Career OPS

[Theoldmole]

Does this pass the seat-of-the-pants test? Do we really believe this represents the greatest hitters of all time?

1. Babe Ruth+* 1.1638 L
2. Ted Williams+* 1.1155 L
3. Lou Gehrig+* 1.0798 L
4. Barry Bonds* (43) 1.0512 L
5. Albert Pujols (28) 1.0419 R
6. Jimmie Foxx+ 1.0376 R
7. Hank Greenberg+ 1.0169 R
8. Todd Helton* (34) 1.0131 L
9. Rogers Hornsby+ 1.0103 R
10. Manny Ramirez (36) 1.0018 R
11. Mark McGwire .9823 R
12. Frank Thomas (40) .9804 R
13. Mickey Mantle+# .9773 B
14. Joe DiMaggio+ .9771 R
15. Stan Musial+* .9757 L
16. Lance Berkman# (32) .9729 B
17. Jim Thome* (37) .9712 L
18. Vladimir Guerrero (32) .9689 R
19. Alex Rodriguez (32) .9665 R
20. Larry Walker* .9654 L
\

Is Lance Berkman really the 16th-greatest hitter ever?

[metsmarathon]

no. save arod, everyone else on that list had the decline phase of their career drag down their career average.

if you were to compare berkman to the rest of the folks on that list at the same age and/or plate appearances, then you'd have something far more comparable.

[metsmarathon]

also, OPS+ would be more useful as well, as it accounts for park and league effects.

[Guest AG/DC]

Maybe, you may want to adjust recent players for your personal steroids suspicions.

A couple of guys will go up or down a notch or two on that list when you factor in career length. Certainly Pujols and Helton will drop.

[metsmarathon]

adjusted ops...

Rank Player (age) Adjusted OPS+ Bats
1. Babe Ruth+* 207 L
2. Ted Williams+* 191 L
3. Barry Bonds* (43) 182 L
4. Lou Gehrig+* 179 L
5. Rogers Hornsby+ 175 R
6. Mickey Mantle+# 172 B
7. Dan Brouthers+* 170 L
Joe Jackson* 170 L
9. Albert Pujols (28) 168 R
10. Ty Cobb+* 167 L
11. Jimmie Foxx+ 163 R
12. Pete Browning 162 R
Mark McGwire 162 R
14. Dave Orr 161 R
15. Stan Musial+* 159 L
16. Hank Greenberg+ 158 R
Johnny Mize+* 158 L
Tris Speaker+* 158 L
19. Frank Thomas (40) 157 R
20. Dick Allen 156 R

berkman doesn't show up 'til 41, tied with arod and giambi, and a few others.

[seawolf17]

Dick Allen should be a Hall of Famer.

Dave Orr played parts of eight seasons between 1883-1890, so I think we can take him off the list.

[Guest AG/DC]

I'm tellign you. (OPS+ - 60) * PA. There's your list.

[batmagadanleadoff]

metsmarathon wrote: adjusted ops...

Thanks. Good to see the Colorado guy who plays half his games in Colorado off the list. No Colorado guys, please.

[Theoldmole]

I looked up Dave Orr. His last season was his best -- playing for Monte Ward's Players' League team, he was hitting .371 with 124 RBIs when he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed.

[Valadius]

I agree with seawolf. Dick Allen should be a Hall of Famer.