Let’s rank top 10-15 T206 Players

[G1911]

Originally Posted by TheBig6

I just figured with half of Cy’s wins were in the 19th century. My opinion Plank and Brown were better in deadball era.

I figured there was just some extra criteria being added that would make this reasonable. But then I’ve read some spicy takes on here…

Brown is fairly underrated in my book.

[Bridwell]

The NY players are over-represented with multiple poses. That doesn't tell me much about how great they were.

[Kutcher55]

What is the argument for putting Wagner above Cobb exactly?

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Kutcher55

What is the argument for putting Wagner above Cobb exactly?

While Cobb was a better hitter than Wagner, Wagner's defense is the difference. Wagner played one of the two difficult positions on defense and he played it at a gold glove level. Cobb played an easy position in the outfield and was below average. Honus Wagner was the best hitter in the NL from 1900-1912 while being one of the best defensive players. That is why Bill James has him #2 behind only Babe Ruth, ahead of Mays, Cobb, Williams, etc.

[Bridwell]

In my view, Wagner had been a big star for many years when T206 came out. Ty Cobb was an up and comer. So based on 1909-1910 era, most players thought of Wagner as the best at that time. My list was based on stats and reputations up through 1911 so the stats after that are really a different type of list of the greatest players. I think by 1930, Cobb had surpassed Wagner.

[darwinbulldog]

1. Walter Johnson
2. Cy Young
3. Ty Cobb
4. Tris Speaker
5. Honus Wagner
6. Eddie Collins
7. Christy Mathewson
8. Nap Lajoie
9. Eddie Plank
10. George Davis
11. Ed Walsh
12. Home Run Baker
13. Rube Waddell

[rats60]

Originally Posted by G1911

I figured there was just some extra criteria being added that would make this reasonable. But then I’ve read some spicy takes on here…

Brown is fairly underrated in my book.

Brown was only good for about 5 years, but not as good as Matty or Walsh during that period. He was good in the Cubs 2 WS wins, but pretty bad in their 2 WS losses. He was overshadowed by Tinker-Evers-Chance on his own team when he should have been seen as the star. That leads to Brown being a little underrated.

[Rhotchkiss]

Attached are career stats for each of (in order):

Ed Walsh
Eddie Plank
Mordecai Brown
Christy Mathewson

[TobaccoKing4]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Attached are career stats for each of (in order):

Ed Walsh
Eddie Plank
Mordecai Brown
Christy Mathewson

Missing WHIP (walks + hits per inning) which is highly regarded as the best indicator of a pitchers skill.

My personal rankings for pitchers would be

Walter Johnson
Christy Mathewson
Ed Walsh
Addie Joss
Mordecai Brown
Eddie Plank

Eddie Plank in my opinion is overrated at his prime compared to other players of the era. He was a phenomenal pitcher but only had one season with a WHIP under 1. He excelled at being a top of the line pitcher throughout his whole career and was very consistent though. From a purely statistical standpoint the other pitchers on the list were much better in their best seasons than Plank ever was.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by TobaccoKing4

Missing WHIP (walks + hits per inning) which is highly regarded as the best indicator of a pitchers skill.

My personal rankings for pitchers would be

Walter Johnson
Christy Mathewson
Ed Walsh
Addie Joss
Mordecai Brown
Eddie Plank

Eddie Plank in my opinion is overrated at his prime compared to other players of the era. He was a phenomenal pitcher but only had one season with a WHIP under 1. He excelled at being a top of the line pitcher throughout his whole career and was very consistent though. From a purely statistical standpoint the other pitchers on the list were much better in their best seasons than Plank ever was.

Forget Plank. Where do you have Cy Young if not in the top 6?

[TobaccoKing4]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Forget Plank. Where do you have Cy Young if not in the top 6?

I completely forgot about him. Apparently I shouldn’t be making posts that early in the morning lol

I’d slot him in right behind WaJo.

Walter Johnson
Cy Young
Christy Mathewson
Ed Walsh
Addie Joss
Mordecai Brown
Eddie Plank