[Carter08]

Originally Posted by G1911

This. Robinson is, in the public eye, one of the absolute greatest of all time. His measurable, statistical performance simply does not track with this. It is not an insult. I even laid effusive praise upon his person. His fame and precedence in the pantheon are more divorced from performance than probably any other player.

There are a group of players who a large part of the baseball fan world do not want to hear anything about that does not further the legend and myth. Ruth fans don't get upset if someone makes a fat joke. Williams fans don't get upset if someone says he could have played nicer with the press. One doesn't even have to say anything actually negative of Jackie, of Clemente, of Ryan, of Koufax, just not further the legend to rankle some feathers. It's a mark of an overrated player.

Jackie's short career (his Negro League career was 1 season, 1945, which count as the majors now) was because of WWII and college. He spent only one season in the minor leagues, not exactly an unfair amount of time. That he chose to retire instead of play out the rest of his decline with the Giants protects his percentages, which have been the primary basis for ranking him fairly high among 2B as a top ten. Another mark of an overrated player is they are the ones that tend to get people wanting to count fantasy seasons as if they had happened, not as a hypothetical 'what if', but for actual ranking credit.

Do most people think Jackie is one of the best of all time purely because of technical skill or because of what he meant to the game and America, combined with some damn fine technical skill? Guessing the letter.