If not Johnson, maybe "Robinson" is baseball's greatest surname. Who's the best of the best?
Aaron | 3 (2.80%) |
Bobby (Negro Leagues) | 2 (1.87%) |
Brooks | 5 (4.67%) |
Don | 0 (0.00%) |
Eddie | 0 (0.00%) |
Frank | 51 (47.66%) |
Jackie | 43 (40.19%) |
Wilbert | 2 (1.87%) |
Other (specify) | 1 (0.93%) |
National League Rookie of the Year. National League MVP. American League MVP. Major League Player of the Year. American League Triple Crown winner. World Series MVP. All-Star MVP. National League Gold Glove. Two-time league leader in OBP. (Sixteen times in the top ten.) Four-time league leader in slugging percentage. (Seventeen times in the top ten.) Three times league leader in runs scored. (Thirteen times in the top ten.) Fifteen times in the top ten in home runs; currently sixth all-time. Thirteen times in the top ten in RBI; currently seventeenth all-time. Twelve times in the top ten in walks, five times in stolen bases. Twelve-time All-Star.
And, if you're enamoured of players shattering the colour barrier, first black manager.
Props to Jackie, salute to Brooks, tip-o'-the-hat to all other Robinsons, but there can be only one greatest, and that's Frank.
Hands down. No contest. Game over.
I voted Jackie. Not because of numbers or stats. Breaking the colour bar was huge. Changed baseball forever.Think of how different baseball would be were it not for all the black, Latino or Asian players that have come since.
There is really little doubt that he was a better player at his peak.
I think it's very, very close. The war, the color line, a late start in baseball and a "wasted" year in Montreal made Jackie's prime take an odd shape, his ages 30-34 seasons. Robinson's peak was more normal (23-31).
If I needed one player for one game and could pick the best day of his life, I'd take Frank. If I needed one player for one season and could pick his best season, I'd take Frank ('62 or '66, can't decide which; probably 1966, since I would be willing to bet you a lot of money that no one else will win a Triple Crown in a pitcher's park in our lifetimes).
If I needed one player for one season and had to pick a composite of his five best seasons, sure I might take Jackie. Some teams could use Frank more, some could use Jackie more.
At his peak, Jackie got on base as much as F. Robby relative to league standards, was absolutely devastating when on base, and played a key defensive position as well as anybody. He had less power than F. Robby, of course, but there is no way that the power difference equalled the defensive and speed difference. Jackie played second base as well as O-Dog at his best, and his offensive peak would fit in during Morgan's 1972-76 run.