Peter (Staten Island): There was some interesting centerfielder talk on the Max Kellerman radio show today. They argued for Jim Edmonds' HOF case and were also discussing Ichiro, at one point even comparing him to Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb. Is Ichiro really at their level?
Steven Goldman: No, I don't think he is. He's got the speed and batting averages of their games, but he doesn't have the power. If you look at Clay's translated stats on the DT pages for these players, you'll see that Cobb works out to .355/.423/.617, and Speaker to .324/.410/.580, but Ichiro to "only" .348/.398/.462. If Speaker and Cobb had had the heart of their career in the lively ball era, they likely would have been huge power hitters, with some of those doubles and triples heading over the fences... As for Edmonds, I think he compares very well with the great CFs. How many of them were both great gloves and slugged .500? Very few. I think Edmonds is deserving, but he's going to have problems because he's short in the counting stats department due to not becoming a regular until 25 and subsequent injuries.
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