1950 Yankees: who was the best player: Berra, DiMaggio or Rizzuto?

[9RoyHobbsRF]

Berra has surged into a 7-4-4 lead although Brett has expressed he wishes to change his vote from Rizzuto to DiMaggio

anyone else

[9RoyHobbsRF]

I voted for Berra based on his performance and position, if there was a draft for players from that year, I would take Berra before the other 2 based on his performance as a C (they were all so close). You have a SS in the league who hit .295 with 30 HR and 144 RBI.

[9RoyHobbsRF]

just for record keeping, the vote is currently 4-4-4 though Brett says he wants to change from Rizzuto to DiMaggio which would make it DiMaggio - 5, Berra - 4, Rizzuto - 3. (I still haven't voted yet)

[JR Hart]

DiMaggio was the top slugger in the league. He should have been MVP. And oh yeah, he was Joe DiMaggio, which means that he was the team leader.

[brett]

I mis estimated what Joe's WAR would have been using his road rates to predict his hitting. He would have had just about 7.5 WAR and would have had about a 183 OPS+. That is really off the hook because he was only about 110 at home With that factored in I would like to change my vote to Joe Dimaggio.

By the way, I have always felt that YS hurt centerfielders defensive ratings in defensive metrics because there was so much more importance in cutting off gap hits which often became triples, and that also probably reduces their putouts and assists somewhat.

[brett]

but what if a team's home park is known to favor LH hitters more than RH (or vice versa of course)?

I think it comes down to the difference between greatest and most valuable. I agree that Dimaggio may have been the best, but unable to demonstrate that fully because of his park, but the same could be true for a great pitcher who doesn't get a chance to start because his team has a deep rotations.

[westsidegrounds]

--It matters when comparing two players from different parks. Its worth considering when you are trying to figure a players place in history. When deciding which player from a team was more valuable in a given season then I think their overall numbers are all that really need to be considered.

but what if a team's home park is known to favor LH hitters more than RH (or vice versa of course)?

[philliesfiend55]

I'll go with the sentiment of that year and cast a vote for Rizzuto. Phil Rizzuto won the Hickock Award which meant that he was not only the best baseball player of 1950, but also the best pro athlete of any sport. That was Rizzuto's career year and he probably had the greatest impact of any Yankee. The Yankees won by a narrow margin over Cleveland so without Rizxuto'a career year they weren't going to win the Amer.Lg.pennant or the World Series.

[1905 Giants]

Joltin' Joe for me.

[9RoyHobbsRF]

close poll, anyone else care to vote?

[Yankillaz]

I go with Berra in this one, again by position. Scooter did well, but he was a tad below.

[brett]

Berra and Rizutto both have normal home-road split for their careers. Maybe Rizutto got a big boost in his career season.
It is actually better for a team to have their value spread out evenly across splits. A 1 run edge in 154 games should produce more wins than a 2 run edge in 77 and a 0 run average edge in the other 77.
Dimaggio's road splits WERE huge.

If Dimaggio had had normal splits he would have produced around .9 more WAR which still leaves him a little behind the other two.

Perhaps we might say that he was more valuable, but that the park cost some value, though it probably helped the Yanks overall.

We also could argue that it helped the Yankees extra to have Dimaggio because he provided some right handed balance to the lineup. It could have lead to them facing more lefties for example. Also because the rest of the team hit worse on the road he stabilized their overall splits which is worth a little more than face value.

[9RoyHobbsRF]

--It matters when comparing two players from different parks. Its worth considering when you are trying to figure a players place in history. When deciding which player from a team was more valuable in a given season then I think their overall numbers are all that really need to be considered.

excellent points

plus I got and agree with your PM

[leecemark]

--It matters when comparing two players from different parks. Its worth considering when you are trying to figure a players place in history. When deciding which player from a team was more valuable in a given season then I think their overall numbers are all that really need to be considered.

[9RoyHobbsRF]

--Why does that matter? Its kind of important to be good in your home park. I believe you actually play half your games there.

agree but disagree

Yankee Stadium was particularly created and designed to favor LH hitters particularly power hitters

was Johnny Blanchard a great player in 1961 because he hit .340 with 14 HR in limited AB in Yankee Stadium or was his pedestrian .266 with 7 HR in road games a better indication of his talents?

was Dante Bichette a great player because he hit 31 HR and slugged over .700 at Coors but only 9 HR and a lot lower slugging average in road games in 1995?

I think park illusions matter