Posted by dahsdebater on 7/10/2020 5:02:00 PM (view original):

Posted by italyprof on 7/9/2020 7:05:00 PM (view original):
You are both right: Piazza and Bonds each hit ten in interleague play. Good work. Cool question though no?

I found it when I was looking for something else I did not find, so maybe someone here can help answer it:

I read in a book that Gil Hodges, when he retired, held the National League record for career homers by a right-hand batter at 370.

I assume it was Willie Mays that eventually passed Hodges on his way to 660 and second place (for the time) on the all-time list after Ruth.

But who was the left-handed National League hitter that held the NL career home run record up to the time Gil Hodges retired? If he had the RH record it means the NL record overall was held by a leftie. Musial?

Anyone know? and whose RH homer record did Hodges break - I suspect it was Rogers Hornsby, but maybe not?

Your book was incorrect.

Hodges did hold the NL record for HRs by a right-handed batter for a while during his career. At the end of 1962, Hodges had hit his last HR and stood at 370. But he did not retire. He played through late May of 1963. By that time Mays had surpassed his HR total for about a month. Mays had stood at 368 at the end of 1962.

Gil shoulda retired in '62. The story is like that of a champion boxer who stays in the ring one fight too many...

Posted by marcstuart on 7/10/2020 2:27:00 PM (view original):
Here's a toughie:

Who is the only man to play in a World Series and the Masters (golf)?

Hint: NY Yankees outfielder, '32 WS. 5 times Masters in the '40s.

that one stupid dude with the three stooges pantalones

Posted by marcstuart on 7/10/2020 6:22:00 PM (view original):

Posted by marcstuart on 7/10/2020 2:27:00 PM (view original):
Here's a toughie:

Who is the only man to play in a World Series and the Masters (golf)?

Hint: NY Yankees outfielder, '32 WS. 5 times Masters in the '40s.

I had to google it. I've heard of the player - he's famous for a specific reason in baseball - but I had no idea of the golfing connection and never would have guessed it.

Posted by marcstuart on 7/10/2020 6:22:00 PM (view original):

Posted by marcstuart on 7/10/2020 2:27:00 PM (view original):
Here's a toughie:

Who is the only man to play in a World Series and the Masters (golf)?

Hint: NY Yankees outfielder, '32 WS. 5 times Masters in the '40s.

The only name that comes to mind is Earle Combs

George Selkirk

trivia that is too substantial IMHO to be "trivia" Name the player who:

had more batting titles (7) than anyone else who played his position
most RBI titles (4) among guys who played his position
most times led league in OPS (4) among guys who played his position
led in fielding pct at his position 4 times
led in range (put outs plus assists per game) 4 times
led his league in steals 5 times
led his league in extra base hits 7 times; tied for the most ever with Ruth and Musial
led his league in position-player WAR 11 (!!) times; also ties for most ever
THAT, my friends, is the resume of a guy who has at least a reasonable argument to be the greatest player ever

Gotta be Honus

Rajah

Indeed, Mister Wagner. Who was still playing an all-star level shortstop at age 42. To pick any other player as the best all time shortstop is kinda reedikalus.

Posted by d_rock97 on 7/11/2020 2:44:00 AM (view original):

Posted by marcstuart on 7/10/2020 6:22:00 PM (view original):

Posted by marcstuart on 7/10/2020 2:27:00 PM (view original):
Here's a toughie:

Who is the only man to play in a World Series and the Masters (golf)?

Hint: NY Yankees outfielder, '32 WS. 5 times Masters in the '40s.

The only name that comes to mind is Earle Combs

OK. Nobody's getting this

Sammy Byrd

Posted by tomhanrahan on 7/12/2020 7:24:00 AM (view original):
Indeed, Mister Wagner. Who was still playing an all-star level shortstop at age 42. To pick any other player as the best all time shortstop is kinda reedikalus.

Well...maybe.

I preface this by saying that I probably agree with the assessment that Wagner is the greatest shortstop ever. But I think there are a lot of critiques one could make. The two most obvious are:
-- What adjustments do you make for the quality of play over time? (Personally, and I know I am on the extreme end of this, I think most people vastly underestimate how much today's players are better. I can't prove it, but I think a good high school team today would be competitive with major league teams from the turn of the century. This is not an answerable question, and you have to make about a thousand underlying assumptions just to get anywhere, any one of which can be open to debate. But if you allow for even a slight gradual improvement in quality of play over time, then I think it becomes very difficult to argue that a player from 120 years ago was as good as Ripken, Yount, Jeter, A-Rod, Tulo, etc.)
-- What adjustments do you make for the color barrier? (Again, I think most people vastly underestimate the impact of this. I expect that many of the best baseball players of the 1895-1915 era weren't allowed in the major leagues. Pop Lloyd certainly had a cadre of supporters who considered him, not Wagner, to be the greatest SS of the early 20th century.)

Relative to the era and conditions in which he played? No question (to me) that Wagner dominated his position as no other shortstop ever has. Which makes him not only the greatest shortstop, if that's your definition of greatest, but also puts him in the argument for greatest PLAYER ever.

But once you start making any kind of adjustments for how the game has changed, this is not a slam dunk. Not even close.

An interesting argument...would Cobb or Hornsby be capable of hitting .400 versus today's pitching? Probably not. But you would have them with the nutrition, Healthcare, access to video, just like today's athletes. They would still likely be among the best in the game.

my argument for Wagner is simple.

Pick a modern SS (Cal, Yount, Jeter, Ozzie) who you might say with timelining better.

The difference between Wagner and modern SS xxx is GREATER than comparing Ruth to Rickey Henderson or Frank Robinson. So unless you wish to kick Ruth-Cobb-etc all off your alltime team, and only have post-1947 players... WAGNER.

“You can have your Cobbs, your Lajoies, your Chases, your Bakers, but I'll take Wagner as my pick of the greatest,” [John] McGraw said. "He is not only a marvelous mechanical player, but he has the quickest baseball brain I have ever observed.”

"I name Wagner first on my list, not only because he was a great batting champion and base-runner, and also baseball's foremost shortstop - but because Honus could have been first at any other position, with the possible exception of pitcher. In all my career, I never saw such a versatile player." - John McGraw in The Sporting News (December 6, 1955)

" . . . there is no one who has ever played the game that I would be more anxious to have on a baseball team." - Bill James