Mantle vs. Mays
by LenMantle vs. Mays
Francesca had a show yesterday on Willie Mays, which featured the author of a new book on Willie’s life. It was very interesting. Francesca said that he was a big Mantle fan (because he was a Yankees and not a Giant fan), but he also said that Mays was a better all around ballplayer.
I take issue with that. Of course, either Mantle or Mays would be by far the best player in the game today. They were that good, no great. But you can’t just look at stats to judge player’s greatness and I think that is what Francesca and other fans do when they make this comparison.
You have to ignore that last four years of Mickey’s playing career since he was a shell of the player he was during his first 14 years in the game. Longevity gives Mays the big edge in overall stats and he deserves credit for always keeping himself in shape and having the benefit of good genes along with good sense when it came to his career. He also was a flashier player. His running style was exciting and his defensive play in centerfield was marvelous. On this point I spoke to many fans who saw DiMaggio play in his prime as well as Mays and Mantle. All said (including my Dad who was a great Yankees and DiMaggio fan) that DiMaggio was the better center fielder. I know that does not sit well with current fans, but very few fans today saw DiMaggio play and, therefore, most of them can’t believe that anyone was better than Mays.
Mantle was every bit an effective a center fielder as Mays, without the flash. He had greater speed than Mays and this helped him patrol the vast outfield of Yankee Stadium when the left field gap was 457. Mays stole more bases but Mantle was faster down the line and he was told not to steal bases because of his fragile legs. His stolen base percentage was one of the highest of all time.
Mays hit 302 lifetime vs. 298 for Mantle, which is a push. Mays had more home runs because he played for 24 years, vs. Mantle’s 18 years, and only 14 good ones. But that still does not tell the entire story.
When Mantle stepped to the plate everything stopped in the ballpark. You were not going to the food stand (they didn’t have food courts then) when he was on deck. He hit the most majestic, long home runs since the Babe, some of the longest on record long before the taint of steroids.
It’s unfair to compare Mantle’s post season stats (all World Series games) vs. Mays since Mays’ post season play is limited. Nevertheless, in 20 Worlds Series games Mays hit no home runs, had six RBIs and batted around 250.
I saw both play, though, due to my age, I do not remember the first eight years of their respective careers. In those years Mantle owned New York and, in fact, I have read where he was the best player of the 1950’s.
Give me Mays and Mantle and I win every year. But I do not believe that Mays was the better all around ball player.
2 comments 01:45 pm Thursday February 25 2010 | Len | Discussion |
