Quote:
Originally Posted by ls7plus
By the way, Pete, Bill James downgraded him in later editions of his historical baseball abstract because he didn't have enough of the seasons he compiled through 1922, but with the peak seasons he had, especially 1920-1922, I would beg to differ. Curiously, in James' first large historical abstract (later '80's?), he referred to George as virtually the only one who could go toe to toe with the Babe and not come away embarassed, giving more credit to Sisler's first three years of the lively ball era and even the fine seasons he had predating 1920 in the dead-ball era.
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I believe Bill James once called him the most over-rated player in history or something like that, because after 1922, Sisler was essentially a singles hitter (with a few doubles here and there) who didn't walk. Don't know if I agree about him being over-rated, but it is true that while he hit .340 career, his lifetime on base percentage is .379, which isn't bad but is behind guys like Barney McCoskey, Merv Rettenmund, and Elbie Fletcher, who aren't exactly thought of as being in the pantheon of the sport. The sinus problem appears to have really damaged his career. He was a true offensive force before that (even without walking much), but had to sit out the entire 1923 season with sinusitus, and seems to have lost much of his power afterwards.