Arky Vaughan

[sublime]

today is the first time i ever have seen that name in print, or ever heard it. he was the best player in the decade of the 30's.

vaughan

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But the best player of the late 1930s was someone who never finished higher than thirrd in the MVP balloting and never won a World Series. That player was Arky Vaughan, who in 1935 became the only shortstop besides Honus Wagner to lead his league in OPS in the modern era; the .491 OBP he posted that season is also the best ever for a shortstop.

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nates article, its not free but its good...buy a subscription

[Kneel B4 Zod]

he was no Ross Barnes

[FireStorm]

Bill Dahlen pwns.

In all seriousness I have looked at AV's numbers before and they're very impressive, seems like an amazing player who has been unfortunately forgotten over time.

[KDawg]

I'd say that there's a fair amount of excellent players from the pre-WWII era that have been forgotten over time. Take Harry Heilmann, here's a guy who hit over .400 several times in his career, and had 4 batting titles. It's just the nature of time and people dying off that were around when these guys played.

While the legends will never be forgotten, I'd be willing to bet that in 50-75 years, people will look back at a guy like Curt Schilling and say, wow, this guy was a good pitcher, why is he rarely mentioned as a great player.

[Jack of Arcades]

I didn't know about him until I bought a Bill James Abstract.

[MikeyPatriot]

Glad I'm not the only one who read the article and thought, "WTF is an Arky Vaughn?"

[FireStorm]

Jim Bottomley and Heinie Manush are other excellent, forgotten, players who come to mind from this era. Subject should probably have its' own thread. Excellent example as far as Curt Schilling.

[sublime]

[ QUOTE ]
Excellent example as far as Curt Schilling.

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i disagree. i actually see schilling as a guy who will get TOO MUCH credit years down the road. the sock, winning the WS in boston, his mouth..no way hes forgotten.

i think a perfect example as a pitcher will be kevin brown, who will have about the same career worth as schilling with little to no fanfare.

[Jack of Arcades]

Kevin Brown had one of the most insane peaks ever.

Another great example: Tris Speaker. How about Dick Allen?

If you want a modern day example, Gary Sheffield.

[Jack of Arcades]

I guess Chipper as well. I don't know where he'd end up on the list of all-time greatest 3rd basemen, but I do think he's in the top 10 (behind Schmidt, Brett, Matthews, Boggs, Santo, and Brooks Robinson).

That brings up a couple more guys: Ron Santo and Darrell Evans