Most Overrated Pre-War Player is...

[Peter_Spaeth]

I don't think Bill James was suggesting Sisler is not a Hall of Famer, and neither am I, of course. I do think he may be overrated though in the sense of being considered one of the elite greats. Interestingly, on baseball reference.com, the three players most statistically similar are Heinie Manush, Zach Wheat and Kiki Cuyler. Not the creme de la creme.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I don't think Bill James was suggesting Sisler is not a Hall of Famer, and neither am I, of course. I do think he may be overrated though in the sense of being considered one of the elite greats. Interestingly, on baseball reference.com, the three players most statistically similar are Heinie Manush, Zach Wheat and Kiki Cuyler. Not the creme de la creme.

George Sisler was a very great player before he suffered from a terrible illness that diminished his ability to play. Breaking in during the last 5 years of the "deadball" era, he was always one of the best hitters in the league. When the ball went Live, he got even better. My gosh, he hit .400 twice. But he missed all of 1923 due to a sinus illness and never fully recovered. To be fair to him and his admirers, we need to look not at the career totals but at his work prior to 1923. But even if we look only at the career totals, we will see that he was surpasses Manush, Wheat, and Cuyler because he was a great infielder. He was reputed to be among the best ever, right up there in the Chase / McInnis class.

[Bridwell]

I think Buck Weaver is overrated and his cards are overvalued. People put him in a class with Joe Jackson, as if his career was HOF caliber but he was ruled ineligible.

In reality, Buck only played 9 years and batted .272 with little power. His stats for runs and stolen bases are only average.

His cards sell for more than 20 times the price of a common.

[packs]

King Kelly. Pretty luke-warm career for such a high-tier HOFer when it comes to the price of his cards.