For information about how to use this forum please check out forum help and policies.
Quote
pmk251
Last year Vin Scully mentioned that Troy Tulowitzki broke the rookie home run record for shortstops held "by the great Ernie Banks." It was gratifying to hear Ernie remembered. But Vinnie very well knew having witnessed Ernie play firsthand. Growing up in Chicago I would come home from school to watch the last innings of the Cubs game (Jack Brickhouse anyone?). Ernie Banks was my hero. I was so young I do not think I realized he was black. He would twitch his fingers on the bat that he held upright. He had a wristy snap swing that really drove the ball. In 1960 we took that down trip down Route 66 and moved to Los Angeles. My baseball hero then became Sandy Koufax. Looking back on it those were two great picks by me.
Quote
stonehearted
Hmmm.... only a .274 lifetime hitter and only two seasons (barely) above .300. Hmmm.... not one of baseball's great hitters. Was it because he was a shortstop who hit so many home runs? At 6 foot 1, he should have been playing the outfield. Perhaps if he'd been an outfielder, his .274 average with those home runs would seem more ordinary than anything else. Never a 200-hit season, and with all those home runs he should have had loads more RBIs--but perhaps he was wasted with a leadoff hitter's position. Solid stats, to be sure, but that batting average speaks of something, well, average--when you consider that the average major league baseball batting average is .260.
Quote
shadooby
248 hr's in 5 years..incredible.
Quote
stonehearted
Hmmm.... only a .274 lifetime hitter and only two seasons (barely) above .300. Hmmm.... not one of baseball's great hitters. Was it because he was a shortstop who hit so many home runs? At 6 foot 1, he should have been playing the outfield. Perhaps if he'd been an outfielder, his .274 average with those home runs would seem more ordinary than anything else. Never a 200-hit season, and with all those home runs he should have had loads more RBIs--but perhaps he was wasted with a leadoff hitter's position. Solid stats, to be sure, but that batting average speaks of something, well, average--when you consider that the average major league baseball batting average is .260.
Quote
Long John StonerQuote
stonehearted
Hmmm.... only a .274 lifetime hitter and only two seasons (barely) above .300. Hmmm.... not one of baseball's great hitters. Was it because he was a shortstop who hit so many home runs? At 6 foot 1, he should have been playing the outfield. Perhaps if he'd been an outfielder, his .274 average with those home runs would seem more ordinary than anything else. Never a 200-hit season, and with all those home runs he should have had loads more RBIs--but perhaps he was wasted with a leadoff hitter's position. Solid stats, to be sure, but that batting average speaks of something, well, average--when you consider that the average major league baseball batting average is .260.
If you're going to dwell on his batting average, you really don't know much about how baseball players are evaluated...