Are the Astros the best Team of all time at second base?

Yes, but was deserving far more often. Playing in Houston made it difficult to get an all-star nod. Morgan made the all-star game in Cincy. Similarly, Jimmy Wynn made 1 all-star game in Houston, but made it both years in LA.

 

Rogers Hornsby is arguably the greatest 2B of all time, and Frankie Frisch is top ten if not top five. That list is damned impressive 60 years ago or last week.

 

The OP did ask "of all time"....

 

Eh, baseball before expansion. When half the teams didn't exist, it is a little unfair to compare.

 

It's also unfair to eliminate those guys from the discussion. It isn't their fault that there were fewer teams (nor that the league left out half the nation's population). Regarding expansion, however, it can be argued that it was *harder* for guys like Hornsby to produce at the level they produced because the talent wouldn't be as watered down. For example, would Brad Peacock be on a major league roster if there were only 20 teams? I think not.

 

They should be included, but I think it has to be acknowledged that it was an entirely different era of baseball.

The population in this country has tripled since the days of Rogers Hornsby, not to mention the game has become global and started allowing blacks. The reason that players don't hit .400 anymore is because the talent level is much higher than it was (nobody has done it since baseball integrated).

 

l thought that would have gone without saying. We're all aware it was a different era. And, I'm confident Rogers Hornsby and Nap Lajoie and Ty Cobb would hit these modern pitchers until they cry like babies. But all we have, as you and I both know, is conjecture (and era-adjusted statistics).

 

I assume players today are better, but also those players would have been better with advanced training and scouting information available.

 

Considering the Astros didn't exist until 1962, IMO it's not fair to compare their player legacy to teams that have been around since the turn of the century.

Stupid Chris Burke mention aside, I don't think it at all ridiculous to say the Astros have had the best core of 2nd baseman since the franchise came into existence. Morgan, Biggio, and Doran were great, I didn't realize how good Doran was until I checked the numbers.

Altuve has a great season, can't call him a great player yet.