What are the best vintage, investment-type players in your opinion?

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by packs

I think Mantle is in the right place in the hobby. I haven't seen anyone explain why a Triple Crown winning, three time MVP and seven time World Series champion shouldn't be the toast of the hobby.

Berra was a three time MVP and TEN time World Series champion, and he is nowhere near the toast of the hobby, value-wise.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Mark17

Berra was a three time MVP and TEN time World Series champion, and he is nowhere near the toast of the hobby, value-wise.

I limited my answer to prewar, but looking at the hobby on whole, I 1000% agree with this.

Berra was an amazing player (maybe the best player) on an amazing team. Plus, he transcends baseball with all his sayings, the Yogi Bear thing, and he caught Larson's perfect game. And, he is very likable/well regarded.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

I limited my answer to prewar, but looking at the hobby on whole, I 1000% agree with this.

Berra was an amazing player (maybe the best player) on an amazing team. Plus, he transcends baseball with all his sayings, the Yogi Bear thing, and he caught Larson's perfect game. And, he is very likable/well regarded.

And, unlike the Robert Redford-like Mantle, Yogi was more of a Cabbage Patch guy the ordinary fellow could relate to.

Spahn and Berra are the most under-rated post-war guys IMO.

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by Mark17

And, unlike the Robert Redford-like Mantle, Yogi was more of a Cabbage Patch guy the ordinary fellow could relate to.

Spahn and Berra are the most under-rated post-war guys IMO.

I agree with this. Frank Robinson and Rod Carew are not far behind.

I wonder if Yogi suffers from the fact that he was such a funny and charismatic guy and did not exactly look the part of a top athlete. Without looking at his stats I wonder if too many people assume he wasn’t very good and is famous for being funny. Call it the Uecker effect.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Let's not go overboard. Yogi had a 59.5 WAR and ranks 6th among catchers. Mantle's WAR is almost double that. Great player, but not IMO somehow criminally undervalued.

[packs]

Yogi has no bearing on the conversation. He wasn't a centerfielder, he didn't switch hit, and he wasn't talked about like the second coming, nor did he have the pressure to be one.

I can't overstate what Mantle was able to do. Rarely does any player live up the hype. Mantle exceeded all hype on the biggest team on earth at the time and was the generational player of his time after stepping into the shoes of the generational player of their time (DiMaggio). People are discounting this fact too much.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by packs

Yogi has no bearing on the conversation. He wasn't a centerfielder, he didn't switch hit, and he wasn't talked about like the second coming, nor did he have the pressure to be one.

I can't overstate what Mantle was able to do. Rarely does any player live up the hype. Mantle exceeded all hype on the biggest team on earth at the time and was the generational player of his time after stepping into the shoes of the generational player of their time (DiMaggio). People are discounting this fact too much.

I think too, as I initially mentioned, that a big part of the Mantle mystique is the "what if" factor -- how much MORE would he have done if he had good legs?

[jsfriedm]

Originally Posted by packs

Yogi has no bearing on the conversation. He wasn't a centerfielder, he didn't switch hit, and he wasn't talked about like the second coming, nor did he have the pressure to be one.

I can't overstate what Mantle was able to do. Rarely does any player live up the hype. Mantle exceeded all hype on the biggest team on earth at the time and was the generational player of his time after stepping into the shoes of the generational player of their time (DiMaggio). People are discounting this fact too much.

Whatever you want to say about Mantle, he certainly did not exceed the hype. In his own words in the Ken Burns documentary, "Casey bragged on me so much saying I was going to be the next Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio all rolled into one, and it just never happened." As great as Mantle was, he certainly fell far short of people's expectations of him, partly because of his injuries, partly because of his alcoholism, and partly just because of his dedication to baseball, or lack thereof. As Mantle once told Bob Costas about Stan Musial, "He was a better player than I was because he was a better man than I was."

[Carter08]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Let's not go overboard. Yogi had a 59.5 WAR and ranks 6th among catchers. Mantle's WAR is almost double that. Great player, but not IMO somehow criminally undervalued.

This is an example of how a player that won 10 World Series, made 15 straight all star games, won 3 mvps and had mvp shares in 14 of his playing years is as overlooked as he is. I guess focus on war predominates. Sad that yogi isn’t appreciated like he should be. Spahn’s whip pales in comparison to x and y too.

[packs]

Originally Posted by Carter08

This is an example of how a player that won 10 World Series, made 15 straight all star games, won 3 mvps and had mvp shares in 14 of his playing years is as overlooked as he is. I guess focus on war predominates. Sad that yogi isn’t appreciated like he should be. Spahn’s whip pales in comparison to x and y too.

Yogi was a catcher. It doesn't make sense to compare his popularity with Mantle, a switch-hitting centerfielder and ultra hyped prospect. It's like saying Pudge should have gotten more attention than Griffey.