It’s not Harold Baines level bad but he really shouldn’t be there
For five years, he was an elite player. Like Koufax and Dizzy. And Maris. He didn't have the injury factor that Koufax and Dean had but he would have had better number if he had crawled out of the bottle. Like Maris, he did benefit from the team's lineup. For a lot of games, he had a HOFer hitting in front (Hornsby) and behind (Cuyler). Depends on how you look at it
I wouldn't say that. Although even the 150 plateau has been tough to reach in recent decades (I believe Tommy Davis was the last one over 60 years ago), I think the 191 can be broken. But it takes not just a player, but also a team, offensively sustaining a hot streak all year long. I think it can happen, especially with how teams like the Dodgers, Mets, and Padres are using absurd payroll to build super offenses.
There were rumors that the ball was juiced in 1930. Chuck Klein had 170 RBIS, Gehrig had 173, Ruth had 153. Bucketfoot Al Simmons had 165, Jimmie Foxx had 156. A lot of RBIs meant a lot of baserunners. I'd bet there were more .300 hitters that year than any other.
No, actually I was way off on that one. The 150 plateau has been equaled or bettered 7 times since Tommy Davis did with the most recent time in 2007 by ARod. And Manny put up 165 in 1999. So yeah, I think 191 is vulnerable.
Makes sense, I guess. More often than not, I think the rumors of a juiced ball are really nothing more than fluke years. 1987 was like that. McGwire's rookie year when he hit 49 homers. Dawson had a career power year that year. I think George Bell did too. As a Mariner fan, I keep expecting rumors of Cal Raleigh juicing to start swirling. I'm sure the NY papers are having a hard time accepting that he is legitimately hitting more homeruns than Aaron Judge.
