Baseball's Greatest Living Player...who is it?

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by iwantitiwinit

Ted I don't know about Berra over Bench. From an rbi perspective they are very close though you porbably have to move Berras numbers up because during the years you cite he played in a season that was 8 games shorter than Bench did. In Bench's defense his '71 season was significantly harmed by his lung surgery during the off-season. Additionally, in my opinion Bench's defensive ability was greater than Berra's. While Berra's caught stealing pct. is higher than Bench's, Bench played in an era where the national league was obsessed with base stealing and played in many parks with astroturf which I think have to be considered faster overall tracks for the runner.

Either way a good pair to compare (though I think Bench has to be considered the better overall player).

Bench
yr rbi
1968 82
69 90
70 148
71 61
72 125
73 104
74 129
75 130
76 74
77 109
78 73
79 80

100.42 avg rbi/yr 12 yrs


Berra

1948 98
49 91
50 124
51 88
52 98
53 108
54 125
55 108
56 105
57 82
58 90

101.55 avg rbi/yr 11 yrs

Berra's and Bench's numbers regarding Hits, Runs, RBI's and HR's compare very closely. Berra having the edge over Bench in career BA (.285 vs. .267, respectively).

However, I am old enough to have seen Yogi play from 1947 - 1965. I was an avid Yankees fan as a kid. Besides Yogi's outstanding play (Batting and as a Catcher),
there are certain intangibles in his style of playing the game that you had to see to really appreciate.

For example, I think Don Larsen would not have achieved his perfect World Series no-hitter, if Yogi wasn't his battery mate that day in October 1956.

I could continue with many other examples (such as Yogi's Grand Slam in the 1956 World Series), but I leave it here.


TED Z
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