Greatness Among Us!

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by donmuth

This would be super interesting to research to find out how many of Ruth's HRs occurred during which plate appearance in a game, on average, and compare that to some modern sluggers. I can see a graph of it in my head. Not sure how to extract the data though. Anyone have some extra time on their hands?

Surface level:

Ruth hit .365 from the 7th-9th innings with 202 homers. He hit .355 facing a starter the 3rd time and .357 the 4th time. He hit .350 overall against relievers.

Ohtani is a career .274 hitter. He's hitting .279 in the 7th-9th. .290 facing starters for the 3rd time. .267 against relievers.

[RCMcKenzie]

I thought this thread was going to be about a net54 member.

I thought Geddy Lee was back on here posting again or something. Like a regular poster was going to be on the Tonight Show or something.


Ohtani is fun to watch when he's pitching a 2-0 game with 2 homers of his own. It is kind of a novelty act though. It's not like he's a better player than Yordan Alvarez or Kyle Tucker. Like I would not trade away Mookie Betts for him.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I might trade Betts, but if you offered me Ohtani for Acuna in a situation where I would expect to have either one for many years, I would psss without hesitation.

[CJinPA]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I might trade Betts, but if you offered me Ohtani for Acuna in a situation where I would expect to have either one for many years, I would psss without hesitation.

No offense meant by my response - your statement above is why you wouldn't be an MLB GM.

A #1-3 starting pitcher in the MLB who can throw 190-235 IP/yr are absolute GOLD!! On top of that, the player is a .275+ power bat! If the Braves could lock up Ohtani for 5 years, you bet your last $$$ that they would do a straight-up Ohtani/Acuna deal.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by CJinPA

No offense meant by my response - your statement above is why you wouldn't be an MLB GM.

A #1-3 starting pitcher in the MLB who can throw 190-235 IP/yr are absolute GOLD!! On top of that, the player is a .275+ power bat! If the Braves could lock up Ohtani for 5 years, you bet your last $$$ that they would do a straight-up Ohtani/Acuna deal.

No offense taken, it's just opinions, but I think where we differ is you're assuming it's a safe bet Ohtani will keep producing at his current pace in both positions and I think that's a significant risk. I am not trading away arguably the best position player in baseball, who btw is years younger than Ohtani, for that risk. No thank you.

[CJinPA]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

No offense taken, it's just opinions, but I think where we differ is you're assuming it's a safe bet Ohtani will keep producing at his current pace in both positions and I think that's a significant risk. I am not trading away arguably the best position player in baseball, who btw is years younger than Ohtani, for that risk. No thank you.

Agreed - I love the differing opinions and analytics, for sure. Acuna is awesome and (w/ a GM's hat on), I would assume a healthy Ohtani over the next 5 years in this scenario. Acuna is awesome!! But the two-way elite player that Ohtani is would be the difference to me.

Back to the OP, it's cool to see that Ruth and Ohtani are so close at the beginning of their careers.... divergence can happen at any time and probably will. Just a cool snapshot in time!

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

These are the kinds of posts I love here on Net54. Lot's of opinions, with no real way to confirm who is "right". Just good baseball discussion.

Ruth and Ohtani also are a great example why it's fun to collect both Vintage and Modern baseball cards.

My Ruth cards are some of my FAVORITE CARDS EVER. Because baseball cards of Babe Ruth will always be cool.

However, it's also fun to chase cards of players you can literally see in person, real time. And if one of the players you collect plays at a HOF level, it's satisfying that the "value" of his cards may go up (both intrinsic enjoyment and actual dollar value if you choose to sell).

As for Ohtani, I only have a couple of his cards, but I'm lucky enough to live in KC where he comes to play every year.

I went to a Royals vs Angels game earlier this year and was super entertained to watch Greinke pitch. Greinke was throwing a good game....until Ohtani and Trout hit back to back homers off him.

I was literally watching the Angel's future HOF players beat my Royal future HOF player. Following and collecting the modern game gives us moments like that which you can't get if you only care about vintage baseball players and cards.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

No offense taken, it's just opinions, but I think where we differ is you're assuming it's a safe bet Ohtani will keep producing at his current pace in both positions and I think that's a significant risk. I am not trading away arguably the best position player in baseball, who btw is years younger than Ohtani, for that risk. No thank you.

Hey Carl, maybe I could be a GM after all?

I hope Ohtani can recover and pitch again, but as I said with him or any pitcher there is much more risk than with a day to day player.

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

Good thing for the DH or no telling how many times he would be hurt.
How's his World Series stats stack up to the Big Bam?

[CJinPA]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Hey Carl, maybe I could be a GM after all?

I hope Ohtani can recover and pitch again, but as I said with him or any pitcher there is much more risk than with a day to day player.

How about it? So sad for him... There is a limit to what the human body can do physically. Throwing 5 oz. objects at 95-103 mph is an incredibly violent action on the body. Every pitcher in today's game is at risk of blowing out a UCL! If the tendons/muscles don't organize just right, or are fatigued, pop!

My guy, Bryce Harper did it last year from the OF... watched that play and he casually rub his elbow but stayed in the game. I said to my son, he just blew out his arm! He can throw 98+ mph from the OF (as can your guy Acuna at over 100 mph)... even OF's will fall victim.

Tip of the cap to GM Spaeth - you did caution about this, for sure!