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Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards
Just not seeing it. I don't think anyone considers him the greatest second basemen of all time (though I actually think you could make the argument without stretching TOO hard, but it would have to include a lot of hypotheticals about his years lost to the war and the "gentleman's agreement")
Unless you think me having him at 3rd all time is ludicrously high, how can he be overrated at all, let alone the MOST overrated second basemen of all time, which is what putting him on your list represents. Shouldn't that "honor" be saved for someone who is ranked 10 or 20 spots too high as opposed to maybe one or two spots too high?
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I guess it comes down to how we are defining how someone is "overrated."
I don't see how you could call Jackie overrated as a player unless you think WAR is a complete joke. As you pointed out, he put up 60 War in fewer than 1,500 games.
The only others in history with as high a WAR in fewer than 1,500 games? “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (62.1 WAR in 1,332 games) and Mike Trout (76.1 WAR in 1,288 games). https://www.mlb.com/news/most-underrated-hall-of-famers
In Jackie's 5 year peak from 1949 thru 1953 his WAR was 9.3, 7.4, 9.7, 8.4, 6.9 for an absurd average of 8.34. People win MVP with 8 or less WAR on a regular basis.
I think the only way you could say Jackie is overrated is to say that his cards sell for too much. Which again, I think is a lousy argument, considering that he completely transformed the game.