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Most Exclusive Trio In MLB History

Maybe that's the curse of being a TC winner in modern times. Yaz never got a ring, either.

Yaz won a TC, but he's not held in the same breath as contemporaries like Aaron, Mays or even Frank Robinson (except in Boston). Winning a TC doesn't give you a special trump card from scrutiny. Yeah, I know it's dangerous to use that word/name on this board.
So you set his triple crown next to his membership card for the 500 HR & 3000 hits club.
Then scrutinize deez nuts!
 
I think a lot of casual sports fans forget just how common - and debilitating - injuries can be in baseball. It's not a 'contact' sport in the sense of gridiron football, hockey or boxing, but there is still a fair degree of contact involved (good example would be what Pete Rose did to Ray Fosse when trying to score in the 1970 All Star Game - Fosse thankfully recovered but was never the same) and lots of arm and leg injuries happen when trying to make defensive plays.

I do agree about Junior, but unfortunately he also had his share of injuries - even in his prime. And he was having a tremendous season in 1994, perhaps what could have been the finest of his career (he had 40 HR in just over 100 games - 50 HR was an almost-certainty had he played 150+ games and could have come close to 60). And what's even more amazing is that he played the game clean (I have a much deeper appreciation for him now because of that) and was better than most players that were drinking the juice. And he was a likable fellow too, much more than Barry (who didn't have to juice, if he stayed clean he would have been a HOF'er anyway).

And while Trout is widely seen as the best (at least offensive) player today, he's not going to finish with a .300 average. Low-mid .290s is more likely. Nothing he can help of course, just a product of the current era where people whiff at all-time high rates and the "average" player is batting closer to .250 these days rather than .270 like those of us who grew up in the 80s-early 00s have become accustomed to. I'm starting to think it's going to be a matter of "when" and not "if" we'll see a league batting champion fail to hit .300. Yaz has the record of the lowest batting average while winning a batting title (I think it was .301 in either 1967 or 1968, which was definitely in a more pitcher-friendly era).
Teddy Baseball said he was never the same hitter after he broke his elbow in the 1950 All Star game...Ted isn’t a “member” of this elite trio but he did serve 5 years in the military (WW2 and Korea) in what many said would have been his “prime years” as a major leaguer.
Theodore was a .344 hitter in the bigs. He had 2654 base hits and 521 homeruns, with 1839 runs batted in...missing the “prime 5 years” of his career. No professional could swing the bat like Ted Williams. Seriously doubt I will ever see anyone who ever will.
 
After a game against the L.A. Dodgers, I got an autograph
of Hank Aaron outside the Milwaukee Braves locker room.
It was free and I thanked him for it. He stood about 5' 11"
and weighed about 180 lbs. His wrists were big and that is
where he got the torque speed to hit home runs. He was
not a muscle bound athlete.
Hank was an amazing athlete, Lute.
Thanks for reminding us.
 
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Stan Musial folks...
.331 career
475 home runs
1951 RBI
24 all star games
3 NL MVP
3 rings
3630 hits, 1830 LH 1830 RH
7 time batting champion

Not too shabby...
6,134 total bases as well, second only to Aaron who had almost 1,300 more at bats. Musial led the league in triples 5 times, Aaron none, ( surprised ). Musial also missed 1945 to military service when he was averaging 210 hits and .362 batting average either side of the missed season. Musial only struck out an average of 37 times per year, among the least of anyone hitting with enough power to be the TB leader when he retired.
@bagdropper you mean he had 1830 hits home/road not left/right...
 
@bagdropper you mean he had 1830 hits home/road not left/right...

Yeah, I knew something was wrong there because after posting I remembered, he was a LH batter. Was working at the time and something came up right after. But I knew he did something unique with 1830 hits *2.

Musial had one of those careers where he truly has wound up being under-rated, which is amazing considering how great a hitter he was. I've always thought it was because he sort of gets lost playing in the era of Aaron, Mays, DiMaggio, Williams, and Mantle.
 
The longevity and consistency of players a couple of generations ago is eye-opening compared to those of today's game. Even with today's players being much better physical specimens, they have shorter careers (we don't see as many stars play past 40 these days - partially due to injuries and gradual lack of productivity as players age, and partially due to stiffer competition) plus they also played 154-game schedules (or were just starting to transition to the modern 162 game schedule). Even with players like Williams and Musial (two of the finest pure hitters of all time) sacrificing many games due to WWII (and in Williams' case, the Korean War as well) they also effectively lost a full season by not playing the extra 8 games (Musial might have played a season or two past the 1961 MLB expansion but not nearly enough to offset the fact that he played 90% of his career before expansion).
 
Part of the oldster longevity was due to the fact they were not paid much in their old age. Musial's average salary over 22 years was less than 50K/year. Now the luxury tax will mean cutting established players in favor of cheaper, rookies instead of hanging on to an icon in their wanning years...
 
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There is truth to that, plus I don't think MLB provided nearly as many post-retirement benefits.

That said, a 50K/year salary in say 1957 was a VERY handsome salary. Extremely few politicians made that kind of money in those days. Same with physicians, attorneys, and even CEOs.
 
The violent swing of batting takes a sneaky toll.

my son was a catcher. Let’s just say MLB catchers are genetic freaks of nature. Amazing they can do what they do for a 100+ games for years and years.
 
Without looking it up, I think the title of a book I read a few years ago was, “The Year Babe Ruth Hit 100 Home Runs”. Back in that era many cities/states had laws against playing games Sundays. So, the players would play Saturday, then jump on a train across a state line, and play an exhibition game for money in a neighboring state. Coupled with some exhibition games along the rail line from Spring Training, Ruth hit 100 that year.
 
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Stan Musial folks...
.331 career
475 home runs
1951 RBI
24 all star games
3 NL MVP
3 rings
3630 hits, 1830 LH 1830 RH
7 time batting champion

Not too shabby...
Lifelong Yankee and Mick fan but it's hard to not put Musial and Williams in the GOA club with Babe and Willie. Guess you put Hank or Cobb in to make it 5.

I always liked Mick's answer when asked who was greater, Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays. He said it was easy and named Willie. When asked why he replied, "Just look at the stats".
 
Here are the top 5 career batting averages for MLB
players who played in the past 60 years:

1. Ted Williams.........344
2. Tony Gwynn.........338
3. Stan Musial..........330
4. Wade Boggs.........327
5. Rod Carew............327

For 21st century MLB fans it is possible that Williams
and Musial do not get the high respect they deserve.
 
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