Brady Anderson's feat has been equaled

[bobmc]

1 minute ago, Redskins Rick said:

There is a play that Mays is supposed to have made, that might be an urban legend. Catch at the deep park of CF and fires a strike to home plate, no bounce and gets an speedy runner out.

Don't recall but his throw back to second base after the WS catch off Vic Wertz held the runner at first (I believe), they say.  Of course, no-one would hold the bag seeing that ball flight.  And the urban legend above may have been aided by the runner having to go back to tag up.  I lost him once they moved West - never seeing him much.  The old shots of him climbing the chain link fence in CF at the old "Stick" were memorable though.

[Redskins Rick]

3 minutes ago, bobmc said:

Don't recall but his throw back to second base after the WS catch off Vic Wertz held the runner at first (I believe), they say.  Of course, no-one would hold the bag seeing that ball flight.  And the urban legend above may have been aided by the runner having to go back to tag up.  I lost him once they moved West - never seeing him much.  The old shots of him climbing the chain link fence in CF at the old "Stick" were memorable though.

 

[bobmc]

21 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

 

Thanks for that.  I wish I could say I witnessed that in person.  I was on a family trip to FL at the time.  But the Wiki replay (btw I did donate $$) does say that Mays held the runner on first.  The NY Giants' colors were also black and orange!

"Wertz worked the count to two balls and one strike before hitting Liddle's fourth pitch approximately 420 feet to deep center field. In many stadiums the ball would have been a home run, which would have given the Indians a 5–2 lead. However, the Polo Grounds was larger than average, and Mays, who was playing in shallow center field, made an on-the-run, over-the-shoulder catch at the warning track for the out. Having caught the ball, he immediately spun and threw the ball. Doby, the runner on second, might have been able to score the go-ahead run had he tagged at the moment the ball was caught; as it was, he ran when the ball was hit, then had to scramble back to retag. Mays' throw went to second base, holding Cleveland to runners at first and third with one out.^[2]

Right-hander Marv Grissom then relieved Liddle,^[2] who supposedly remarked to pitching coach Freddie Fitzsimmons, "Well, I got my man."^[3] Grissom walked pinch hitter *Dale Mitchell to load the bases, then struck out pinch hitter Dave Pope, and got catcher Jim Hegan to fly out, ending the inning with no runs scored.^[2]"

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catch_(baseball)}

^{* Fun fact - Dale Mitchell was the final out of the Don Larson (ex-Brown/Oriole) WS no-hitter 2 years later, which my father saw in person and kept score.}

^{Also apologize for the hijack!}

[Ruzious]

13 hours ago, Frobby said:

Acuna led off the game with a homer again tonight.   https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/mlb/2018/8/14/17691102/ronald-acuna-jr-leadoff-home-run-record-youngest-dingerssss

And 8 homers in his last 8 games - doing this while his team is in a pennant race.  I think he's passed Soto for ROY at this point, though nothing and everything that Soto does surprises and amazes me.  They might be Mays and Aaron part dos.  It's fun to watch.     

[25 Nuggets]

5 hours ago, Redskins Rick said:

My grandfather lived in Oakland, but was a huge Willie Mays fan, and talks about how he was a better ball player than even Babe Ruth. Something the WAR prove otherwise.

Those WARs they produced were unreal.

 

It's worth noting that Babe Ruth had to hit the ball 484 feet to clear that center field fence.  Farther actually to account for the height.  And that's with poorer equipment to hit with and a poorer ball.  That tells me his power would translate to today.

[bobmc]

14 minutes ago, 25 Nuggets said:

It's worth noting that Babe Ruth had to hit the ball 484 feet to clear that center field fence.  Farther actually to account for the height.  And that's with poorer equipment to hit with and a poorer ball.  That tells me his power would translate to today.

So DH material and position player pitching?  

[Redskins Rick]

Just now, bobmc said:

So DH material and position player pitching?  

They said he was one heck of a pitcher.

I was shocked to see the stats and at age 35 and then 38, he threw 9 innings each.

[Frobby]

24 minutes ago, 25 Nuggets said:

It's worth noting that Babe Ruth had to hit the ball 484 feet to clear that center field fence.  Farther actually to account for the height.  And that's with poorer equipment to hit with and a poorer ball.  That tells me his power would translate to today.

Yeah, I’m sure it would.    Not sure how his bat speed would have held up against today’s pitchers though.      It’s one of those unknowable things.   

[bobmc]

17 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Yeah, I’m sure it would.    Not sure how his bat speed would have held up against today’s pitchers though.      It’s one of those unknowable things.   

True.  Ruth was a marvel during the era (pun intended) he played/pitched.  Mays was also.  Ruth's peers were not as skilled so his WAR is probably higher than it would be today (I really have no idea just MUS'ing here).  Mays played against players more highly skilled than in Ruth's era, so I'm guessing that may have affected his WAR.  But, the outlier is Ruth's ability to pitch so he gets the nod for that.

[Ohfan67]

32 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Yeah, I’m sure it would.    Not sure how his bat speed would have held up against today’s pitchers though.      It’s one of those unknowable things.   

Just imagine Ruth with a nutritionist, a personal trainer, and some "nutritional supplements". Say flaxseed oil from San Francisco.

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Ohfan67 said:

Just imagine Ruth with a nutritionist, a personal trainer, and some "nutritional supplements". Say flaxseed oil from San Francisco.

Like sheep testes?

Oh wait we don't have to imagine that.

[Tx Oriole]

6 hours ago, Redskins Rick said:

There is a play that Mays is supposed to have made, that might be an urban legend. Catch at the deep park of CF and fires a strike to home plate, no bounce and gets an speedy runner out.

Oh I liked Mays. He was my idol. He came to Austin 40 years ago and I was able to get my picture taken with him and his autograph. It's my pride and joy. 

[Ohfan67]

12 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Like sheep testes?

Oh wait we don't have to imagine that.

I'm pretty confident that the stuff BALCO produced was more effective than sheep testes. And the nutritionist and personal trainer are very important. But yes, there's little doubt that Ruth would have been on the juice. 

[Tx Oriole]

15 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Like sheep testes?

Oh wait we don't have to imagine that.

Heard that Babe Ruth even after he was diagnosed with throat cancer he still smoked his cigars. Ate too many hotdogs and beer and had to have his stomach pumped. Who knows if those stories are true? I liked reading about him. It's his era and the one before him with Honus Wagner that are my favorite. I love baseball but it's history is very interesting to me. I have books on players from Mathewson, Rube Waddel, Cobb, Young, Walter Johnson, Joe Jackson and Ruth. There's more that I can't remember. 

 

 

 

[Frobby]

52 minutes ago, bobmc said:

True.  Ruth was a marvel during the era (pun intended) he played/pitched.  Mays was also.  Ruth's peers were not as skilled so his WAR is probably higher than it would be today (I really have no idea just MUS'ing here).  Mays played against players more highly skilled than in Ruth's era, so I'm guessing that may have affected his WAR.  But, the outlier is Ruth's ability to pitch so he gets the nod for that.

My favorite stat about Ruth is that in 1920 he hit more home runs than any team in the American League, other than the Yankees, of course.    That is absurd!    You can argue about whether there has been a greater player, but he completely transformed and revolutionized the game.