Who Is the Best Hitter & Pitcher By Decade?

[bobellis75]

Question....when you say best "hitter" do you mean solely based on hitting or all around game? Defense, etc?

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by bobellis75

Question....when you say best "hitter" do you mean solely based on hitting or all around game? Defense, etc?

Good question. I'd like to know the answer to this too, because I've done mine as best position players, as in all around game, including defense.

[RchW]

Originally Posted by ukhotstove

Bat wise his stats are pretty much the same ss Griffey, shade more in fact but Griffey gained a Gold Glove every season in that decade at an harder position than Bonds that's why personally I went for Griffey over Bonds.

Bonds won 8 or 9 GG depending on how you do the decade (correctly it's 1991-2000). Griffey won 9 or 10. If GG make a difference then so should MVP awards where Bonds had 2vs1 or 3vs1 advantage over Griffey. Bonds was a better hitter and had 150 more SB than Griffey. Griffey was a better defender and played CF but the edge as a hitter goes to Bonds

Originally Posted by The Game

I agree with you but where do you put him? Griffey had the better decade of the 90's at least as far as popularity Bonds success was 98-2003 when he was on steroids. Yes i know he has 3 MVPS in the 90's yes he is a 40-40 guy before he was on steroids. I dunno. I feel bad not having one without the other.

Was popularity one of the criteria? Bonds success after the 90's shouldn't affect his evaluation vs Griffey for the 90's.

Originally Posted by actionjackson

Not only was he a 40/40 guy however many times he did it, he was damn near a 40/40 guy for the decade of the 1990's with 361 HR and 343 SB for the decade. He's the 1990's guy unless you want to discount him for the roids. Then it's Griffey Jr., but Bonds (the nasty piece of work that he was) is definitely ahead of Jr.

I agree. Bonds personality and roid use don't count unless you want to exclude him by rule before asking for picks. He was clearly the best hitter and arguably the best overall player of the 1990's.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

Not only was he a 40/40 guy however many times he did it, he was damn near a 40/40 guy for the decade of the 1990's with 361 HR and 343 SB for the decade. He's the 1990's guy unless you want to discount him for the roids. Then it's Griffey Jr., but Bonds (the nasty piece of work that he was) is definitely ahead of Jr.

All steroids guys count. I like Bonds especially pre roids which is why I dont want to discount him. I guess i am going based off of popularity more then pure #'s. Griffey was Da Man from 1989 til 1998. No one liked Bonds.

So Steib & Bonds are set along with many others I will update later on.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by bobellis75

Question....when you say best "hitter" do you mean solely based on hitting or all around game? Defense, etc?

Best overall offensive player which can include defense. While Ozzie Smith wont be up there in offense he was the best SS of the 80's as Brooks Robinson was the best 3B of the 70's.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by The Game

Best overall offensive player which can include defense. While Ozzie Smith wont be up there in offense he was the best SS of the 80's as Brooks Robinson was the best 3B of the 70's.

I would put Brooks more in the 1960's, as he played the entire decade, but he's got some stiff competition from Ron Santo, and Smith has some serious competition from Cal Ripken Jr., and Mr. Underrated - Alan Trammell in the 1980's, and is lucky that Robin Yount moved to the OF in 1985.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

I would put Brooks more in the 1960's, as he played the entire decade, but he's got some stiff competition from Ron Santo, and Smith has some serious competition from Cal Ripken Jr., and Mr. Underrated - Alan Trammell in the 1980's, and is lucky that Robin Yount moved to the OF in 1985.

Ok while I am all for defensive guys are any of the players you named the best overall player of their decade? Rickey Henderson might be my personal choice for the 80's.

[Gil Thorp]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

I would put Brooks more in the 1960's, as he played the entire decade, but he's got some stiff competition from Ron Santo

Santo was my favorite player as a kid growing up. When my dad would pitch to me out in the back yard, he'd yell at me when I'd grab a handful of dirt and rub it all over my hands and arms and I'd say "that's what Ron Santo does." As a contemporary of Robinson, it was often overlooked just how good he was defensively. It's just a shame that his HOF induction didn't come until after his death.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by The Game

Ok while I am all for defensive guys are any of the players you named the best overall player of their decade? Rickey Henderson might be my personal choice for the 80's.

We definitely agree on Rickey as best overall player for the 1980's, and Rickey will tell you Rickey was the greatest as well. In this case it's not just Rickey being Rickey, it's the truth.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Gil Thorp

Santo was my favorite player as a kid growing up. When my dad would pitch to me out in the back yard, he'd yell at me when I'd grab a handful of dirt and rub it all over my hands and arms and I'd say "that's what Ron Santo does." As a contemporary of Robinson, it was often overlooked just how good he was defensively. It's just a shame that his HOF induction didn't come until after his death.

I unfortunately never got to see him play. Was he unflashy like Alan Trammell, or was it just a case of Brooks was unbelievable? Of course they played in different leagues, so Brooks shouldn't have affected his GG count. He had 5 which is very respectable, of course it's not Brooksian, but it's very respectable on its own.

[Snarf054]

Bonds was an absolute monster in his younger days. As a Mets fan I hated him so much when he was in Pittsburgh. He only started juicing when he started to get old.

IMO Boggs and Brett were both better than Henderson in the 80's

[The Game]

Originally Posted by Snarf054

IMO Boggs and Brett were both better than Henderson in the 80's

As pure hitters yes, but Rickey could do it all. Plus I like leadoff hitters. 80's is still open for debate. I am still trying to get all the uniforms together for this league 1876-2025. Players will come in in 1876 then every following 0. 1880,1890 etc.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by The Game

As pure hitters yes, but Rickey could do it all. Plus I like leadoff hitters. 80's is still open for debate. I am still trying to get all the uniforms together for this league 1876-2025. Players will come in in 1876 then every following 0. 1880,1890 etc.

1980 - 1989 Top 10 in rWAR (not that it's the be/all end/all, but it is a quick and dirty way to capture a player's overall [offense + defense + speed] game):

Rickey Henderson 70.6
Wade Boggs 59.8
Mike Schmidt 56.3
Robin Yount 55.1
Alan Trammell 52.4
Ozzie Smith 52.1
Cal Ripken Jr. 50.0
George Brett 47.5
Andre Dawson 47.1
Dale Murphy 46.9

Brett looks low, but he had other worldly seasons in 1980, and 1985. 1982, 1983, and 1988 were solid All-Star type seasons, and for the rest either his defense held him back, or he suffered through various injury issues. If you roll the decade back to 1976-1985, he only finishes second to that Michael Jack Schmidt fellow.

There's that Alan Trammell fellow again. Steady, unflashy, understated, but still brilliant. Tiger fans know what they had with him and Sweet Lou up the middle. Unfortunately, not enough writers do.

[OOTPer2013]

paul moiltor was pretty good...one of the few modern players to challenge DiMaggios hitting streak... his 36 game streak got him closer than anyone else except Pete Rose's 44 in the last 30 plus years

hit .300 12 times
3300 plus hits

at age 39 hit 331 with 113 RBIs...
at 40 led the league with 225 hits and also led with 167 singles

first player to be enshrined in HOF who was primarily a designated hitter

not saying he is a lock for best hitter of the 80s or 90s but he is worthy of discussion...

injuries limited him or we could be talking about him as one of the best ever...period...

[The Game]

Originally Posted by OOTPer2013

first player to be enshrined in HOF who was primarily a designated hitter

He played 300 more games in the field then at DH.

[rpriske]

He played more games at DH than any other individual position.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by rpriske

He played more games at DH than any other individual position.

The Hall of Merit has him listed as a 3B (between John McGraw and Graig Nettles), which means they've calculated that he accrued the most value at 3B. His plaque lists him as a 3B/DH/2B/1B, so an argument can be made for either 3B or DH. The HoM is a cool alternative for those who are weary of the Cooperstown bickerfest. Of course, it could set off fresh bickering because none of these things will ever get it perfect, but I think they have it right for the most part. You should check it out The Game - Billy Pierce is in there - made it in in their 1987 Class.

[The Game]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

The Hall of Merit has him listed as a 3B (between John McGraw and Graig Nettles), which means they've calculated that he accrued the most value at 3B. His plaque lists him as a 3B/DH/2B/1B, so an argument can be made for either 3B or DH. The HoM is a cool alternative for those who are weary of the Cooperstown bickerfest. Of course, it could set off fresh bickering because none of these things will ever get it perfect, but I think they have it right for the most part. You should check it out The Game - Billy Pierce is in there - made it in in their 1987 Class.

I read it the other day and thought it was interesting. My dad will tell you had Pierce played for the Yankees he would be in and Ford would not had he played for the Sox.