Most Overrated Baseball Players of All-Time

[KDawg]

though I wasn't even close to being born when he played, walter johnson was probably the best pitcher ever. THe late Shirley Povich lived by it, and he would know(I am no way saying the Walter Johnson was overrated, I'm just arguing over the possibility of Nolan Ryan being the best pitcher ever)

[pryor15]

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I'm just arguing over the possibility of Nolan Ryan being the best pitcher ever

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it isn't possible by any stretch of the imagination. he threw some no-hitters, struck a lot of people out and was damn cool, but that's about it. sure he's a HOF, but you can't even put him in the best pitcher ever conversation w/o getting creative.

[Jack of Arcades]

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He also had a much higher peak

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If I understand the way you are using peak, this is simply untrue. McGwire had 4 consecutive seasons in which he posted an OPS of 1.110+, slugged .650, and walked more than 100 times. In the three partial seasons that surrounded those his numbers were similar. Thomas's peak was sustained for a few more seasons, but you can hardly say he had a much higher peak.

Thomas did manage to see more playing time than McGwire, but he definately was not a "much better" baseball player.

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McGwire's peak is what, 95-99?

Frank Thomas's peak was from the time he came up in August of 1990 until 1997. He was never below 3rd in the AL in Adj. OPS+, leading thrice. In 5 of those saesons, he was in the top 10 in games played. The only time he got less than 600 PA was in 1994, and that was, well, you know the story. He lead the league in Games Played. He won 2 MVPs in this stretch.

Average EqA for Mark McGwire, 95-99: .360
Aveage EqA for Frank Thomas, 91-97: .367

[oneeye13]

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Thomas did manage to see more playing time than McGwire, but he definately was not a "much better" baseball player.

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would have been, but missed the juice-train

[jrobb]

Thomas had a more sustained peak period than McGwire, but McGwire definately peaked higher. Much of this is nitpicking over a few different statistics and definition of "peak", however.

None of the statistics point to the original contention that Thomas was much better than McGwire. Thomas was indeed a better player, but the difference was marginal.

[Jack of Arcades]

McGwire "definitely peaked higher"? 1998 can't touch Thomas's 1994.

And it's not that Thomas was a better ballplayer... Thomas still is and will continue to be a better ballplayer and is racking up more value past McGwire every day.

Edit: And even if Thomas was exactly the same in value as Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire would still be thought of as better.

[bugstud]

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McGwire "definitely peaked higher"? 1998 can't touch Thomas's 1994.


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People forget how ridiculous that season was. .730 SLG? Jebus. Too bad he didn't get a full season, he might have gotten 62 first.

[DougOzzzz]

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McGwire "definitely peaked higher"? 1998 can't touch Thomas's 1994.



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Can't touch??? Maybe I'm missing something, but McGwire's Eqa was higher in 98 than Thomas' in 94. And he played 40 more games.

[Uston]

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The most overrated player playing today, IMO, is Bobby Abreau, this guy racks up stats largely in meaningless situations.

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I've been here since 1999 and this is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever read on 2+2. Since becoming a full-time player in 1998, Abreu has put up HOF numbers. In that time he's never finished higher than 16th in MVP voting. Here are some guys that have finished higher than Abreu in MVP voting: Mickey Morandini, Dante Bichette, Jay Bell, Carl Everett, Richard Hidalgo (twice), and Junior Spivey.

Saying Abreu is the most overrated player in baseball is about as accurate as saying Tejada is the worst SS in baseball or that Tony Womack is good.

[andyfox]

Re Drysdale: check out Milt Pappas's lifetime statistics and tell me why Drysdale is a HOFer and Pappas is not.