Anybody want to argue Trout over Lebron as male athlete of the decade?

[Frobby]

When I first heard about Lebron James being named male athlete of the decade, my immediate reaction was, “what about Mike Trout?”    I think a good argument can be made that the distance between Trout and his next closest peer in baseball over the decade was much larger than the distance between Lebron and several other basketball players.   For example, Lebron accrued 141 Win Shares (sort of similar to WAR) over the decade, but Kevin Durant was close behind at 135.

Still, I can’t really argue with Lebron.   He was the best player in his sport, he had a lot of team success to complement his individual success, and of course he’s far more famous.

Honestly, I’d have to go with Tom Brady over Trout as well.     But I’m drawing the line at Ovechkin.   

[Can_of_corn]

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

I understand your point, but nah. You can't ignore the postseason success - and Trout hasn't even seen a playoff win yet. LeBron singlehandedly willed some of his teams into the Finals. This block alone gives him the crown:

[Frobby]

24 minutes ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

I understand your point, but nah. You can't ignore the postseason success - and Trout hasn't even seen a playoff win yet. LeBron singlehandedly willed some of his teams into the Finals. This block alone gives him the crown:

It’s just the nature of the sport that one player can’t have the same level of influence over a team’s outcomes in baseball as he does in basketball.   One one level, I think it’s completely unfair to penalize Trout in this context for his team’s lack of success.     But at the same time, the object of the sport is to win.    So, I guess you have to penalize him even though it’s not his fault.   

[Frobby]

39 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I’m not gonna lie, I have no idea who that is.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I’m not gonna lie, I have no idea who that is.

The Captain of the USA Gold Medal winning men's Curling team of course.

[backwardsk]

16 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

The Captain of the USA Gold Medal winning men's Curling team of course.

LeBron’s won gold medal too.

Has that guy been in a remake of Space Jam?

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, backwardsk said:

LeBron’s won gold medal too.

Has that guy been in a remake of Space Jam?

You say that as if it is a point in LeBron's favor.

[Just Regular]

I did think of Trout when I saw the rest of the Top 5 went Brady/Bolt/Messi/Phelps.  Bolt/Messi/Phelps makes me think the AP is maybe more global than I realized.

On ESPN's decadal review, Trout was credited with a 72.5 WAR 2010's (basically 8 seasons for him)

The hitter decades that beat that:

2000's Pujols, 2000's A-Rod, 1990's Bonds, 1960's Aaron, 1960's Mays, 1930's Gehrig, 1920's Ruth, 1920's Hornsby (wow - he had 90% of Ruth), 1910's Collins/Speaker/Cobb, 1900's Wagner

That is all - not 1950's Mantle.  Hard to imagine the AP's of those eras putting a track star, soccer player or swimmer ahead of any of those guys. 

[SteveA]

4 hours ago, OrioleDog said:

I did think of Trout when I saw the rest of the Top 5 went Brady/Bolt/Messi/Phelps.  Bolt/Messi/Phelps makes me think the AP is maybe more global than I realized.

On ESPN's decadal review, Trout was credited with a 72.5 WAR 2010's (basically 8 seasons for him)

The hitter decades that beat that:

2000's Pujols, 2000's A-Rod, 1990's Bonds, 1960's Aaron, 1960's Mays, 1930's Gehrig, 1920's Ruth, 1920's Hornsby (wow - he had 90% of Ruth), 1910's Collins/Speaker/Cobb, 1900's Wagner

That is all - not 1950's Mantle.  Hard to imagine the AP's of those eras putting a track star, soccer player or swimmer ahead of any of those guys. 

No, but they probably would have put a boxer up there.   Boxing used to be real big.

[atomic]

On 12/30/2019 at 5:20 PM, Frobby said:

When I first heard about Lebron James being named male athlete of the decade, my immediate reaction was, “what about Mike Trout?”    I think a good argument can be made that the distance between Trout and his next closest peer in baseball over the decade was much larger than the distance between Lebron and several other basketball players.   For example, Lebron accrued 141 Win Shares (sort of similar to WAR) over the decade, but Kevin Durant was close behind at 135.

Still, I can’t really argue with Lebron.   He was the best player in his sport, he had a lot of team success to complement his individual success, and of course he’s far more famous.

Honestly, I’d have to go with Tom Brady over Trout as well.     But I’m drawing the line at Ovechkin.   

Trout hasn't even won a playoff series.  No way he is the player of the decade.  Lebron has won the NBA Finals MVP three times in the 2010's. Brady has 4 Super Bowl MVPs.  Come on lets get real.   No one even knows who Trout is who isn't an avid baseball fan.  Brady and Lebron are known by everyone. And thought to be GOAT in their sports by many, many people.

Also besides those mentioned how about Sidney Crosby and Carli Lloyd?  

I am not sure what the Trout love comes from.  What records has he set?  What victories has he won that are important?  

 

[atomic]

On 12/30/2019 at 7:25 PM, OrioleDog said:

I did think of Trout when I saw the rest of the Top 5 went Brady/Bolt/Messi/Phelps.  Bolt/Messi/Phelps makes me think the AP is maybe more global than I realized.

On ESPN's decadal review, Trout was credited with a 72.5 WAR 2010's (basically 8 seasons for him)

The hitter decades that beat that:

2000's Pujols, 2000's A-Rod, 1990's Bonds, 1960's Aaron, 1960's Mays, 1930's Gehrig, 1920's Ruth, 1920's Hornsby (wow - he had 90% of Ruth), 1910's Collins/Speaker/Cobb, 1900's Wagner

That is all - not 1950's Mantle.  Hard to imagine the AP's of those eras putting a track star, soccer player or swimmer ahead of any of those guys. 

WAR is a made up stat. No one outside of baseball geeks cares about WAR.  

Trout has never lead the league in Home Runs, Batting Average or Doubles. He has led the league once in RBIs. He has never hit 50 home runs in a season and he has never had 200 hits in a season.  He is overrated by a made up stat.  He doesn't have huge RBI totals despite hitting a lot of home runs. In the last 3 seasons he has never scored more than 110 runs.  Last season he only scored 110 runs despite hitting 45 home runs. So he only scored 55 times when not hitting a home run. Villar for example scored 111 runs with only 24 home runs.  

A stat that used to be interesting was runs produced.  Runs + RBIs - home runs (Don't count home runs twice) 2019 runs produced:

Villar :  160

Trout: 169

 

[atomic]

I would say Max Scherzer would be my MLB player of the decade. 7 playoff appearances during the decade. Won 161 games during the decade. 3 Cy Young awards. Led the league in wins 4 times.  Led the league in WHIP 4 times.  Led the league in strike outs 3 times. 

A case for Verlander could be made as well. 

[VaBird1]

1 minute ago, atomic said:

I would say Max Scherzer would be my MLB player of the decade. 7 playoff appearances during the decade. Won 161 games during the decade. 3 Cy Young awards. Led the league in wins 4 times.  Led the league in WHIP 4 times.  Led the league in strike outs 3 times. 

Are you saying that you don't think Mike Trout is the best baseball player on the planet?