Best AL OFrs of the 1950s
Posted by Chris J. on March 8, 2008
Inspired, by a comment in post #1 of this btf thread, I thought I'd look up who the best AL outfielders of the 1950s were. Mantle, and Williams are obvious #s 1 & 2. But can you guess any of the Top 5? How 'bout Top 10?
March 8th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I agree that RC is a better measure here than OPS+, which can give too much credit to part-timers like Bob Nieman. Minnie is surely deserving. Thanks to discrimination, he didn't get started in the majors until at least age 25 (though it was represented in 1951 that he was actually 27). In any case, whatever the age, he compiled 283 career win shares (Jim Rice, 282). Had Minnie been able to start in 1948, the same year as Larry Doby, he'd have more like 383 win shares and overall accomplishment similar to that of Roberto Clemente (fewer hits, equivalent times on base).
It's interesting the big gaps on your Play Index list between Mantle and Williams (Korea, Ted's injuries and old age), and then between Minoso and Doby (Minoso was THAT good), and then between Jensen and everybody else. No wonder the NL began to win all the All-Star games.
March 8th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Most Win Shares during the 50s by AL Outfielders:
Mantle 317
Minoso 234
Doby 226
Ted Williams 212
Jensen 173
Woodling 169
Bauer 162
March 10th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Yeah, it's damning that two of the top AL OF were Woodling and Bauer, who combined for all of two 500 AB seasons (both Bauer's). Easy to see why the Yankees dominated the AL, and why the NL was overall much better than the AL.
What happened to Jensen? He didn't play in '60 and retired after '61; I assume he got hurt? ..... Oh yeah, I just checked his B-R bullpen page, he retired because of his fear of flying. Forgot that. It's odd, despite his great athletic pedigree, playing for the Yankees and Red Sox, winning an MVP, he seems sort of forgotten. I've gotten the sense that he was very well-known when he was playing, but I don't hear much about him these days. Could he have made the HOF if he kept playing? Seems like a guy who might have had a pretty good shot, though perhaps considered a mistake in retrospect.
March 10th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Woodling had a good batting eye, though. He had 9 years with 470+ PA, whereas Bauer had only 6 of those.
Jensen, IMO, was a good ballplayer with an interesting personal story (UC football, celebrity wife) who was two notches below Mickey Mantle (they played together with the 1951 Yankees but Jensen was five years older). One notch = borderline HoF (Dwight Evans, e.g.); two notches = Jensen's comps on his individual page. His 1958 MVP came when his win shares were 2nd in the AL (27) to Mantle's 39, but Mantle's numbers were so much lower than his of 1957 (51 ws) that Jensen's RBI lead looked more impressive than it deserved to look. Jensen: very good, but not near-great.
Minoso, though. . . . the lower edge of greatness if he had been able to play at ages 21, 22, 23, and 24. Further, I don't know that it has been documented forsure that in 1947-50, when he was a Negro League All-Star, a winter-league legend, and pounding minor league pitching in the Cleveland farm system, he wasn't 23, 24, 25, and 26 -- which would make the discrimination against him even more egregious.
March 10th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
In defense of Jackie Jensen, I'd guess that he might have had a long career comparable to that of fellow Red Sox rf Dwight Evans IF he had a) started a baseball career as early as Evans, and b) not minded being shot through the air in thin aluminum tubes.
March 11th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Kaline was a better player than some of those listed above him - he has lower counting stats for the 1950s because he only made his debut in 1954 (well, 28 at-bats in 1953, at age 18).