Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio

REG1976 · #1 11-13-2025, 03:27 PM

1941 56 Game Hitting Streak

MVSNYC · #2 11-13-2025, 03:57 PM

Great point about neither of them being in some of the more "major" sets- 33 Goudey, 52 Topps, etc.

I'm with Ryan, I'll take Joe D...

9x World Series Champion, 3x MVP...Cool name. Marilyn Monroe.

Leon · #3 11-13-2025, 04:22 PM

One of my fave BST pick ups..

Jobu · #4 11-13-2025, 04:31 PM

I've always thought that Williams doesn't get his due - either in the hobby or overall.

I crunched some numbers on the time he missed for his war service - where he didn't have a cushy gig, he was actually flying planes instead of entertaining troops. For his two tours, I took the season before the tour and after the tour and averaged the stats, including the games played, and then added those stats to his career totals. And note, the missing seasons from the 1950s assume a reasonable number of games played for a guy who was getting a bit older but still had a lot left in the tank. If we assume would have played closer to 150 games those two years, these totals would have been a bit higher.

The career ranks listed below are based on current totals. If we look at the leaders at the time he retired, he would have been #2 in HR and #1 in hits in addition to still being #1 in all of these other stats. In other words, Ted would definitely be held in much higher regard today and for the last 70 years.

oldjudge · #5 11-13-2025, 05:06 PM

Joe D was a better player than Mantle, Mantle just came up during the boomer generation.

Fred · #6 11-13-2025, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jobu

I've always thought that Williams doesn't get his due - either in the hobby or overall.

I crunched some numbers on the time he missed for his war service - where he didn't have a cushy gig. For his two tours, I took the season before the tour and after the tour, and averaged the stats, including the games played, and then added those stats to his career totals. And note, the missing seasons from the 1950s assume a reasonable number of games played for a guy who was getting a bit older but still had a lot left in the tank. If we assume would have played closer to 150 games those two years, these totals would have been a bit higher.

The career ranks listed below are based on current totals. If we look at the leaders at the time he retired, he would have been #2 in HR and #1 in hits in addition to still being #1 in all of these other stats. In other words, Ted would definitely be held in much higher regard today and for the last 70 years.

Jobu!!! You get it! Nice job with the stats Bryan. I'm in the Williams camp over Joe D. Ted probably missed out on MVP votes because he wasn't very friendly with the press.

How do you come in second place in the MVP voting during (2) Triple Crown seasons? Really!

I get it, in 1941 Ted gets 2nd place in the MVP because Joe has that awesome hit streak (vs Ted's .406 batting average). I guess nobody could have predicted that would be the last .400 season, ever.

I hope nobody reads into this and thinks I think Joe was a slouch because he is very underappreciated and was an incredible player.
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Snapolit1 · #7 11-13-2025, 06:09 PM

Maybe an a bit of a facile comment, but maybe it's harder to mythologize a guy who you saw on television hawking coffee machines for two decades.

A lot of obscure players in the hobby that none of us ever saw speak or play who seem to retain an aura that's difficut to explain. And who couldn't shine either Williams or DiMaggio's shoes.

pherbener · #8 11-16-2025, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jobu

I've always thought that Williams doesn't get his due - either in the hobby or overall.

I crunched some numbers on the time he missed for his war service - where he didn't have a cushy gig, he was actually flying planes instead of entertaining troops. For his two tours, I took the season before the tour and after the tour and averaged the stats, including the games played, and then added those stats to his career totals. And note, the missing seasons from the 1950s assume a reasonable number of games played for a guy who was getting a bit older but still had a lot left in the tank. If we assume would have played closer to 150 games those two years, these totals would have been a bit higher.

The career ranks listed below are based on current totals. If we look at the leaders at the time he retired, he would have been #2 in HR and #1 in hits in addition to still being #1 in all of these other stats. In other words, Ted would definitely be held in much higher regard today and for the last 70 years.

Thanks Bryan! This is the first thing I thought of when considering this post. Great work putting the numbers together! Also, as Steve mentioned, as a guy in his late fifties, my only real memory of Joe D is some old baseball player selling coffee machines. Not that DiMaggio wasn�t one of the greats. BTW figured I�d share one of my favorite photos of those two here from 1941.

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