Quote:
Originally Posted by G1911
He was an average bat in 1973 and 1974. When were 1B's posting 134 OPS+'s as average? Let's not get carried away.
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I am not sure I am following. Kaline's lifetime OPS+ was 134.
But his OPS+ was 96 in 1973 and 107 as DH in 1974.
Other AL DHs' OPS+ in 1974:
New York: Ron Blomberg 147
Angels: Frank Robinson 146
Cleveland: Oscar Gamble 140
Kansas City: Hal McRae 139
Minnesota: Tony Oliva 109
Texas: Jim Spencer 108
Baltimore: Tommy Davis 105
Chicago: Pat Kelly 104
Milwaukee: Bobby Mitchell 103
Boston: Cecil Cooper 101
Oakland: Jesus Alou 83
So Kaline's OPS+ at DH of 107 was higher 5 other AL DHs and lower than 6.
The average OPS+ of the DHs was just under 117, significantly higher than Kaline's.
The point is that a player's value to his team has a lot to do with the position he plays. Clemente was still playing a productive Right Field at the end of his career, not platooning with 1st Base or DH.