Baseball Toaster: Mike's Baseball Rants : Best in (The) Show

Best in (The) Show

2005-09-08 22:25

by Mike Carminati

When I was a kid, Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" came out, and it and they seemed to be the biggest thing on the planet. Next came Supertramp's "Breakfast in America". Then came Pink Floyd's "The Wall", which seemed to raise the bar beyond reach. Well, except for blips on the radar screen like the Police's "Synchronicity", when REM released "Losing My Religion, and U2 more than once with "Joshua Tree" and "All That You Can't Leave Behind". I always thought Weezer would break it wide open after the "Green" album, but they never seemed made it over the top.

Anyway, during the Nineties when most were maintaining that Alex Rodriguez was the "Best Player in the Game", it's now apparent that Barry Bonds was the real king. With Bonds expected to return to the game this weekend after missing most of the season due to injury, I was reminded of the issue of the best player on the plant.

Does Bonds still merit the title given the time lost and his age?

I thought it might be interesting to look into a empirical method for determining the best player. He would have to be having a great year at the time—let's say at least 25 Win Shares, which leaves Bonds out in the cold. And he would have to the career stats to earn the title (i.e., career Win Shares).

My method was for each season to look at all the players with at least 25 Win Shares and then take the one with the greatest career Win Shares. Yeah, it's not perfect, but it turns out to be pretty instructive.

Here's the final list. You'll note that no one qualified in strike years because of the 25-WS minimum, and I'm fine with that. I could prorate the Win Shares in those seasons, but I think that those years were such downers anyway that don't need them besmirching the honor of our made-up title. You may also note that pitchers dominate the list until the end of the first decade in the 1900s.

Finally, the man who wrests the title of best player away from Bonds after a decade is—drum roll please—NOT A-Rod. It's not even Vladimir Guerrero. It's A-Rod's teammate, Gary Sheffield. Whether you agree with that or not, he has a pretty good argument for the title this year. One other thing about the list: Every man on it dating back to 1897 who is eligible is in the Hall of Fame (and Rose would go if eligible). Sheffield doesn't get a lot of mention when today's Hall-worthy players are discussed, but he really should. He may have to either put up a monster season or accumulate a bunch of very good years to reach a few big milestones in order to get serious consideration, which is a shame:

Yr	Career WS	WS	Best	Age
2005	397	29	Gary Sheffield	36
2004	664	53	Barry Bonds	39
2003	611	39	Barry Bonds	38
2002	572	49	Barry Bonds	37
2001	523	54	Barry Bonds	36
2000	469	32	Barry Bonds	35
1999	314	30	Mark McGwire	35
1998	418	34	Barry Bonds	33
1997	384	36	Barry Bonds	32
1996	348	39	Barry Bonds	31
1995	309	36	Barry Bonds	30
1993	413	25	Rickey Henderson	34
1992	400	27	Dave Winfield	40
1991	363	25	Rickey Henderson	32
1990	407	26	George Brett	37
1989	359	34	Robin Yount	33
1988	364	26	George Brett	35
1987	450	26	Mike Schmidt	37
1986	424	31	Mike Schmidt	36
1985	393	26	Mike Schmidt	35
1984	367	26	Mike Schmidt	34
1983	341	35	Mike Schmidt	33
1982	481	29	Joe Morgan	38
1980	361	31	Reggie Jackson	34
1979	464	27	Pete Rose	38
1978	437	27	Pete Rose	37
1977	382	30	Joe Morgan	33
1976	387	30	Pete Rose	35
1975	357	31	Pete Rose	34
1974	352	25	Willie McCovey	36
1973	494	26	Frank Robinson	37
1972	314	32	Billy Williams	34
1971	625	27	Willie Mays	40
1970	542	25	Hank Aaron	36
1969	517	38	Hank Aaron	35
1968	557	30	Willie Mays	37
1967	541	25	Mickey Mantle	35
1966	506	37	Willie Mays	35
1965	469	43	Willie Mays	34
1964	482	34	Mickey Mantle	32
1963	388	38	Willie Mays	32
1962	434	33	Mickey Mantle	30
1961	401	48	Mickey Mantle	29
1960	353	36	Mickey Mantle	28
1959	317	30	Mickey Mantle	27
1958	525	25	Ted Williams	39
1957	519	30	Stan Musial	36
1956	489	26	Stan Musial	35
1955	463	29	Stan Musial	34
1954	434	30	Stan Musial	33
1953	404	33	Stan Musial	32
1952	371	37	Stan Musial	31
1951	375	34	Ted Williams	32
1950	370	29	Joe DiMaggio	35
1949	322	40	Ted Williams	30
1948	320	34	Joe DiMaggio	33
1946	319	26	Luke Appling	39
1944	506	25	Mel Ott	35
1943	346	28	Arky Vaughan	31
1942	465	35	Mel Ott	33
1941	430	26	Mel Ott	32
1939	380	28	Mel Ott	30
1938	489	25	Lou Gehrig	35
1937	464	36	Lou Gehrig	34
1936	428	38	Lou Gehrig	33
1935	390	34	Lou Gehrig	32
1934	356	41	Lou Gehrig	31
1933	734	29	Babe Ruth	38
1932	705	36	Babe Ruth	37
1931	669	38	Babe Ruth	36
1930	631	38	Babe Ruth	35
1929	593	32	Babe Ruth	34
1928	561	45	Babe Ruth	33
1927	516	45	Babe Ruth	32
1926	603	29	Tris Speaker	38
1925	678	25	Ty Cobb	38
1924	653	27	Ty Cobb	37
1923	528	35	Tris Speaker	35
1922	602	29	Ty Cobb	35
1921	573	26	Ty Cobb	34
1920	436	39	Tris Speaker	32
1919	527	32	Ty Cobb	32
1918	495	31	Ty Cobb	31
1917	464	46	Ty Cobb	30
1916	418	40	Ty Cobb	29
1915	433	28	Sam Crawford	35
1914	405	31	Sam Crawford	34
1913	398	30	Christy Mathewson	32
1912	573	35	Honus Wagner	38
1911	538	30	Honus Wagner	37
1910	508	30	Honus Wagner	36
1909	478	42	Honus Wagner	35
1909	367	27	Nap Lajoie	34
1908	600	27	Cy Young	41
1907	573	27	Cy Young	40
1906	367	29	George Davis	35
1905	533	28	Cy Young	38
1904	505	35	Cy Young	37
1903	470	38	Cy Young	36
1902	432	38	Cy Young	35
1901	440	32	Kid Nichols	31
1899	390	31	Kid Nichols	29
1898	359	44	Kid Nichols	28
1897	315	41	Kid Nichols	27
1893	391	27	Tony Mullane	34
1892	367	33	John Clarkson	31
1891	334	42	John Clarkson	30
1890	382	34	Charley Radbourn	35
1889	356	27	Tim Keefe	32
1888	351	30	Pud Galvin	31
1887	321	33	Pud Galvin	30
1886	316	33	Jim McCormick	29

Comments

2005-09-09 09:09:18

1. Schteeve

If I were a pitcher, Sheffield might be the last guy I'd ever want to face. His raw production and the menacing aura that surrounds each at bat make him one of the most interesting and visceral characters in the game. Hero or anti-hero, I guess it depends on whom you root for.

2005-09-09 10:51:49

2. Shaun P

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the youngest guy to hold the "best player" title by your method was Mantle. (Unless you go all the way back to Kid Nichols in 1897.)

Nice list, Mike.

2005-09-09 11:46:10

3. Cliff Corcoran

Further to Shaun's comment, I think you place too much emphasis on career achievement here, thus you get Ott, not Williams or DiMaggio in '41. Cobb and not Ruth in '21. And, just eyeballing it, no triple crown winners in the years they actually won the thing.

The way I see it, the best player in the game should be a player that's at the peak of his abilities, not one on the down slope, as so often occurs in your chart.

Prior to the 2004 season I tried to determine the best player in the game (obviously it was Bonds) in an article about Alex Rodriguez (linked on the Bronx Banter sidebar), and my method was to use the previous three seasons, but no more. I wonder how this chart would change if you used a similar short-term system.