Nap Lajoie or Eddie Collins 2nd base? Who would you take?
 

This discussion was brought up a couple of years ago. I guess it's safe to assume these were the two best second baseman in the T206 era. I honestly don't think it's close, give me the rajun cajun.....Thoughts?

Nap Lajoie.

The guy had a team named after him.

And I'm a diehard Cleveland fan. No bias here... ;)

I got to agree with Cobb:

Attachment 265547


The Fireside Book of Baseball, Einstein.
1956, Simon and Schuster, New York

Also interesting his inclusion of Weaver and Jackson. As well as both catchers and first baseman after his main playing career.

Attachment 265548

No way in Hell! Cobb and Lajoie were also great friends in addition to baseball colleagues. Third base, Buck Weaver, really??....No way I believe that article...And he bad mouths Hornsby? No way....

No Gehrig at first?

Lajoie all day errday

Lajoie.

Interesting, that it seems like Cobb's picks were really more based on defense, as that is the main thrust in his article. That's the dead-ball era, I suppose.

OK, now that we have seen opinions on the starting line-ups, who would be your starters including pitcher? Let's say pre 1930....

Bill james ranks collins way ahead of lajoie. Good enough for me. 40 points higher on base percent and twice as many steals may be why.

Gehrig
Hornsby
Wagner
Baker
Buck Ewing
Cobb
Ruth
Speaker

Johnson
Matty
Alexander

Mr. Collins

Ill go with Collins as well.

Glad Cobb gave a shout out to Ed Walsh. I always felt his T206 was really undervalued. Such a solid pitcher.

Bill James is nuts. How can anybody rank Collins "way" ahead of Lajoie? Makes no sense....

As a hitter I judge Lajoie superior, although they were different types. Collins was more a lead off hitter type with a high OBP due to many more walks, and lots of steals. Lajoie drove in more runs and had a much better slugging percentage. For me the best indicator was who got into the HOF first as the voters actually saw both play: Lajoie-1937, Collins-1939. BTW, for all Mickey Mantle fans, Lajoie, based on a 162 game season, averaged more RBIs , despite being a second baseman and playing in the dead ball era, than Mantle did.

It's a bit of a trick question, depending on what you mean by "T206 era". Lajoie already had 10 full seasons under his belt before T206, to Collins one. Nap was done by 1916, and Collins played more than a decade longer. If you want to compare full career stats of the two, then you are really going well beyond the "T206" era, and since Collins' career included most of Rogers Hornsby's seasons too, I would argue that Rajah was better than either of them, certainly so as a hitter.

On a windy day, I'll take Lajoie.


Collins was far too aerodynamic with those milk-jug handles he called ears.

Too much lift would make him miss all the grounders.



On a calm day, Lajoie for offense, Collins for defense.

Eddie Collins, because he had more cards issued. If based on looks, Lajoie wins, as his cards are typically more attractive. The guy knew how to strike a baseball pose, as if he were model in the Sears Roebuck catalog.

Brian (card-centric, to say the least. And never one afraid of not just mentioning Sears, but throwing in the Roebuck as well)

Eddie Collins.

Here are all the 2nd basemen I rank among my top 100 players.
1. Hornsby
2. Collins
3. Lajoie
4. Morgan
[big drop-off]
5. Gehringer
6. Robinson
7. Carew
8. Grich

There's really not a dime's worth of difference between the two. Take your pick and you won't go wrong either way.

I'd take Collins. He played later and still raked. The guy led the league in stolen bases at 37 years old. I think he would have been a star in any era whereas I think Lajoie's career is a product of his era, though who knows all those doubles he hit might have been bombs 10 years later.

Didn't want to start a new thread for this, but since people have mentioned Hornsby, I'll share an interesting thing I read today. If you're a Phillies fan, stop reading now.

The Phillies had three players holding out for more money in early March of 1917. They were Bert Niehoff, Possum Whitted and Milt Stock. There were talks of trading those three players (two separate deals) and taking on more salary while picking up Dots Miller, Rogers Hornsby and Zack Wheat.

I have a feeling if those deals happened as rumored, the Phillies wouldn't have gone almost 100 years before their first World Series title