Ken Griffey versus threads compilation

[NickTheGreek]

Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard enough comparing The Mick, and Griffey, cause you can’t, but hear me out on this one. Both great hitters of their generations, great speed, Gold glove out fielders. Five or Fifty years old, I feel as though when these two guys batted we all feel like kids again watching our hero.
I'm 26 years old, born and raised in NYC. Though I've never seen him play I've read and heard plenty of stories about Mickey Mantle and the legacy he left behind. People older than my father would tell me stories about the Mick and they would get all jittery with excitement. I don’t see baseball having any players that would create such inspirational careers like The Mick did.
In my mind I would say maybe Ken Griffey Jr. I recently went to a Mets, Reds game in Queens and I found myself on the edge of my seat during every pitch throw to griffey, a hush blanketed the crowd, even the vendors took a seat when griffey batted.
Also I find that Griffey gets the same argument Mantle did, the “What if” statements. What if, he never got hurt. What if, he played every full season. What if, he took better care of himself, how much more could they have shown us.
I remember when Griffey was a rookie, and I spend every last dime I had to buy his baseball cards, and now when I look online to see his stats I see next to his name Years Pro: 17. His time is coming, he seems so much more fragile. Who will be the next Mick.

[ElHalo]

Just as hitters, they're nothing alike. I would say the most similar hitter to Mickey Mantle would probably be Frank Thomas.

[pjf]

Frank Thomas?

"Greek God of Baseball". I've read a lot of your posts and the are usually well thought out and accurate. Possibly, your comparison of Mantle's swing and Frank Thomas' was done with tongue in cheek. As a right-handed hitter perhaps Jimmy Fox. Ted Williams once made the comment that the sound of baseball hitting the bat was different among only two players f he ever saw - Foxx and Mantle. From the left side, alhough I'm not a fan of his, Reggie Jackson. Jackson had Mantle-like power and most of his shots were to the gap areas or straight away center.Right-handed Mantle would follow a curve ball almost down to his knees while left-handed he would uppercut the ball. His greater power and hitting ability was right-handed but most of his tape measures were lefty. Go figure

[pjf]

Frank Thomas

"Greek God 0f Baseball" I apologize. I was thinking of the other Frank Thomas. To compare him to Mantle right-handed was a joke. The more current Frank Thomas does have many similarities.

[SeaverGooden]

Griffey vs Speaker

Who is the greater centerfielder? Tris Speaker of Ken Griffey Jr.?

[KCGHOST]

This is too lopsided to get overly analytical. Speaker had an RCAA of 1053 to Griffey's 582. That's enough for me.

[Bench 5]

Griffey is in my top 3 players of the past 15 years. I rank Thomas and Bonds over him. His accomplishments are great but they would look even greater if some of the top players of his generation weren't juicing up. (I don't think he was ever on steroids.)

Speaker is an all-time great so I am not going to say anything to put him down. I'd rate him behind Cobb, Ruth, and Wagner among his contemporary major leaguers and probably behind Oscar Charleston from the Negro Leagues.

I think Griffey was a little better in his time and the overall quality of the league was a little higher. So I give my vote to Griffey.

[DoubleX]

I have Speaker ahead, but that wasn't the case for a very long time. I used to give both Griffey and DiMaggio major era advantages over Speaker, but at some point I concluded that despite the era adjustments, Speaker was just that good. So Speaker is 4th for me on the CF list (behind Mays, Cobb, and Mantle), while Griffey is 6th (behind DiMaggio). I would like to see a DiMaggio/Griffey debate though, as I think that could be pretty interesting.

[Brian McKenna]

This is too lopsided to get overly analytical. Speaker had an RCAA of 1053 to Griffey's 582. That's enough for me.

great historical insight - over forty years in professional baseball between them and that's all there is - two numbers

[Myankee4life]

Good Idea DoubleX....im going to post one

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Very disappointing guys. Those of you with the ability to break this down, really should. It is lopsided, I agree, but not everyone sees it that way. The facts should be presented. Hereyee, Hereyee.

[KnoblauchNephew11]

Griffey

Griffey is way better than Speaker, who here saw Speaker play? Answer me that, we've all see Junior's sweet swing!

[leecemark]

--I think you can make a fairly good case that Griffey was a better player at their respective peaks (not sure I'd agree, but it would be a fair fight anyway) . RCAA really isn't fair to Griffey since the average player in Speaker's time to whom he is being compared is not nearly as good as the average player in Griffey's. Not twice as good though and they would have to be for Junior to overcome that gap. He isn't going make up any of the ground with defense and baserunning either (Speaker widens the gap some there).
--The main reason Griffey-Speaker is so lopsided is that Junior broke down early and hasn't been able to stay on the field. Spoke remained one of the leagues best and most reliable players deep into his 30s. Griffey not only has missed alot of games but those injuries have also turned him into a lousy defensive player (plus his BA has tanked). Even when he is in the lineup he is strictly a one dimensional slugger now and has been for 5 years.

[Myankee4life]

Joe Dimaggio VS Ken Griffey JR

This was brought up on the other thread. I think it's pretty clear that Speaker is better than JR.....but how about Joe D?

They both have 13 full season's to their credit.

Joe Dimaggio .325/361/1537/.398/.579
JR Griffey .293/536/1536/.377/.561

Using raw stats Joe D is better at everything exept power hitting( we'll get to that later)

Using Relative stats

Joe D- Rel BA 121 Rel OB 115 Rel Slg 149
Griffey- Rel BA 110 Rel OB 112 Rel Slg 137

So even using relative stats Joe comes out better....now for best OPS+ seasons

Joe D 185,184,173,168,163 Career 155
JR 172,170,164,155,153 Career 143

Joe is better than him in every single saeason and has a 12pt lead in OPS+
In RC/27 Joe leads 8.89 to 7.65

Griffey had more speed but wasn't near the baserunner Joe was. Their both great defensive centerfielders so i'll push this.

Concerning HR's I actually think Joe was a better power hitter because his home park KILLED him while Griffey was helped by his. I dont have splits but im fairly certain Joe hit most of his homer's on the road.

Intangibles is not even close. Dimaggio 9 WS nuff' said.

I really dont think this is even close when you factor in Joe's 3 missing war years.

Opinions?

[Bench 5]

I give the nod to DiMaggio under the assumption that he would have put up another 80-90 homers, 400 RBIs, and 500 hits if not for his service to the country.......... Three time MVP. Up there with Williams and Musial as best hitters of his generation.