I tend to view the sabermetrics with a big grain of salt, particularly when comparing across eras. Taking basketball as an example, where I think the point is more easily made, analytics would speak to the tremendous dominance of George Mikan over his 1950s peers much more than--for example--Hassan Whiteside over his peers today. That said, I have to beleive that Whiteside would completely shut down Mikan and dunk all over him if a time machine allowed for such a match.
Similarly, I imagine there are guys playing baseball today with WAR at zero who would dominate high-WAR players of a century ago.
Something incredible about baseball is that we can even consider the possibility that Babe Ruth might actually have possessed more baseball talent than Willie Mays or Jose Altuve, whereas in basketball, track, swimming, football, and just about all other sports it would be laughable to even make a comparison across decades or centuries.
So my main point is that sabermetrics answers some questions well and others not at all. But coming back to Mantle, I do beleive his perceived greatness will diminish over time as ballplayers continue to get faster, stronger, and more athletic. He may become more Mikan and less Ruth.
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10-26-2017, 07:02 PM
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