Top 10 Hitters Who You Have Watched in Your Lifetime

[babybull]

In my lifetime--not in any order


Aaron
Mays
Musial
Pujols
Rose
Gwynn
Frank Robinson
Jeter
Schmidt
Jeter

[cnewby]

Originally Posted by markinca

Like I said, he doesn't suck. He's an above average hitter, and when you're an above average hitter, who stays healthy, and plays for 20 years, it's hard NOT to get 3,000 hits.

Who all has done it if its so easy?

Originally Posted by markinca

The average 162-game season for Jeter was .310/.377/.440 (115 OPS+) with 15hr and 21sb. Those are awesome numbers for a shortstop, and that's why he's going to the hall of fame.

No, it is not.

Originally Posted by markinca

But are you really going to tell me a 1b who puts up that line for 20 years is hall of fame material?

Absolutely I am.

[Scoat]

1. Sammy Sosa
2. Frank Thomas
3. Barry Bonds
4. Albert Pujols
5. Ichiro Suzuki
6. Joe Mauer
7. Joey Votto
8. Mike Trout
9. Bryce Harper
10. Kris Bryant

[cnewby]

Originally Posted by babybull

In my lifetime--not in any order


Aaron
Mays
Musial
Pujols
Rose
Gwynn
Frank Robinson
Jeter
Schmidt
Jeter

This guy gets it.

[Metsfan1121]

Originally Posted by cnewby

VERY surprising. Must have never watched him play.

And for clarification, I have no clue what those stats are...

"In the words of David Appelman, this calculation measures, “…how much better or worse a player does in high leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment.” It also compares a player against himself, so a player who hits .300 in high leverage situations when he’s an overall .300 hitter is not considered clutch.

Clutch does a good job of describing the past, but it does very little towards predicting the future. Simply because one player was clutch at one point does not mean they will continue to perform well in high-leverage situations (and vice versa). Very few players have the ability to be consistently clutch over the course of their careers, and choking in one season does not beget the same in the future.

Context:

The majority of players in the league end up with Clutch scores between 1 and -1, with zero being neutral, positive scores being “clutch”, and negative scores being “choke”. Only a few players each year are lucky enough (or unlucky enough) to have extreme Clutch scores.

Clutch Ratings:

Excellent 2.0
Great 1.0
Above Average 0.5
Average 0.0
Below Average -0.5
Poor -1.0
Awful -2.0
"







Jeter has a career +0.48, so he did better than his usual in Clutch situations, but not THAT MUCH better. Notable shortstops with outstanding "Clutch" scores.
Vizquel = +7.66
Ozzie Smith = +4.43
Ripken = +2.61

And some awful ones
ARod = -9.24
Hanley = -4.20
Yount = -3.20

[andy88c]

FWIW: sabermetric guys on clutch hitting
Considering High Leverage Performance and Clutch Hitting | FanGraphs Sabermetrics Library

I'd say all the guys I was going to mention have been discussed already. Bonds is first for me.

To veer slightly off-topic, I will say that the two hitters I have enjoyed watching the most over the past decade or so are Adam Dunn and Mark Reynolds. I love the true outcome hitters.

[edogg1982]

1. Miguel Cabrera
2. Albert Pujols
3. Tony Gwynn
4. Frank Thomas
5. Ken Griffey Jr.
6. Ichiro
7. Vlad Guerrero
8. Todd Helton
9. Joey Votto
10. Mike Trout

[markinca]

Originally Posted by cnewby

Who all has done it if its so easy?

Ah yes, the strawman. The favorite of any internet troll. Who said it was easy?? I said if 1) you're an above-average hitter, 2) you play for 20 years, and 3) you stay healthy, you'll almost HAVE to get to 3,000 hits. Pete Rose, Eddie Murray, Jeter, Ripken, blah blah blah blah

No, it is not.

So Jeter's not going to the hall-of-fame because of his superior offense at a premium position? Well it's certainly not because of his defense, so there's not much else.

Absolutely I am.

Ok. You're wrong, but ok.

[cnewby]

Originally Posted by markinca

Ah yes, the strawman. The favorite of any internet troll. Who said it was easy?? I said if 1) you're an above-average hitter, 2) you play for 20 years, and 3) you stay healthy, you'll almost HAVE to get to 3,000 hits. Pete Rose, Eddie Murray, Jeter, Ripken, blah blah blah blah

Whos trolling who here? You just named 4 superstars of the game. What makes it difficult is adgering to YOUR criteria. Guess thats too difficult for you to understand.

So Jeter's not going to the hall-of-fame because of his superior offense at a premium position? Well it's certainly not because of his defense, so there's not much else.

Hes going to the hall for MUCH more than his reg season offensive stats. If you can understand Jeters entire body of work then i can'thelp you.

Ok. You're wrong, but ok.

Prove it... name a 1sr baseman with those stats who isn't in the hall? Good luck, I'm waiting.

[markinca]

Originally Posted by cnewby

Prove it... name a 1sr baseman with those stats who isn't in the hall? Good luck, I'm waiting.

Yea, I'm waiting too. There's no such player - there are only 3 1B's with 3000 hits in the HOF, and none of them have a wRC+ as low as Jeter's - Stan Musial was one of the greatest hitters ever (and more an OF than a 1B anyway), and Rod Carew (1B/2B) and Eddie Murray both have markedly better numbers than Jeter. I will also say that if you relax the hits total to 2,500, then 1B's with wRC+'s around Jeter's are Tony Perez (who took years to get enshrined), Mark Grace (not hof), Al Oliver (not hof).

Put another way, of the top 14 all-time hits leaders, Jeter has THE lowest wRC+ out of all of them. #15 is Cal Ripken, who actually has a lower wRC+, and who coincidentally enough is someone I think is pretty similar to Jeter in the good-but-not-great-hitter/longevity/premium position category.

A 1B with a 119 wRC+ and 3000 hits would be a pretty borderline case, at best.

The point is that 3,000 hits by itself does not make you some magically great hitter. I never said Jeter was not a good hitter. But there is virtually no way to look at his numbers and call him a great hitter. Are you basing this just on his total? If so, then are you similarly arguing that Craig Biggio or Pete Rose rank among the best hitters of all time? If so, then there's nothing I can say to someone who's that misinformed.

Jeter had 11,195 AB. No, it's NOT EASY to get that many at bats, but with that many at bats, he could have hit .268 and still gotten to 3000 hits. That AB total represents the 7th most of all-time. Is it a surprise he has the 6th most hits of all time? Not really.

Jeter was an above-average/good hitter, playing a premium defensive position, for a long time. That is an extremely valuable player, and he's rightly going to the hall. But let's not make him into something he's not.

[Doublexthebeast]

3 guys with little power that usually don't make these lists but were great to watch were Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Roberto Alomar.

Piazza, Dale Murphy, Pudge Rodriguez, Bo Jackson, and Chipper Jones were always go in my book to.

[Crisscross4767]

In no order and that I've actually seen play.

Ichiro
Chipper Jones
David Ortiz
Albert Pujols
Ken Griffey Jr.
Mike Trout
Valdimer Guerrero
Miguel Cabrera
Craig Biggio
Kris Medlen

Also made list on the top of my head so I could of missed a few.

[mcgoo2]

skysmoker?

[bwalter1]

Bonds
Miggy
Pujols
Arod
Brett
Gwynn
Frank Thomas
Griffey
Big Mac
Man Ram

[Bosox34]

Top 10 in my opinion (maybe not the best but just my favorites)


1) Barry Bonds
2) Albert Pujols
3) Miguel Cabrera
4) Ken Griffey Jr.
5) Derek Jeter
6) David Ortiz
7) Ichiro
8) Vladimir Guerrero
9) Chipper Jones
10) Mike Trout

[quackhead]

Pete Rose
George Brett
Wade Boggs
Tony Gywnn
Kirby Puckett
Albert Pujols
Barry Bonds
Ken Griffey Jr
Mike Piazza
Ichiro

[rats60]

Roberto Clemente
Willie Mays
Hank Aaron
Mike Schmidt
George Brett
Tony Gwynn
Wade Boggs
Kirby Puckett
Albert Pujols
Miguel Cabrera

[86mets]

love this absolutely idiot jeter blowhard. We are talking dominant hitters here. jeter was never truly dominant besides maybe one year. He was a decent player who accumulated good statistics. He is the equivalent of a paul politer/alan trammel just look at his similar players on baseball reference. He isn't even remotely worthy of consideration of this list. Have a nice day jeter lovers

[hazenuts]

Originally Posted by 86mets

love this absolutely idiot jeter blowhard. We are talking dominant hitters here. jeter was never truly dominant besides maybe one year. He was a decent player who accumulated good statistics. He is the equivalent of a paul politer/alan trammel just look at his similar players on baseball reference. He isn't even remotely worthy of consideration of this list. Have a nice day jeter lovers

[tacoma34]

The ones I have grown up with:

Miguel Cabrera
Griffey Jr.
Vladimir Guerrero
Albert Pujols
Barry Bonds
Mark McGwire
Sammy Sosa
Alex Rodriguez
Frank Thomas
Ichiro

[whitesoxfan3579]

Derek Jeter belongs in my top ten of the most OVERRATED players that I have seen play in my lifetime. Put him at first base in a dbacks uni and see how long it take him to get in the hall.

As far as other hitters that I have seen play during my lifetime - Frank Thomas, Griffey Jr., and Mike Trout definitely make the cut as part of the elite dominators in the game.

[ryanvas]

Not in particular order:

Puckett
Brett
Boggs
Miggy
Pujols
Bonds
Frank Thomas
Manny Ramirez
Trout
Ichiro

Best Swing: Gary Sheffield

[THE(NEXT)LEVEL]

Originally Posted by cnewby

OP isn't even talking all-time. He says "that you've seen" then lists guys from recent memory. IMO Jeter is in top 10 for the timeframe OP referenced.

If you take Vladimir in his offensive prime and compare him to Jeter in his, then you would just be a homer to choose Jeter over Vlad. Vlad was a pure 5 tool player. Sure Jeter has more hits, but this isn't about career stats, it is about hitting ability.

[cnewby]

Originally Posted by THE(NEXT)LEVEL

If you take Vladimir in his offensive prime and compare him to Jeter in his, then you would just be a homer to choose Jeter over Vlad. Vlad was a pure 5 tool player. Sure Jeter has more hits, but this isn't about career stats, it is about hitting ability.

Irrelevant to this thread, right?

The question asked for opinions. I still can't understand how people around here get trashed for being a homer when they offer an OPINION. Obviously I'm a Jeter guy and his hitting stats(referenced by myself in this thread) are very debatable with Vlad's.

Guess I'm just an "idiot blowhard" as posted above by the ignorant/childish mets fan.

[THE(NEXT)LEVEL]

Originally Posted by cnewby

Irrelevant to this thread, right?

The question asked for opinions. I still can't understand how people around here get trashed for being a homer when they offer an OPINION. Obviously I'm a Jeter guy and his hitting stats(referenced by myself in this thread) are very debatable with Vlad's.

Guess I'm just an "idiot blowhard" as posted above by the ignorant/childish mets fan.

It is relevant as Jeter was lacking in one tool compared to Vlad, and that was power. I can see you lost that in translation, which was my point. The fact that Vlad doubled Jeter in silver slugger awards, while playing less years, should give you all you need to know. I just commented, bc I found it ridiculous to say Jeter was a better hitter than Vlad, and I think most agree.