History Comp - George Brett v Wade Boggs

[broncosmitty]

Wow, never realized he hit 24 homers in '87. Didn't hit 24 homers over a three year span at any point in his career. What's up with that?

 

[obxyankeefan]

Wow, never realized he hit 24 homers in '87. Didn't hit 24 homers over a three year span at any point in his career. What's up with that?

The story back then was the stitches on the balls were tighter making the ball fly farther.

 

[Nosferatu]

In all fairness, Boggs was probably the best player in the AL in 1987, but Boston wasn't a good team (had a below average pitching staff that year). He was also probably one of the 5 best players in the league in '83, '85, '86, '88, but he was often overlooked because he didn't have the sexy power numbers or play for a contender.

Fair enough but he was a singles hitter who hit some doubles off the monster, don't get me wrong I understand he was a great hitter, one of my favorite players of all time is Rod Carew but at least Rodney Cline had some speed and stole a base now and again Wade was nothing but a singles hitter.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

Fair enough but he was a singles hitter who hit some doubles off the monster, don't get me wrong I understand he was a great hitter, one of my favorite players of all time is Rod Carew but at least Rodney Cline had some speed and stole a base now and again Wade was nothing but a singles hitter.

why is that a bad thing??? especially since he also walked all the time... and in this comparison with Brett, it is not like brett was a HR hitter either... he was better than boggs with power, but Brett's strength was BA/OBP too, and he was significantly worse than Boggs at their strengths...


Boggs had 11 seasons with an OBP higher than .400!!!

 

[broncosmitty]

The story back then was the stitches on the balls were tighter making the ball fly farther.

Was the uptick that drastic league wide? (I should probably check this out for myself at some point.) Wade was only tied for 54th in homers..... that's a serious power season MLB wide. (Only season between 1980 and 1991 where both league leaders hit over 40.). I was hoping beer and chicken would be involved.

 

[jalopy]

Was the uptick that drastic league wide? (I should probably check this out for myself at some point.) Wade was only tied for 54th in homers..... that's a serious power season MLB wide. (Only season between 1980 and 1991 where both league leaders hit over 40.). I was hoping beer and chicken would be involved.

Ironically, the uptick occured in McGwire's rookie season. Coincidence? I think it was the year Trammell hit close to 30 (career high) and should have won the MVP.

 

[obxyankeefan]

Was the uptick that drastic league wide? (I should probably check this out for myself at some point.) Wade was only tied for 54th in homers..... that's a serious power season MLB wide. (Only season between 1980 and 1991 where both league leaders hit over 40.). I was hoping beer and chicken would be involved.

at the time it set the single season record for most homers league wide. so yes.

 

[da55bums]

A more recent study...

George Howard Brett or Wade Anthony Boggs

George Brett Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com
Wade Boggs Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com

Career OPS+... 135 - 131
Career oWAR... 84.1 - 80.5
Career dWAR... 1.2 - 12.9

21 yrs - 18 yrs
2707 gp - 2440 gp

just ask the same question all managers asked.....Who would you rather NOT face with the game on the line?.....some team called the Yankees were afraid of one of these guys.

 

[DragonfromTO]

just ask the same question all managers asked.....Who would you rather NOT face with the game on the line?.....some team called the Yankees were afraid of one of these guys.

Wade led the AL in intentional walks for 6 straight seasons, so somebody must have been pretty scared of him too.

 

[jalopy]

Wade led the AL in intentional walks for 6 straight seasons, so somebody must have been pretty scared of him too.

Boggs' IBB stat line is one of the strangest I have ever seen. He led the league for six straight seasons with no less than 18 and then never had more than 7 the rest of his career. Anybody have an explanation because Boggs doesn't seem like a candidate for IBB's.

 

[DragonfromTO]

Boggs' IBB stat line is one of the strangest I have ever seen. He led the league for six straight seasons with no less than 18 and then never had more than 7 the rest of his career. Anybody have an explanation because Boggs doesn't seem like a candidate for IBB's.

Was probably partially an overreaction by managers, but at the same time I definitely wouldn't want to see a guy with a .350ish batting average coming up with 2 out and a man on 2nd or 3rd (or both), which is a common intentional walk scenario.

 

[jalopy]

Dragon, that still doesn't explain the statistical variance from year to year. His average in those six years was generally higher but it still seems odd to me. In '91 he hit .332 and was intentionally walked 25 times while in '94 he hit .342 with only 4 IBB's.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

Dragon, that still doesn't explain the statistical variance from year to year. His average in those six years was generally higher but it still seems odd to me. In '91 he hit .332 and was intentionally walked 25 times while in '94 he hit .342 with only 4 IBB's.

Maybe it is as simple as the fact he never struck out and would also see many pitches and draw many walks... He was a pesky hitter who ate up pitches...

after 1992, when he stopped getting the IBBs, he also never had over 80 walks... So as he got older he walked less... Not to mention he also changed teams that season as well...

On boston for all his IBB leading years, and next season he was on the Yankees-

 

[DragonfromTO]

Dragon, that still doesn't explain the statistical variance from year to year. His average in those six years was generally higher but it still seems odd to me. In '91 he hit .332 and was intentionally walked 25 times while in '94 he hit .342 with only 4 IBB's.

In '94 he was also coming off of two seasons where he'd hit only .259 and .302, maybe they simply didn't think of him as the same .340 hitter anymore. I would say that intentional walks are largely about perception, wouldn't you?

 

[jalopy]

In '94 he was also coming off of two seasons where he'd hit only .259 and .302, maybe they simply didn't think of him as the same .340 hitter anymore. I would say that intentional walks are largely about perception, wouldn't you?

Yeah, I would agree with that before sabermetrics became accepted.

I might be mistaken but didn't Boggs also have some crazy streak without hitting an infield fly? Something like two years?

 

[Lemon Harang Pie]

Cal Ripken after age 30 had a 97 OPS+ and 26.5 WAR (half of that time being at 3B).

Would you seriously doubt his HOF qualifications?

Sure. Cal Ripken's biggest asset is winning the MLB attendance award.

I wouldn't have voted for him.

 

[steveringo]

Sure. Cal Ripken's biggest asset is winning the MLB attendance award.

I wouldn't have voted for him.

Hopefully this website will be educational...

 

[Lemon Harang Pie]

Hopefully this website will be educational...

But Bill James said ... (!)

:rollseyes: