The match game - comparing players

writerman · Post #1 » by **writerman** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:59 am

Match this team with a comparable player playing today (in all respects--not just offense)

1B - Harmon Killebrew

2B - Bobby Richardson

3B - Brooks Robinson

SS - Luis Aparicio

C - Thurman Munson

RF - Al Kaline

CF - Mickey Mantle

LF - Carl Yastrzmski

DH - Tony Oliva

RHP - Jim Palmer

LHP - Mickey Lolich

R - Rollie Fingers

Post #2 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:09 am

I don't get it. Is this like that Match Game show with Bret Somers that old codgers loved to watch back in the 1970s?

C: Joe Mauer
1B: Albert Pujols
2B: Chase Utley
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Jose Reyes
LF: Matt Holliday
CF: Ichiro
RF: Vlad Guerrero
RHP: Jake Peavy
LHP: Johan Santana
R: Jonathan Papelbon

writerman · Post #3 » by **writerman** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:37 am

Basketball Jesus wrote:I don't get it. Is this like that Match Game show with Bret Somers that old codgers loved to watch back in the 1970s?

C: Joe Mauer
1B: Albert Pujols
2B: Chase Utley
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Jose Reyes
LF: Matt Holliday
CF: Ichiro
RF: Vlad Guerrero
RHP: Jake Peavy
LHP: Johan Santana
R: Jonathan Papelbon

no offense, but baseball wasn't invented when you were born...my time of greatest interest in the game was in the 60's and 70's...trying to get an idea of how today's fans view the players form different eras...

Most of the guys I named are HOFers...I think they are probably better than the majority (but possibly not all) of the guys on your list currently are, since most of your guys are at different stages in their careers, incomplete stories, so to speak...I find the game today is mostly a power game, and a real contrast to the era when I really followed the game when there was maybe more finesse (IMO.) Just want to see if there are players today who still play a style similar to the greats of my era.

Post #4 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:45 am

writerman wrote:no offense, but baseball wasn't invented when you were born...

*pulls up a chair, stares with childlike wonderment*

my time of greatest interest in the game was in the 60's and 70's...trying to get an idea of how today's fans view the players form different eras...

Uh, ok.

Most of the guys I named are HOFers...I think they are probably better than the majority (but possibly not all) of the guys on your list currently are,

I didn't know this was a generational peeing contest.

since most of your guys are at different stages in their careers, incomplete stories, so to speak...

Well you did ask us to pick current players, not retired players, so obviously their stories are incomplete.

I find the game today is mostly a power game, and a real contrast to the era when I really followed the game when there was maybe more finesse (IMO.) Just want to see if there are players today who still play a style similar to the greats of my era.

What exactly is "finesse" by your definition?

Post #5 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 4:23 pm

Now, if we

Post #6 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 4:26 pm

Wanna see something funny? Google

writerman · Post #7 » by **writerman** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:15 pm

Basketball Jesus wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

What exactly is "finesse" by your definition?

I'm not looking for a fight--no "peeing contest." These were guys I considered among the best of the best when I was an avid fan of the game. I've been an AL and Tiger fan since the mid 50's.

In the years since, I've lost interest. Interleague play has a lot to do with that, and the "wild card" thing, the steroid scandals, etc. Pennant races used to be special. The World Series used to be even more special.

I'm trying to rekindle interest in a game I used to love when I was younger, but it's hard for the above reasons and the fact that everything today seems to be totally power oriented. .300 hitters used to be something special in the days when the mound was higher (as I think it should be again) and the ball--not to mention the players--wasn't juiced the way it obviously is today. Hell, today .300 hitters seem as common as dandelions, and I don't think that is because players have gotten so much better since the 60's and 70's. It seems like every game I do watch--and I watch one occasionally--it's fastball, fastball, fastball, swing for the fences, swing for the fences, swing for the fences. Maybe I just don't watch enough games but I don't see any really entertaining guys playing today like Luis Tiant with 5-6 different pitches or a dozen different motions. or bunt and steal specialists like Maury Wills (they used to talk about "a Dodger Home run"--Wills would lead off with a walk or single, steal second, go to third on a sacrifice fly, and score on another one, a passed ball, or a single...LOL) That was both fun to watch and great fundamentals baseball.

I guess in short I see less strategy in the games today, and a really boring emphasis on counting pitches and a seemingly interminable number of different finely specialized relievers.

I guess I just want to know if there are still players in the game who are comparable in style to the players I used to enjoy watching. I find I miss the game, and frankly I am not impressed by what little I do see, and would like to be convinced that the game is still being played somewhere today in the fashion I used to love.

bigboy1234 · Post #8 » by **bigboy1234** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:16 pm

Wait, BBJ are you listing the best players now, or the comparable players to the ones writerman listed?

On another note, damn I never realized how much statistics hated Bobby Richardson.

Post #9 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:19 pm

Just best players now, I guess. I don't know. If we're doing comparable, I'd have to tone down my list.

Post #10 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:20 pm

writerman wrote:I guess I just want to know if there are still players in the game who are comparable in style to the players I used to enjoy watching. I find I miss the game, and frankly I am not impressed by what little I do see, and would like to be convinced that the game is still being played somewhere today in the fashion I used to love.

Oh, ohhhhhh. Sure thing. Hold on and I'll come up with a list.

Post #11 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:46 pm

Based on your list, these are the guys you

Post #12 » by **Bleeding Green** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 5:39 am

Killebrew: Adam Dunn (low average, high walks, high strikeouts, lotsa homers. Both butchers in the field, though Killebrew was a corner IF and Dunn a corner OF)
Richardson: Rey Sanchez? (similarly crap hitters, both good fielders--was Richardson a good fielder?)
Robinson: Ryan Zimmerman? (both probably the best 3B defenders of their generation--though Zimmerman will be a better hitter)
Aparicio: Omar Vizquel
Munson: Russ Martin (both tremendous all-around players; both very underrated)
Kaline: Gary Sheffield
Mantle: A-Rod? (I know a different position, but there has never been someone like Mantle in CF and I really doubt there ever will be again--but maybe Justin Upton?)

Post #13 » by **Basketball Jesus** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 12:30 pm

The thought of Writerman cheering on Gary Sheffield amuses me for some reason.

And Dunn's more like Big Klu. He just needs less sleeves.

TSC25 · Post #14 » by **TSC25** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 2:37 pm

writerman wrote:Match this team with a comparable player playing today (in all respects--not just offense)

1B - Harmon Killebrew

2B - Bobby Richardson

3B - Brooks Robinson

SS - Luis Aparicio

C - Thurman Munson

RF - Al Kaline

CF - Mickey Mantle

LF - Carl Yastrzmski

DH - Tony Oliva

RHP - Jim Palmer

LHP - Mickey Lolich

R - Rollie Fingers

I would say Bobby Richardson sounds alot like Derek Jeter. Only DJ plays SS.

Robert Clinton Richardson (born August 19, 1935, in Sumter, South Carolina) is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees from 1955 through 1966. Batting and throwing right-handed, he was a superb defensive infielder, as well as something of a clutch hitter, who played no small role in the Yankee baseball dynasty of his day.

TSC25 · Post #15 » by **TSC25** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 2:42 pm

Brooks Robinson well maybe Eric Chavez,or a David Wright,

Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. (born May 18, 1937 in Little Rock, Arkansas)
Robinson grew up to play third base for the Orioles, and gained great renown for his fielding ability. Nicknamed "The Human Vacuum Cleaner"[1], he is generally acclaimed as the greatest defensive third-baseman of all time. He won 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards during his career, tied with pitchers Jim Kaat and Greg Maddux for the most for any player at any position.

TSC25 · Post #16 » by **TSC25** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 2:46 pm

Harmon Killebrew I'd have to say Albert Pujols

Harmon Clayton Killebrew (born June 29, 1936).Killebrew became one of the American League's most feared power hitters of the 1960s, belting 40 homers in a season eight times. In 1965 he helped the Twins reach the World Series, where they lost to the Los

TSC25 · Post #17 » by **TSC25** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 2:51 pm

Luis Aparicio sounds a little like Jeter,but because of his speed I'd compare him to Jose Reyes.

Luis Ernesto Aparicio Montiel (born April 29, 1934)Aparicio set the standard for the spray-hitting, slick-fielding, speedy shortstop. He led the AL in stolen bases in nine consecutive seasons (1956

TSC25 · Post #18 » by **TSC25** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 2:56 pm

Thurman Munson,now as for Thurman I'm gonna say you could compare him with Jason Kendall,are there better catchers stat wise than Jason yes,but I'm going with the hard nose style that Thurman was.

Thurman Lee Munson (June 7, 1947

TSC25 · Post #19 » by **TSC25** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:00 pm

Mickey Mantle is the easy one,Carlos Beltran,both are switching center fielders with power speed and good defenders.

TSC25 · Post #20 » by **TSC25** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:04 pm

Tony Oliva I'd have to say David Ortiz.

Tony Pedro Oliva (born Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique on July 20, 1938 in Pinar del R