Frank Thomas played 969 games as a 1Bman (4334 PAs); he played 1310 games at DH (5697 PAs). He was essentially a full-time DH for the last 10 years of his career. No telling how Bagwell's career would have played out had he had the same benefit.
If Baggy's shoulder hadn't disappeared, there would be NO question Baggy would have been the superior all around player via stats but because of those extra years for big hurt the numbers are skewed.
I'll refer you to Buck's stat. We're talking about first basemen here, not first-basemen-turned-DH. Thomas was such a disaster in the field (and a ******) that it was only a matter of time before he was relegated to DH. As "offensive players" they are absolutely equal save the longevity edge to Thomas. But baseball is more than hitting, and Bagwell is head-and-shoulders the better 1B than Thomas.
for the astros??? how about making the world series? winning their first pennant. winning their first playoff series. i'll take those every year over having nolan ryan pitch for us. nolan ryan wasn't even the best starter on the teams i grew up rooting for. he wasn't a game 1 starter...Scott was. he never won a Cy Young for Houston. his legend is inflated because he was a local boy. and because he beat the crap out of robin ventura. there..i said it.
And because he was a freak of nature, really. You're not supposed to do what he did as a 40-something year old. "Chicks did the longball" sure, but they dig strikeouts too. Like I said in the other thread, he got more votes for the HOF & the All-Century team than any other pitcher, that's ludicrous. He's nowhere near the best pitcher in history, just the most iconic, and in as much as someone who had his career can be overrated, he most definitely is. And I love the guy.
Caught the end of Barry Warner's interview with Nolan last night. Ryan said that at the end of his tenure of working in the organization he had become a "hood ornament". Said that Gerry Hunsicker and Tim Purpura would ask him for input, but after there was a change of management no one every came to him for input.
He may pass Bags in HRs next year as well. And he's only 30. Pujols will end up in the Babe Ruth category of so freaking good that HOF doesn't do him justice. At least assuming he stays healthy and he doesn't become a proven PED user.
uhhhh...Ed Wade was GM for less than 5 months before Nolan Ryan took on the position of team president with the Rangers. That was September 2007 to February 2008.
He took the position because Team President is much nicer than special assistant to the GM. Drayton is never going to fire Tal Smith, so that position wasn't available with the Astros.
Taken out of context I am sure it sounds like he is bitter, but he didn't sound bitter in the interview. He was just asked a question and answered it. He basically said he left because there was a change of management an he wanted more input with the team.
Yeah, I wasn't arguing with you saying that he didn't say it. I'm arguing with him. He was preparing to take over as Rangers president not long after Wade was hired. It seems ridiculous for him to say this.
Agreed, I also heard the interview and it didn't sound bitter at all. I had heard after Ryan left for the Rangers gig, there was some friction between Tal/Ryan and once Uncle "D" stuck by Tal it made Ryan's choice much easier.
Nolan Ryan is a Stros' legend and I admire him for it but I am still not going to root for the Rangers.
I was kind of paraphrasing what he said so it may have come across out of context. Basically the gist I got out of it was this: Early in his tenure the GMs would work closely with him because of his heavy involvement in the farm system. But towards the end of his tenure they had almost completely phased him out of the decision process. As Rockets93life said, I think the friction made his choice easier when the Rangers came calling.
