Aaron Judge

[GabrielCards]

All I know is that ever since his 2023 toe ligament injury I heard a lot about how injury prone "big guys" are and how they decline quickly...all the meanwhile Judge just keeps on being more amazing than ever - injury free. I also think the hobby "punished" him for that WS error. OK by me - more buying opportunities than ever!

[Stifle]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

"The dude was the king for nearly a decade but his primetime appears to be over. "

Yes he was, and yes it is over now.
but there are folks here that werent here for it or have forgotten what he did for the hobby.

people can talk all they want about the on field stuff, but this is about the hobby.

have to wonder if brand new Bowman would be $100 a pack or whatever silly number it is now if not for Trout.

'HE COULD BE THE NEXT TROUT AFTERALL!"

If a player can bracket 5 consecutive seasons where he is that “IT” player. There might be a year or two of overlapping but that puts the number to roughly under 50 position players at the very most over the last 125 seasons. That isn’t many and these players belong. It’s no shame being on such a select list.

.

[larry25]

Originally Posted by Stifle

If you want to discuss dominance, pitchers were dominating the hitters so badly in RISP & 2 out RISP opportunities that the Commissioner was forced to change the rules. Pujols was one of the few elite hitters that peaked and Miggy put up 2 out RISP numbers from 2011-14 that even Mantle couldn’t match. These two were superior when the rest of the league struggled so badly by the use of pitching and the relieving of pitchers. These two were triple crown threats for a decade who performed injured and still produced.

Judge & Ohtani are great players but Pujols & Miggy put up high end run production percentages where they were the bell cows for the team to produce. Since the DH was implemented Cabrera has the highest percentage in a season at .281% and Pujols being on a non DH Cardinals team where the %’s are higher do to pitchers having next to no production put up big numbers. The last time a American League player had a higher run production % was Ted Williams in 1949. These guys carried their teams for years.

24 - JUDGE .2751%
24 - WITT .2748%
12 - MIGGY .2809%
16 - TROUT .2705%
24 - OHTANI .2494%

I don’t believe it’s a mistake seeing 2 of the highest Run Production Percentages over the past 75 years in the AL occur in the same season. The last time a player with a higher Run Production % to reach the WS was Ruth, Cobb & H. Wagner.

You're such a nerd, I love it! One thing not captured by numbers, though, is optics. Both Miggy and Pujols of course hit some memorable moonshots, but so many of Judge's are simply breathtaking. Many will laugh at me for saying this, but the only comparable experiences to seeing Judge play would have been Bonds in his juiced up prime and Ruth. A lot of career baseball people say the same thing, Harold Reynolds, Aaron Boone, Michael Kaye, and many others. Only in the hobby do we argue about it. It's a shame for those who don't care to see it themselves, especially in person. He is generational, for sure. Imagine being a basketball fan in the 80s or 90s and never getting to see Jordan, or being a soccer fan and never getting to see Messi. What a shame.

[seanrs1]

Originally Posted by larry25

You're such a nerd, I love it! One thing not captured by numbers, though, is optics. Both Miggy and Pujols of course hit some memorable moonshots, but so many of Judge's are simply breathtaking. Many will laugh at me for saying this, but the only comparable experiences to seeing Judge play would have been Bonds in his juiced up prime and Ruth. A lot of career baseball people say the same thing, Harold Reynolds, Aaron Boone, Michael Kaye, and many others. Only in the hobby do we argue about it. It's a shame for those who don't care to see it themselves, especially in person. He is generational, for sure. Imagine being a basketball fan in the 80s or 90s and never getting to see Jordan, or being a soccer fan and never getting to see Messi. What a shame.

I think you are forgetting to include watching Ohtani play optics wise too! I am pretty sure from this current era of past 25 years Ohtani will be the baseball hobby king...followed by Judge and Trout. Pujols is incredibly underrated hobby wise (I don't own any of his cards). I am a Tigers and Cabrera fan, but hobby wise he doesn't seem to garner that much attention now that he is retired.

[marl1220]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

I think you are forgetting to include watching Ohtani play optics wise too! I am pretty sure from this current era of past 25 years Ohtani will be the baseball hobby king...followed by Judge and Trout. Pujols is incredibly underrated hobby wise (I don't own any of his cards). I am a Tigers and Cabrera fan, but hobby wise he doesn't seem to garner that much attention now that he is retired.

I'll wait until I see what Ohtani brings to the mound when he starts pitching again.

[seanrs1]

Originally Posted by marl1220

I'll wait until I see what Ohtani brings to the mound when he starts pitching again.

Not sure what this comment means in response to my quote. You don't think Ohtani has similar optics to Judge when it comes to blasting majestic HRs? Or you don't think Ohtani is or will be the baseball hobby king of current baseball players or players of the past 25 years?

So who is your hobby king?

[marl1220]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

Not sure what this comment means in response to my quote. You don't think Ohtani has similar optics to Judge when it comes to blasting majestic HRs? Or you don't think Ohtani is or will be the baseball hobby king of current baseball players or players of the past 25 years?

So who is your hobby king?

It has nothing to do with "majestic HRs" to me. It has to do with pure numbers. And Ohtani, as great as he has been, doesn't measure up to Judge. Now, if he gets on the mound and pitches like he did '21-'23, plus his offensive numbers remain close to what they have been, then he passes Judge. Until then he's just a DH. A very talented DH, but a less talented player than Judge. This is all just my opinion or course.

And measuring a "hobby King" is even more subjective. I have no idea where to start with crowning that player.

[seanrs1]

Originally Posted by marl1220

It has nothing to do with "majestic HRs" to me. It has to do with pure numbers. And Ohtani, as great as he has been, doesn't measure up to Judge. Now, if he gets on the mound and pitches like he did '21-'23, plus his offensive numbers remain close to what they have been, then he passes Judge. Until then he's just a DH. A very talented DH, but a less talented player than Judge. This is all just my opinion or course.

And measuring a "hobby King" is even more subjective. I have no idea where to start with crowning that player.

Interesting take. This is a Judge thread, so I should not be surprised! Do you have any Ohtani RC cards? Would be happy to trade you for my Judge RC.

[marl1220]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

Interesting take. This is a Judge thread, so I should not be surprised! Do you have any Ohtani RC cards? Would be happy to trade you for my Judge RC.

It has nothing to do with whose thread it is. It's about the numbers.

[JohnnyHatesJazz]

The true hobby king is being written as we speak. We'll have to wait until the book is finished.

[larry25]

Originally Posted by seanrs1

Not sure what this comment means in response to my quote. You don't think Ohtani has similar optics to Judge when it comes to blasting majestic HRs? Or you don't think Ohtani is or will be the baseball hobby king of current baseball players or players of the past 25 years?

So who is your hobby king?

For what it's worth, Ohtani's dingers really aren't as impressive as Judge's.

Also, their numbers at baseballsavant aren't equal, either. Judge beats Ohtani in pretty much every number except baserunning.

[jdandns]

Originally Posted by Mister2Bits

This is false.

Plenty of amazing players haven't even played in a World Series let alone won a championship. Individual achievements are a big deal in baseball.

Championships need an entire team. You can be the most amazing player in a generation (see the Angels with Ohtani & Trout) but you need to have an entire team to win a championship.

I love Cabrera but just because he has a ring doesn't make him a better player than those who dont.

It's not definitively true or false. It's an opinion, just like yours above.
Here's another one: True champions find a way.

Cabrera and Bonds are in the same ballpark, although Barry's flagrant cheating has him exactly where he belongs, with no titles and outside the Hall of Fame, no matter how much he and others cry about it.

Both of them are substantially more accomplished than Trout and Judge which is to say Mike and Aaron combined at this point don't equal one Miggy or Barry.

[marl1220]

Originally Posted by larry25

For what it's worth, Ohtani's dingers really aren't as impressive as Judge's.

Also, their numbers at baseballsavant aren't equal, either. Judge beats Ohtani in pretty much every number except baserunning.

^^^What he said!

[fulltritty]

At .397 after yesterday's game of 3 singles. He needs to get that power back as he's falling behind in the home run race.

[bbteamw]

[jdandns]

Batting .400 at this moment.

[PuddleMonkey]

He must be out for revenge.

[Mister2Bits]

Originally Posted by bbteamw

Nice pickup! His only 2016 RC

[fulltritty]

Dude got robbed of homerun number 8 by crappy umpires and crappy replay officials. Nice to see Boone get off his butt and finally chew someone out.

[ThoseBackPages]

yea, that was not good

[ThoseBackPages]

any of you Topps NOW hoarders have an extra of his "100 career HR" card from 2019?

there are a couple on eBay but $25 seems about double what its worth

[Mister2Bits]

Someone just posted on monster on eBay. Not my card but it's a big one!

[ThoseBackPages]

Mother of GOD!

when you take into account that he has no Topps Chrome Cups (just Sapphire) that Flagship Platinum goes to a new level of awesome!

[Mister2Bits]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

Mother of GOD!

when you take into account that he has no Topps Chrome Cups (just Sapphire) that Flagship Platinum goes to a new level of awesome!

I need it for the rainbow!

How much does a healthy kidney go for these days?

[ThoseBackPages]

Originally Posted by Mister2Bits

I need it for the rainbow!

How much does a healthy kidney go for these days?