nsentv Posted January 27, 2006 Posted January 27, 2006 Out of curiousity, I was wondering which pre-1980's baseball legends would do the best playing in today's juiced-up, small-ball era. I'd go with Babe Ruth, but that's probably the most obvious choice.
infrared41 Posted January 27, 2006 Posted January 27, 2006 Willie Mays would hit about 900 homeruns if he played now. He was the greatest in his era. He played in a bad park for power hitters and still managed 660 homers. He would make the game a joke in this era.Mickey Mantle would have been amazing in this era as well. Medical technology is so much more advanced now that he wouldn't have lost so much time to injury. The drinking may have still hurt him but who knows?Hank Aaron. How many homers does he hit in today's ballparks? Better question, is there a more underrated "legend" than "The Hammer?"Jackie Robinson's game would work well in this era plus he'd hit more home runs.Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige, man what I would give to get to see all the old Negro League legends play in the majors today. We'll never understand how much we missed by not seeing those guys play out their careers in the majors.Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Of course Babe Ruth has to be on this list. I could go on forever but the point is that I believe most of the legends then would do pretty well now. Great topic. I love talking about the old-time legends.
HatManTC Posted January 27, 2006 Posted January 27, 2006 Out of curiousity, I was wondering which pre-1980's baseball legends would do the best playing in today's juiced-up, small-ball era. I'd go with Babe Ruth, but that's probably the most obvious choice. babe ruth would fail as an MLB player if he played in the last 20 or so years. he was an overweight drunk that wouldnt make it past AA. in my opinion.the only way Ruth could have made it to the show would be as a pitcher than an everday postion player.but to answer your question.Roberto Clemente. he just had pure talent. by RoscoeUA by gingerbreadman
infrared41 Posted January 27, 2006 Posted January 27, 2006 Roberto Clemente. he just had pure talent. How on earth did I leave Clemente off my list? How embarassing...
HatManTC Posted January 27, 2006 Posted January 27, 2006 Roberto Clemente. he just had pure talent. How on earth did I leave Clemente off my list? How embarassing... touche lol. by RoscoeUA by gingerbreadman
Steel Certain Posted January 28, 2006 Posted January 28, 2006 GREAT TOPIC! Babe Ruth is really interesting...amazing skill player who initially pitched. Despite his weight, remember that he was hitting more homeruns every year than MOST TEAMS. His coordination, strength and talent would be amazing to see in today's games...especially because the only "juice" he'd be on would be from Kentucky. Clemente. Ted Williams. Jimmie Foxx. Ty Cobb.
sj32 Posted January 28, 2006 Posted January 28, 2006 How many RBI would Lou Gehrig have in today's bandboxes. Also, there are some players (Hack Wilson springs to mind) who would have thrived in today's game as DH's.
Mac6674 Posted January 28, 2006 Posted January 28, 2006 Ted Williams could definitely still thrive in today's game. Ty Cobb's skills would translate, but his personality probably would be an issue to say the least.Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax; great stuff will always translate.
winghaz Posted January 28, 2006 Posted January 28, 2006 You have to wonder about a lot of these guys if they lived the same lifestyles as players do today.Imagine, for example, Babe Ruth pumping iron instead of hot dogs. How many extra homers would he hit?Would Mickey Mantle have the kind of alcohol problems he had then if he played today? Or would he just switch from booze to drugs?Would Ted Williams be an even more dominating force at the plate, combining his eyesight with modern weight training, not to mention not having to fight in any wars?And would umpires allow any of Gaylord Perry's spitters or alleged spitters?Gosh, it's fun to speculate.
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