Hank Aaron overrated? Who ever believes this doesn’t know baseball

I wrote an article about a poster who claimed I knew nothing about baseball. You can read my debate on Sandy Koufax being overrated. Allan Rosteing also made the remark “Aaron never hit over 44 homerunsin a season.” Okay, and?

Aaron is easily one of the top 5 players of all time. Actually, I’d rate him fourth all time behind Ruth, Walter Johnson and Willie Mays. It is true that Aaron was not flashy like Ruth nor possessed the power of Ruth. Yes, Aaron’s career high in home runs was 44. Along with Ty Cobb and Pete Rose, Aaron was one of  baseball’s most consistent hitters.

Aaron played from 1954 until 1976. He made 25 All-Stars (some years there were two all-star games during his playing time). Aaron holds the MLB records of RBI’s, extra base hits and total bases. He is 2nd in home runs behind cheater Barry Bonds, 3rd in hits, and tied for 4th in runs. Aaron is one of only four players with at least 150 hits in 17 straight seasons. He also hit 24 or more home runs from 1955-1973. Most people also forget the fact Aaron won three Gold Gloves for his great and underrated defense. 

Besides this Allan Rosteing dude, nobody else besides racist people seem to think Aaron is overrated. Sporting News rated Aaron 5th all time on their list of players, scholar Molefi Kete Asante ranks Aaron as the greatest black player in MLB history and SABR ranks Aaron 4th like me, Dugout Central ranks Aaron 7th all time,  andAaron also made the All-Century team which proved beyond a doubt, he clearly belongs in the top ten MLB players of all time.

Aaron is a living legend within the baseball realm. He was not only good in his prime, but was still a star at age 40. Most players like Johnny Bench and Sandy Koufax were done in their early 30’s. If you think Aaron is overrated, you truly don’t understand the game of baseball.

Earle Combs – one of MLB’s most underrated players

Easy debate to win – Sandy Koufax is not one of the top five pitchers of all time

Some dude named Allan Rosteing left a comment claiming I know nothing about baseball. He was upset that Sandy Koufax was left out of my all-time top pitchers. People who rate him in the top five are the ones who truly know nothing about baseball.

To prove Koufax is not in the top five off all time is well, easy. He was done by age 30. He only won 165 games. He is nowhere near the top in wins, career strikeouts or even ERA. How can we call him “one of the greatest”? The fact is, we can’t.

His first year was 1955. He was 2 and 2 with an ERA of 3.02. Okay, not note worthy at all. In 1956 he was 2 and 4 with an ERA of 4.91; a very bad year to say the least. In 1957 he was 5 and 4 and had an ERA of 3.88, also a joke. In 1958 he was 11 and 11 (at least he won ten games lol) and had another bad ERA of 4.48. In 1959 he was 8 and 6 with an ERA of 4.05, also bad. In 1960 he was 8 and 13 with an ERA of 3.91, another bad year. In 1961 he was 18 and 13 with an  ERA of 3.52; okay, not too bad of a year there. In 1962 he finally pitched good going 14 and 7 and led the NL with an ERA of 2.54. From 1963 through 1966, Koufax was the best pitcher in the Majors.

But again, how can we call him one of the best ever? He pitched 12 seasons and had a losing record twice. He had an ERA over 4.00 three times. He won less than 10 games in a season five times, almost half of his career. He had 6 good seasons in 12 years, meaning he was okay or terrible the other half. How can we truly call that greatness?

Compare him to Greg Maddux. Maddux won nearly 200 games more than Koufax. He also won 18 Gold Gloves for his defense. Maddux also won at least 15 games in a season 17 straight seasons. He only won less than 10 games three times in his 23 year career; two being his first two seasons in the majors and his last. Koufax did that 5 times in only 12 seasons.

I could sit here all day and show pitchers who had longer and much better careers than Koufax. Should Koufax be in the Hall? Of course. But he is still not near the top five of all time.

Even Hall of Fame voters agree. Koufax only got 86% of the vote when elected. The all time greats like Seaver, had over 98%. I will bet money that Maddux hall of fame votes will be at least 5% higher than Koufax’s.

Randy Johnson graded rookie card – 10.0 Gem Mint

You have a Picture Mail from mburks83@pm.sprint.com

Here is a Randy Johnson card I own in GEM mint (10.0 graded). Just like the day they cut if from the sheet.

Favorite players to collect in baseball

Since I blog a lot about my baseball card collection, I should let the world know on my favorites to collect.

From age 5 to this present day, Cal Ripken Jr. has been my favorite player. He is also my favortie player to collect. I have between 250 and 400 different cards of his.

In 2nd place would be Nolan Ryan, who was pitching some 15 years before I was even born. He pitched for 27 years, 1966-1993. I have around 200 cards of his.

Third would be just about any former great from the Altanta Braves. I own dozens upon dozens of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Chipper Jones cards, many being rookies.

Lately I have been working on two sets I want. I am calling them sadly, “I love the 80’s” which is my hope to collect as many 1980 hall of fame players along with their rookies such as Tony Gywnn, Kirby Puckett, Wade Boggs and Ryan Sandberg.

I am also working on “I love the 70’s”. I have been working on getting some Eddie Murray rookies, Carlton Fisk and Jim Rice cards, among others.

My all time baseball team

All-Time Starting Line-up

First Base – Lou Gehrig – 23 Career Grand slams (MLB record), .340 Career batting average and 1995 RBI

Second Base – Roger Hornsby – .358 Career batting average (number 1 all time for second basemen), 301 homeruns and 2,930 Career hits

Shortstop – Cal Ripken Jr. – 2632 straight games played (MLB record), 2 MVP awards and 3184 Career hits

Third base – Mike Schmidt – 3 MVP awards, 548 Career homeruns and 10 Gold Gloves

Catcher – Ivan Rodriguez – 2605 Career hits, .301 Career batting average and 13 Career Gold Gloves (MLB record for a catcher)

Outfield – Ted Williams – 2 MVP awards, .344 Career batting average and 1839 Career RBI (note: he missed nearly 5 total years of playing due to WW II and the Korean War)

Outfield – Willie Mays – 660 Career homeruns, 12 Gold Gloves and 2 MVP awards

Outfield – Hank Aaron – 755 Career homeruns (no steroids; bigger ball parks), 3771 Career hits and 2297 Career RBI

DH/Other – Babe Ruth – 714 Career homeruns, .690 Career slugging average (MLB record) and 2217 Career RBI (note: he was also a great pitcher)

All-Time Starting Rotation

Walter Johnson – 2 MVP awards, 417 Career wins and 110 shutouts (MLB record)

Greg Maddux – 355 Career wins, 3,371 Career Strikeouts and 18 Gold Gloves (MLB record)

CY Young – 511 Career Wins (MLB record), 2.63 Career ERA, 89 Career Shutouts

Randy Johnson – 5 CY Young awards, 4789 Career Strikeouts and 295 wins

Ed Walsh – 1.82 Career ERA (MLB record), 1.00 Career Whip Average and 6 sub-2.00 ERA seasons

All-Time Bullpen

Mariano Rivera – 482 Career saves, 0.77 Career Post Season ERA (MLB record) and save percentage of 88.9

Dennis Eckersley – 390 Career saves, 1 CY Young Award, 1 MVP

Hoyt Wilhelm – 143 Career wins, 2.43 Career ERA and 227 Career saves

Trevor Hoffman – 554 Career saves (MLB record), 2.78 Career ERA and 6 All-Stars

Goose Gossage – 124 Career wins, 310 Career saves and 9 All-Stars

Note – I do not respect players who cheated such as A-Rod, Bonds (whose head grew nearly two inches) and Mark Mcgwire. That is why none of these “greats” are on my list.

Two of my graded baseball card rookies

Greg Maddux, sure Hall of Famer

Mark McGwire, graded a nine (mint)

My current collection of baseball cards

Albums – 53 (they hold between 270 and 370 cards each)

Complete sets – 31

Traded/Rookie sets – 9

3,200 count boxes – 7

I also have tons of old Baby Wipe boxes that are filled with cards worth $1.50 and up. If I had to guess, I’d say they are over 500 in them. You do the math, not a bad collection.

My sports blog

If you got the time, check out my Burks’ Sports Talk at http://burkssportstalk.blogspot.com.

Nick Adenhart killed in car wreck

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513597,00.html

DEVELOPING: A starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels was killed after a game early Thursday in a hit-and-run accident, FOX News confirmed.

Police said a minivan driver ran a red light in Fullerton, Calif., striking two cars in a crash that left three people dead. A representative for the Angels told FOX that pro-baseball player Nick Adenhart was among the dead.

The Angels said they were saddened by the news and would release a statement shortly.

Adenhart, 22, had just pitched a game against the Oakland A’s mere hours earlier.

A hospital official also confirmed Adenhart’s death.

University of California, Irvine Medical Center spokesman John Murray told The Associated Press that the rookie pitcher died Thursday morning after undergoing surgery.

Another of those killed was also reportedly connected to the team, according to TMZ.

The driver who allegedly fled the scene on foot was caught, arrested and charged with felony hit-and-run, said Fullerton Police Lt. Craig Brower.

Brower wouldn’t immediately confirm to FOXNews.com that Adenhart was among the dead, saying police were waiting on positive identification of the victims from the coroner and attempting to notify the families.

The three dead were in a gray Mitsubishi, which slammed into a light pole after the van struck it, Brower said.

Two people in the car died instantly and Adenhart died at the hospital a short while later.

A fourth occupant is in critical condition at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, Calif. A passenger in the van was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Click here for baseball stats on Nick Adenhart.

Click here for more on this story from MyFOXLA.com.

Click here for more on this story from TMZ.com.