First under appreciated player that pops into your head

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Hitters:
It's gotta be Frank Robinson for me as well. He was an all-time great. He should be just one tier below Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, but he's usually an afterthought that gets placed several tiers too low. He gets no love. And since every thread needs a card, here's a Frank Robinson that I just won on eBay a few days ago

Pitchers:
Satchel Paige. Yes, he gets praise, but I believe he was the greatest pitcher who ever lived. He deserves more flowers.

Also, I find it interesting that some have stated Warren Spahn, as I believe he is the most overrated pitcher who ever lived. His stats were hyper-inflated by his ballparks (yes, so was Koufax, but not nearly to the extent that Spahn was). If you were to take all pitchers in MLB history and make adjustments to their numbers for park factors, Warren Spahn ranks as the #1 most helped-by-park pitcher in MLB history. That is to say that he would lose more WAR due to park adjustments than any other pitcher in history (depending on which WAR calculation you use, as some already bake this in). That said, Warren Spahn was indeed still one of the all-time greats. He just wasn't quite as great as everyone thinks he was.

+1 on every word. Totally agree.

One of my favorite cards is a 1962 Topps Frank Robinson.

I like Warren Spahn, but find him overrated as well.

If only we could have seen Satchel Paige in his prime...

I absolutely love my 1949 Bowman "Satchell" Paige. Got it years (decades now) ago for free, complete with pin hole. Another of my favorite cards.

[refz]

+1 Bill Madlock and Al Oliver. I will add Manny Trillo to under appreciated and seldom mentioned.

[Jobu]

I agree with the Stan Musial mentions. I will also add Paul Molitor to the list - 11th all time in hits in spite of some pretty significant injuries and never mentioned in conversations about the guys around him on the list.

[ejharrington]

Keith Hernandez.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by ejharrington

Keith Hernandez.

Keith Hernandez? The guy hit 162 HR in 17 years as a 1st baseman. That's less than 10 per year. He only hit 100 RBIs once, and the year he won the MVP, it should've gone to Dave Winfield.

[Deertick]

Jimmie Foxx.

Fun story about Davy Concepcion. Larry Bowa used to call him Elmer. Because he said "every time I look at the boxscore it says E. Concepcion".

[ejharrington]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Keith Hernandez? The guy hit 162 HR in 17 years as a 1st baseman. That's less than 10 per year. He only hit 100 RBIs once, and the year he won the MVP, it should've gone to Dave Winfield.

He didn’t hit a lot of home runs. So what? He was the key player on two different WS Champions. Best defensive player ever at his position. Great clutch hitter. Like I said, unappreciated.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by ejharrington

He didn’t hit a lot of home runs. So what? He was the key player on two different WS Champions. Best defensive player ever at his position. Great clutch hitter. Like I said, unappreciated.

Nobody gets signed as a first baseman because of their glove. They get signed because of their bat and get put on first base because they suck at fielding and can't run. Sure, some are better than others, and Hernandez did amass himself a nice trophy case full of golden gloves, but it's not like he had stiff competition in that department.

Maybe it's just me, but I prefer 1Bs that average more than 9 HRs and 63 RBIs per year.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Jobu

I agree with the Stan Musial mentions. I will also add Paul Molitor to the list - 11th all time in hits in spite of some pretty significant injuries and never mentioned in conversations about the guys around him on the list.

I think Paul Molitor is a great mention. Robin Yount, too. I never see their names on this site. I have a feeling Ichiro will join them.

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[Snowman]

Originally Posted by jingram058

+1 on every word. Totally agree.

One of my favorite cards is a 1962 Topps Frank Robinson.

I like Warren Spahn, but find him overrated as well.

If only we could have seen Satchel Paige in his prime...

I absolutely love my 1949 Bowman "Satchell" Paige. Got it years (decades now) ago for free, complete with pin hole. Another of my favorite cards.

I love both of those cards. The 62 Frank Robinson is indeed an awesome card. And the 49 Satch is very high on my want list. Just waiting for the right copy.