didn't underrate him!

+1 On Freehan and Lolich....There was an interview with Tim McCarver on a Bob Costas show talking about the 1968 World Series. McCarver said the guys were talking about Denny McLain, when Roger Maris (who had joined them in 67) said something to the effect that McLain was no worry, the one they really had to worry about was Lolich......

[Snowman]

Hitters:
It's gotta be Frank Robinson for me as well. He was an all-time great. He should be just one tier below Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, but he's usually an afterthought that gets placed several tiers too low. He gets no love. And since every thread needs a card, here's a Frank Robinson that I just won on eBay a few days ago

Pitchers:
Satchel Paige. Yes, he gets praise, but I believe he was the greatest pitcher who ever lived. He deserves more flowers.

Also, I find it interesting that some have stated Warren Spahn, as I believe he is the most overrated pitcher who ever lived. His stats were hyper-inflated by his ballparks (yes, so was Koufax, but not nearly to the extent that Spahn was). If you were to take all pitchers in MLB history and make adjustments to their numbers for park factors, Warren Spahn ranks as the #1 most helped-by-park pitcher in MLB history. That is to say that he would lose more WAR due to park adjustments than any other pitcher in history (depending on which WAR calculation you use, as some already bake this in). That said, Warren Spahn was indeed still one of the all-time greats. He just wasn't quite as great as everyone thinks he was.

[G1911]

I thought you’d pick Ryu

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Hitters:
It's gotta be Frank Robinson for me as well. He was an all-time great. He should be just one tier below Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, but he's usually an afterthought that gets placed several tiers too low. He gets no love. And since every thread needs a card, here's a Frank Robinson that I just won on eBay a few days ago

Pitchers:
Satchel Paige. Yes, he gets praise, but I believe he was the greatest pitcher who ever lived. He deserves more flowers.

Also, I find it interesting that some have stated Warren Spahn, as I believe he is the most overrated pitcher who ever lived. His stats were hyper-inflated by his ballparks (yes, so was Koufax, but not nearly to the extent that Spahn was). If you were to take all pitchers in MLB history and make adjustments to their numbers for park factors, Warren Spahn ranks as the #1 most helped-by-park pitcher in MLB history. That is to say that he would lose more WAR due to park adjustments than any other pitcher in history (depending on which WAR calculation you use, as some already bake this in). That said, Warren Spahn was indeed still one of the all-time greats. He just wasn't quite as great as everyone thinks he was.

+1 on every word. Totally agree.

One of my favorite cards is a 1962 Topps Frank Robinson.

I like Warren Spahn, but find him overrated as well.

If only we could have seen Satchel Paige in his prime...

I absolutely love my 1949 Bowman "Satchell" Paige. Got it years (decades now) ago for free, complete with pin hole. Another of my favorite cards.

[refz]

+1 Bill Madlock and Al Oliver. I will add Manny Trillo to under appreciated and seldom mentioned.

[Jobu]

I agree with the Stan Musial mentions. I will also add Paul Molitor to the list - 11th all time in hits in spite of some pretty significant injuries and never mentioned in conversations about the guys around him on the list.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by jingram058

+1 on every word. Totally agree.

One of my favorite cards is a 1962 Topps Frank Robinson.

I like Warren Spahn, but find him overrated as well.

If only we could have seen Satchel Paige in his prime...

I absolutely love my 1949 Bowman "Satchell" Paige. Got it years (decades now) ago for free, complete with pin hole. Another of my favorite cards.

I love both of those cards. The 62 Frank Robinson is indeed an awesome card. And the 49 Satch is very high on my want list. Just waiting for the right copy.