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MusicMan

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Best players by number
« on: May 06, 2008, 01:15:23 pm »
So SI has decided to name the best baseball players ever, by number - i.e., Babe Ruth at 3, Mantle at 7, Ted Williams at 9, etc.

Well, I didn't have to get too far in to realize that this list is crap.
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HudsonHawk

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2008, 01:38:06 pm »
Quote from: MusicMan on May 06, 2008, 01:15:23 pm
So SI has decided to name the best baseball players ever, by number - i.e., Babe Ruth at 3, Mantle at 7, Ted Williams at 9, etc.

Well, I didn't have to get too far in to realize that this list is crap.


Who would you have put ahead of Jeter?
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JackAstro

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2008, 01:40:18 pm »
I don't know who edited that list, but Jimmie Foxx is going to punch him in the face when he sees him.
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Andyzipp

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2008, 01:42:30 pm »
Jimmy Foxx
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MusicMan

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #4 on: May 06, 2008, 01:42:54 pm »
Quote from: HudsonHawk on May 06, 2008, 01:38:06 pm

Who would you have put ahead of Jeter?

Jimmie Foxx.  By a long, long ways.
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Noe

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #5 on: May 06, 2008, 01:44:35 pm »
Jimmie Foxx, but then again, SI must know it's audience and what sells.  Derek Jeter, men 18-40 years old demographic... "who the hell is Jimmie Foxx and where is Derek Jeter's name?!?!"
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HudsonHawk

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #6 on: May 06, 2008, 02:11:11 pm »
Quote from: Andyzipp on May 06, 2008, 01:42:30 pm
Jimmy Foxx

Even though Foxx wore #3?
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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #7 on: May 06, 2008, 02:20:28 pm »
Quote from: HudsonHawk on May 06, 2008, 02:11:11 pm
Even though Foxx wore #3?

Going by what SI said:

Runner-up: Charlie Gehringer

Worthy of consideration:
Nellie Fox, Jimmie Foxx
and Red Schoendienst
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MusicMan

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #8 on: May 06, 2008, 02:22:43 pm »
I've found other sources showing him as 3.  I also found it interesting that his number was not retired by either the A's or Red Sox.

Nellie Fox is arguable ahead of Jeter.  And overall, I just don't like Jeter.
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Gizzmonic

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #9 on: May 06, 2008, 02:25:30 pm »
Sadaharu Oh is an interesting pick, since he didn't play in MLB.  Anyone want to speculate who would be considered the best MLB player to wear number 1?
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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #10 on: May 06, 2008, 02:27:01 pm »
Quote from: Noe in Austin on May 06, 2008, 02:20:28 pm
Going by what SI said:

Runner-up: Charlie Gehringer

Worthy of consideration:
Nellie Fox, Jimmie Foxx
and Red Schoendienst


I've never heard of Jimmie Foxx wearing #2.  If he did, he didn't wear it much.  He's famous for wearing #3.
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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #11 on: May 06, 2008, 02:27:21 pm »
Quote from: Gizzmonic on May 06, 2008, 02:25:30 pm
Sadaharu Oh is an interesting pick, since he didn't play in MLB.  Anyone want to speculate who would be considered the best MLB player to wear number 1?

Ozzie Smith?
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JackAstro

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #12 on: May 06, 2008, 02:29:18 pm »
Quote from: HudsonHawk on May 06, 2008, 02:11:11 pm
Even though Foxx wore #3?

He wore #2 with the A's, once they had them. You're completely right that he's more a #3, but it's not the only place in the list that they went with the less common number.

ETA: Sorry, he was only #2 in his last year with the A's, I think.
« Last Edit: May 06, 2008, 02:31:13 pm by JackAstro »
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HudsonHawk

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #13 on: May 06, 2008, 02:29:24 pm »
Quote from: MusicMan on May 06, 2008, 02:22:43 pm
I've found other sources showing him as 3.  I also found it interesting that his number was not retired by either the A's or Red Sox.


Foxx didn't wear a number until like halfway through his career with the A's, and I guess he didn't play long enough with the Red Sox for them to consider it. 
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HudsonHawk

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #14 on: May 06, 2008, 02:30:02 pm »
Quote from: JackAstro on May 06, 2008, 02:29:18 pm
He wore #2 with the A's, once they had them. You're completely right that he's more a #3, but it's not the only place in the list that they went with the less common number.

No he didn't, he wore #3, his place in the batting lineup.  At least most of the time.

ETA:  OK, according to Baseball Almanac, Foxx wore #2 for two seasons.  I stand by the statement that he was a #3 though.
« Last Edit: May 06, 2008, 02:33:02 pm by HudsonHawk »
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Noe

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #15 on: May 06, 2008, 02:30:05 pm »
Quote from: MusicMan on May 06, 2008, 02:22:43 pm
I've found other sources showing him as 3.  I also found it interesting that his number was not retired by either the A's or Red Sox.

Nellie Fox is arguable ahead of Jeter.  And overall, I just don't like Jeter.

Foxx wore #3 for most of his career with the Athletics (although his first five years, there is no record of the number he wore... perhaps because they did not have numbers).  Back then, your number coincided with your batting position.  One entire season, 1935, Foxx wore #2 with the Athletics and then went back to #3 the following year.  He wore #16 and #26 with the Cubs and #4 with the Phillies before he retired.
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Andyzipp

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #16 on: May 06, 2008, 02:31:32 pm »
They gave Nolan credit for 30, not for 34 (which they gave to Puckett).

Also, didn't even include J.R. Richard on the list for 50 (they gave that to Matt Lawton).
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Noe

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #17 on: May 06, 2008, 02:32:11 pm »
Quote from: JackAstro on May 06, 2008, 02:29:18 pm
He wore #2 with the A's, once they had them. You're completely right that he's more a #3, but it's not the only place in the list that they went with the less common number.

ETA: Sorry, he was only #2 in his last year with the A's, I think.

1935, his second to last year with the Athletics.
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JackAstro

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #18 on: May 06, 2008, 02:34:53 pm »
Quote from: Noe in Austin on May 06, 2008, 02:32:11 pm
1935, his second to last year with the Athletics.

Fuck it, I give up.
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subnuclear

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #19 on: May 06, 2008, 02:46:01 pm »
Here is a comparison of the Charlie Gehringer (one of the best 2nd baseman of the 30s) to Derek Jeter (not amongst the best shortstops of his era) life time batting:


            AB     R     H    HR   RBI   BB     BA   OBP    SLG       
Gehringer 8860   1774  2839  184  1427  1186  .320  .404    .480
Jeter     7541   1394  2391  195   949   764  .317  .388    .460
« Last Edit: May 06, 2008, 02:48:48 pm by subnuclear »
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OregonStrosFan

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #20 on: May 06, 2008, 02:58:06 pm »
Quote from: subnuclear on May 06, 2008, 02:46:01 pm
Here is a comparison of the Charlie Gehringer (one of the best 2nd baseman of the 30s) to Derek Jeter (not amongst the best shortstops of his era) life time batting:


            AB     R     H    HR   RBI   BB     BA   OBP    SLG       
Gehringer 8860   1774  2839  184  1427  1186  .320  .404    .480
Jeter     7541   1394  2391  195   949   764  .317  .388    .460


But Jeters a gamer...
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rifraft

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #21 on: May 06, 2008, 02:59:04 pm »
Quote from: subnuclear on May 06, 2008, 02:46:01 pm
Here is a comparison of the Charlie Gehringer (one of the best 2nd baseman of the 30s) to Derek Jeter (not amongst the best shortstops of his era) life time batting:


            AB     R     H    HR   RBI   BB     BA   OBP    SLG       
Gehringer 8860   1774  2839  184  1427  1186  .320  .404    .480
Jeter     7541   1394  2391  195   949   764  .317  .388    .460


But Charlie Gehringer never made a throw from deep in the hole while jumping into the air, so, Jeter wins......
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austro

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #22 on: May 06, 2008, 03:03:28 pm »
Quote from: rifraft on May 06, 2008, 02:59:04 pm
But Charlie Gehringer never made a throw from deep in the hole while jumping into the air, so, Jeter wins......

He probably never had the good fortune of a moronic base runner declining to slide into home during a playoff game, either. He probably could have made up for it by diving into the stands, but nooooo, not Charlie.
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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #23 on: May 06, 2008, 03:21:10 pm »
Quote from: HudsonHawk on May 06, 2008, 02:27:21 pm
Ozzie Smith?

That's what I wondered. Why the hell were they starting at "2" and not "1"?

ETA: Oh. The link was to number 2. I'm an idiot.
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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #24 on: May 06, 2008, 03:28:06 pm »
Quote from: Bench on May 06, 2008, 03:21:10 pm
That's what I wondered. Why the hell were they starting at "2" and not "1"?

ETA: Oh. The link was to number 2. I'm an idiot.

In case you didn't go back beyond #1, it actually started at 0, 00, 1/8, 1...
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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #25 on: May 07, 2008, 12:40:25 am »
Quote from: subnuclear on May 06, 2008, 02:46:01 pm
Here is a comparison of the Charlie Gehringer (one of the best 2nd baseman of the 30s) to Derek Jeter (not amongst the best shortstops of his era) life time batting:


            AB     R     H    HR   RBI   BB     BA   OBP    SLG       
Gehringer 8860   1774  2839  184  1427  1186  .320  .404    .480
Jeter     7541   1394  2391  195   949   764  .317  .388    .460


Charlie Gehringer was a great, great player, but so is Jeter. Jeter's going to finish his career as one of the best (-hitting) shortstops in baseball history.

Of course, Jeter doesn't have a nickname to compare with "The Mechanical Man."
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mihoba

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #26 on: May 07, 2008, 12:54:01 am »
Quote from: Arky Vaughan on May 07, 2008, 12:40:25 am
Charlie Gehringer was a great, great player, but so is Jeter. Jeter's going to finish his career as one of the best (-hitting) shortstops in baseball history.

Of course, Jeter doesn't have a nickname to compare with "The Mechanical Man."

One of my favorite older players to study and known for his consistency as a hitter and fielder, Gehringer was given the nickname "The Mechanical Man" by Yankee pitcher Lefty Gomez.

Teammate Doc Cramer quipped: "You wind him up Opening Day and forget him."

Why does it seem like I'm always working the graveyard shift when these history threads are posted?
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mihoba

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #27 on: May 07, 2008, 12:59:04 am »
Quote from: subnuclear on May 06, 2008, 02:46:01 pm
Here is a comparison of the Charlie Gehringer (one of the best 2nd baseman of the 30s,if not the best, in baseball history) to Derek Jeter (not amongst the best shortstops of his era) life time batting:

Fixed it for me.

Gehringer had a reputation as quiet and unassuming. Player-manager Mickey Cochrane joked that "Charlie says `hello' on Opening Day, `goodbye' on closing day, and in between hits .350."
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Mr. Happy

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #28 on: May 07, 2008, 10:03:25 am »
Quote from: mihoba on May 07, 2008, 12:54:01 am
Why does it seem like I'm always working the graveyard shift when these history threads are posted?

Because you're the man who knows...
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Emo Oranges

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #29 on: May 07, 2008, 10:33:49 am »
Quote from: Gizzmonic on May 06, 2008, 02:25:30 pm
Sadaharu Oh is an interesting pick, since he didn't play in MLB.  Anyone want to speculate who would be considered the best MLB player to wear number 1?

Otis Nixon? haha
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subnuclear

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #30 on: May 07, 2008, 10:41:21 am »
Quote from: mihoba on May 07, 2008, 12:54:01 am
One of my favorite older players to study and known for his consistency as a hitter and fielder, Gehringer was given the nickname "The Mechanical Man" by Yankee pitcher Lefty Gomez.

Teammate Doc Cramer quipped: "You wind him up Opening Day and forget him."

Why does it seem like I'm always working the graveyard shift when these history threads are posted?

If you have some time to kill and like hearing about pre-WWII baseball this interview with Gehringer is pretty cool:

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/excerpts/cobb_would_have_caught_it18.stm

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Taras Bulba

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Re: Best players by number
« Reply #31 on: May 07, 2008, 11:15:03 am »
Quote from: subnuclear on May 07, 2008, 10:41:21 am
If you have some time to kill and like hearing about pre-WWII baseball this interview with Gehringer is pretty cool:

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/excerpts/cobb_would_have_caught_it18.stm



Thanks.  I copied it to read on the plane.
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