Elite power hitter below 6 feet height

[dominik]

Most great sluggers are tall guys about 6"2-6"4. who are the best sluggers below 6 feet height? to be considered the mentioned guys should have been a very good slugger at least for a couple of years.

my first pick would probably be mel ott. he was of course helped by his ballpark (power numbers not hitting in general!) but still he was a very good power hitter for his height of 5"9.

[KCGHOST]

Mickey Mantle at 5'11" wasn't a slouch.

[Bigfoot 88]

Gary Sheffield

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Willie Mays and Gary Sheffield are both listed under 6 feet. Eddie Matthews is listed at 6'1". I met Matthews at a baseball card show in the early 1990's. There is no way he was 6'1".

[BigRon]

first, of course, people- and players- have been getting bigger (taller and heavier) over time. In 1920 a player 6' tall and 190 pounds was considered a big guy. Now, that's average- or less.

In any case, some obvious ones;
Willie Mays was 5'10" or 5'11', depending on source.
Mickey Mantle was 5'11" or 6'0", depending on source.
Harmon Killebrew
Al Rosen
Roy Campanella
Yogi Berra
Hack Wilson
Richie "Dick" Allen
Jimmy Wynn

[GiambiJuice]

The first guys who came to mind were Hack Wilson (5'6) and Matt Stairs (5'9). Stairs had tremendous power, but I doubt anyone would consider him an "elite power hitter".

[Dude Paskert]

Prince Fielder is shown at 5'11", as is Rogers Hornsby.

Hack Wilson had an extremely unusual build...thick bull neck, big upper body, very tiny feet (think size 5-6). The feet are pretty freaky if you look closely.
Charlie Keller was 5'10", but was probably on the edge of being considered an elite power hitter.
I thought Jimmie Foxx was 5'10-11", but Baseball-Reference has him at 6'.

[BigRon]

Willie Mays and Gary Sheffield are both listed under 6 feet. Eddie Matthews is listed at 6'1". I met Matthews at a baseball card show in the early 1990's. There is no way he was 6'1".

I saw Mathews through much of his career, including several times live at the ballpark. He definitely looked like a guy who was about 6' or 6'1". Of course this was in the late 50s- early 60s. You saw him 35 years later when he was in his 60s. It's amazing how much some people shrink as they age. Not everyone, of course, but lots of people. True story- I worked for years with a guy- he was 6'4" in his early 20s- he's now in his late 50s and is 6'1" max. So, it happens.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I saw Mathews through much of his career, including several times live at the ballpark. He definitely looked like a guy who was about 6' or 6'1". Of course this was in the late 50s- early 60s. You saw him 35 years later when he was in his 60s. It's amazing how much some people shrink as they age. Not everyone, of course, but lots of people. True story- I worked for years with a guy- he was 6'4" in his early 20s- he's now in his late 50s and is 6'1" max. So, it happens.

Perhaps my memory is fuzzy. Matthews looks about the same height as Aaron in these photos.

Sluggers-066-Hank-Aaron-Eddie-Mathews.jpg

Aaron-Matthews.jpg

[Dude Paskert]

Perhaps my memory is fuzzy. Matthews looks about the same height as Aaron in these photos.

Boy, Eddie is really having a great time in that bottom photo...at least Hank is making some effort to smile. Mathews looks like he's about to puke.
My father told me that Eddie Mathews ran some batting cages between Milwaukee and Chicago after his playing days, anybody else heard about that? I used to frequent Gabby Hartnett's bowling alley when I was a kid, although I don't think his family was involved in it anymore.

[BigRon]

Perhaps my memory is fuzzy. Matthews looks about the same height as Aaron in these photos.

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Well, Aaron was 6', so that's about right.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Prince Fielder is shown at 5'11", as is Rogers Hornsby.

Hack Wilson had an extremely unusual build...thick bull neck, big upper body, very tiny feet (think size 5-6). The feet are pretty freaky if you look closely.
Charlie Keller was 5'10", but was probably on the edge of being considered an elite power hitter.
I thought Jimmie Foxx was 5'10-11", but Baseball-Reference has him at 6'.

This picture just kills me! Check out those feet!

Image17-4.jpg

[Jackaroo Dave]

I think by making the requirement "below" 6 feet, you may miss some people, whereas if you made it "less than or equal to six feet," you'd be more likely to get who you asked for:

According to Baseball-Reference, there are 2160 players at 71", 2717 at 72", and 2260 at 73", about 500 more at 6' than you'd expect with a smooth curve. It seems much more likely to me that players, press agents, and reporters would round up rather than down. (I have never heard of anyone rounding his height down. I'm 5'9" myself, well, I used to be; now I'm 5'8.5".)

I understand the point of making it "below" but I think your data will be distorted.

[Dude Paskert]

Ruth and Gehrig look about as happy in that photo with Hack as Eddie Mathews does with Aaron above.

Don't Hack's calves look about at deep as his shoes are long? His legs actually look thicker than Ruth's, but then a lot of people commented on Ruth's thin calves.

[Joltin' Joe]

Reggie Jackson is listed at 6ft but supposedly he is much shorter than that. Can anyone confirm?