[ClementeFanOh]

Peter- I'll skip G1911 from this point forward, he's a "mother ship" candidate
if ever there was one...

I agree with you completely, this really isn't hard. A poster invited a debate
of Clemente vs Kaline, a thought- provoking notion. People weighed in on
both sides. My side is obvious; however, I would never presume to impugn
the accomplishments/skills of a first time ballot HOFer(!). People brought up
interesting stat comparisons that, in my opinion, still favor Roberto. No big
deal...

The problem with the rhetoric being spewed by (almost exclusively) one
source, is that commentary about being overrated isn't even the topic! It's
not, I've triple checked and most commenters' entries support my belief.
Even if the notion of discussing players who are overrated was somehow
introduced, however, I can't square the idea that the flat best players in
baseball history can somehow be "overrated". They have already been
"rated" by numerous indices. I don't know the total number of MLB players
in it's history, so exact percentages are tough to achieve; however, it is
safe to put Clemente and Kaline in the 99.5th percentile of players to ever
play. Let's say you were a teacher who had the privilege of instructing 2
students through their high school years. One averaged 99.5% in the
teacher's classes, while the other averaged a 99.6%. Is it really accurate
to call the 99.5% student "overrated"? Of course not, he was phenomenal.
It is accurate to claim the 99.6% student was "better", by a whisker. Within
the scope of MLB, then, I'd reserve the "overrated" tag for players who
were huge bonus babies but never panned out, or vets who were paid a ton
and didn't live up to the hype. If someone thinks Aaron was a better
outfielder than Mays, or vice versa, that doesn't make the other guy
"overrated". In the mid 2000s, Eric Milton came to the Reds from Minnesota
with a huge contract for the time. His 3 year results were 16-27 with an ERA
of nearly 6. Now THAT guy was overrated!

Things would be so much easier if people could stick to the topic, or at
least have the good grace to start another thread when they just can't
follow the current one- especially when it's a compelling thread. So, you'll
never get to me to agree that Clemente, Kaline, or whoever are somehow
"overrated"- it would be arrogant for me to argue it, and pointless even if I
had an overly developed sense of my ability as a baseball aficionado. Wiser
minds than our own have already placed them in a well deserved premium
class. Trent King