Most overrated play in MLB history

[Chewbaccer]

Andrew Jones would have made that catch look very easy.

That ball was a home run in every park AndrUw Jones ever played in.

483 feet to the center field wall at the Polo Grounds. And he got the ball in quickly, and accurately to the cutoff man, otherwise there was a realistic chance of the runner on second tagging and scoring on a two base sac fly.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

That ball was a home run in every park AndrUw Jones ever played in.

483 feet to the center field wall at the Polo Grounds. And he got the ball in quickly, and accurately to the cutoff man, otherwise there was a realistic chance of the runner on second tagging and scoring on a two base sac fly.

The ball was nowhere near the fence.
Jones would have gotten a quicker break on the ball, he ALWAYS read where the ball was going, and made that catch facing the plate.
It was a good, but not an exceptional play.

 

[Chewbaccer]

The ball was nowhere near the fence.
Jones would have gotten a quicker break on the ball, he ALWAYS read where the ball was going, and made that catch facing the plate.
It was a good, but not an exceptional play.

It was at least 470 feet from home plate, and Andruw played more shallow than most, so odds are he's gonna have to make the catch on the run.

And it was a huge moment in the World Series.

 

[Voltaire26]

Hank Aaron was a solid Hall of Famer, but he was not as great as many claim him to be. I would take Willie Mays any day over Hank Aaron.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

It was at least 470 feet from home plate, and Andruw played more shallow than most, so odds are he's gonna have to make the catch on the run.

And it was a huge moment in the World Series.

The ball Mays caught was estimated to be 420 ft from home plate.
I've seen many catches that impressed me more than that one.
Andruw played shallow because he had such great range, that would not have looked dramatic if he'd made the play. Andruw almost always got to where the ball was headed so far ahead of the ball he was in perfect throwing position, he wouldn't have had to spin like Willie did.

 

[AlpacaWine]

That replay of this play is worn out but the actual play is pretty amazing.

Bah. Total fluke play that would have been rendered moot if Giambi simply slid.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

Hank Aaron was a solid Hall of Famer, but he was not as great as many claim him to be. I would take Willie Mays any day over Hank Aaron.

Hank's stats are better than Mays' almost across the board.

 

[The Derski]

Bah. Total fluke play that would have been rendered moot if Giambi simply slid.

Giambi didn't think he had to since the ball would have been well short had Jeter not cut it off out of nowhere.

 

[Chewbaccer]

The ball Mays caught was estimated to be 420 ft from home plate.
I've seen many catches that impressed me more than that one.
Andruw played shallow because he had such great range, that would not have looked dramatic if he'd made the play.

Mays was also playing shallow on that particular play, and I'd say that estimation is a bit low given the dimensions of the park and Mays's proximity to the wall.

Also, Mays was the best defensive center fielder of his time, so of course the best defensive center fielder in a more modern era will have more range due to improvements in diets, workouts and technology. There's not many center fielders in 1954 that are getting to that ball from where Mays was positioned.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

Mays was also playing shallow on that particular play, and I'd say that estimation is a bit low given the dimensions of the park and Mays's proximity to the wall.

Also, Mays was the best defensive center fielder of his time, so of course the best defensive center fielder in a more modern era will have more range due to improvements in diets, workouts and technology. There's not many center fielders in 1954 that are getting to that ball from where Mays was positioned.

Andruw was simply a better fielder, it had everything to do with instincts and skill, nothing to do with diet.
Mays was easily faster on the bases, Jones was easily the more gifted fielder.
WAR is adjusted for the era, Jones has the highest defensive WAR rating of any outfielder in history.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Hank's stats are better than Mays' almost across the board.

Not really.

Both great power hitters, who hit for a similar average. Mays was a better fielder, and stole more bases(lead the league in steals 4 consecutive seasons).

Plus Mays played a significant portion of his career in The Polo Grounds which was 483 feet to center, and 450 to both power alleys.

 

[williewilliejuan]

Not really.

Both great power hitters, who hit for a similar average. Mays was a better fielder, and stole more bases(lead the league in steals 4 consecutive seasons).

Plus Mays played a significant portion of his career in The Polo Grounds which was 483 feet to center, and 450 to both power alleys.

And most of the rest of his career at Candlestick Park. Not exactly a hitters park.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Andruw was simply a better fielder, it had everything to do with instincts and skill, nothing to do with diet.
Mays was easily faster on the bases, Jones was easily the more gifted fielder.
WAR is adjusted for the era, Jones has the highest defensive WAR rating of any outfielder in history.

What's the formula for WAR? You're putting way too much stock into a made up stat that I especially don't trust for players who played long before the WAR statistic was ever conceived.

Jones probably makes the catch, but Mays actually did. Name the other CFs active in 1954 that were making the play from where Mays was positioned.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

Not really.

Both great power hitters, who hit for a similar average. Mays was a better fielder, and stole more bases(lead the league in steals 4 consecutive seasons).

Plus Mays played a significant portion of his career in The Polo Grounds which was 483 feet to center, and 450 to both power alleys.

Hank led the league in total bases 8 times to Mayes' 3. In RBIs 4 times to Mays' 0, in extra base hits 5 times to Mays' 2. While Mays had 98 more stolen bases, Hank's success percentage was 76.7 to Mays' 76.6.
Mayes ran more, but not better.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

What's the formula for WAR? You're putting way too much stock into a made up stat that I especially don't trust for players who played long before the WAR statistic was ever conceived.

Jones probably makes the catch, but Mays actually did. Name the other CFs active in 1954 that were making the play from where Mays was positioned.

WAR can be tabulated like batting average, it's not subjective.
I've seen Andruw in person many times, he almost always ran at the crack of the bat to the perfect spot just beyond where the ball came to so he could actually move into the ball to catch it in perfect throwing position. Mayes was a seat of the pants fielder, not very skilled or instinctive.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Hank led the league in total bases 8 times to Mayes' 3. In RBIs 4 times to Mays' 0, in extra base hits 5 times to Mays' 2. While Mays had 98 more stolen bases, Hank's success percentage was 76.7 to Mays' 76.6.
Mayes ran more, but not better.

And Mays was by far a better fielder who put up comparable offensive stats while playing his career in far more pitcher friendly parks.

 

[Chewbaccer]

WAR can be tabulated like batting average, it's not subjective.
I've seen Andruw in person many times, he almost always ran at the crack of the bat to the perfect spot just beyond where the ball came to so he could actually move into the ball to catch it in perfect throwing position. Mayes was a seat of the pants fielder, not very skilled or instinctive.

What's the formula for WAR?

I grew up watching Andruw, he's one of my favorite players.

And again, name the other CFs active in 1954 that were making that catch from where Mays was positioned.

 

[Chewbaccer]

It was at least 470 feet from home plate, and Andruw played more shallow than most, so odds are he's gonna have to make the catch on the run.

And it was a huge moment in the World Series.

The fact that the Fisk home run was ranked 4th on the countdown of the greatest plays in baseball history and was gonna be the next play to be shown at the end of the video reaffirms my position of it being the most overrated play in MLB history.

 

[BallsOfFurry]

What's the formula for WAR?

I grew up watching Andruw, he's one of my favorite players.

And again, name the other CFs active in 1954 that were making that catch from where Mays was positioned.

Jim Piersall was the best defensive center fielder of that era.

 

[Shoeshine Boy]

Deciding the number of times that a player touches a base safely in a season shows his value to his team is no less of a made-up stat than WAR is.