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Originally Posted by DamnYankees
I dunno, John. I agree that Bourbon was probbaly more valuable, but Teddy was incredibly well thought of by us all - he may have been the most popular player in baseball. He just has "it".
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I tend to think Kress was the most populat player in baseball, even without the Press pimping him (and lord knows I pimped Teddie).
We can take a look at Ted's All Pro placements among the voters through the years. They aren't remotely close to Mo's, let alone Kress' streak that was only broken with injury. While we could argue how "popular" Mo was, the reality is that he was incredibly "respected" and highly thought of.
Ted actually had a bit less "respect" in the league than Chaucer. While Ted is younger and his salad days are fresher in our minds, he just wasn't in his prime held to that "it" that Chaucer and Howard and Wing had in the league right before him, and Kress did in the other league. And by the time Ted was reaching his peak, we were starting to get into the Silcox period.
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I actually think McMurray is one of those guys who's stats make him a marginal HOFer, but based on persona he's a total lock. He was popular as all get-out, and I think just as highly thought of as Bourbon. No disrespect to him.
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Honestly... he wasn't that wildly popular. It's one reason Chris and I kept beating the drume for him.
But in the era, Samoa Ben and Bobby Johnson were in that same general class - in any given year, one of them was the best in the NL at 1B. It really wasn't the case of Chaucer just being head and shoulders above the rest.
Sadly... when one comps Lonny to Ted, one finds Lonny doesn't really take a backseat at all. Sad for Lonny... since he's being largely fogotten come HOF voting time. I'm a Ted Fan, but if you ask me point blank if he's better than Lonny... I couldn't honestly say "yes". They are so damn close.
John