That was the question asked by most baseball fans in the 1950's,but most often and most intently by the fans in New York City.
Which center fielder of the three teams in the city truly was the best of the bunch?
Was it Mickey Mantle of the Yankees,Willie Mays of the Giants or Duke Snider of the Dodgers?
All three are members of the Hall of Fame and deservedly so.
But which one was truly the best?
Well,despite my personal opinion on Duke Snider (I like him),one can quickly discount the Duke.
Snider hit over 400 homers, finished with a career batting average of .295 and was a fine defensive centerfielder as well.
But in none of those categories was he the superior to either Mantle or Mays and after the Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles,his numbers dipped quickly at the age of 31 and he was pretty much finished as a top level player at 32.
Mantle has the charisma,the focus of the "what if" game and the factor of being the first true superstar of the television age.
Mays has the edge in numbers,his prime was longer,played in the tougher league (at the time) and played his home games in two parks that had they played fairer could have made Mays the first player to reach Babe Ruth's home run record.
Both players were packed with power,but Mantle likely had a small edge,while both were loaded with speed,Mays certainly pulled away after the multiple knee injuries that Mantle suffered after Mantle had a scant edge in the early days of his career.
Mays certainly was the smarter player having been noted as being able to recite the entire game from his position with recall and seemed to be the more dedicated player as one rarely hears the wild off the field stories about Mays that one hears about Mantle.
Mays also lost one entire year and most of another to military service,while Mantle never missed those years as he could not pass the physical with his damaged knees.
However,Mantle won a Triple Crown,which is something Mays never won and Mantle led teams to seven world titles to Mays and his squads one and that says something as well.
Both players were surrounded by top notch teammates,so both were protected in the batting order by quality bats.
Defensively,Mays likely gets a slight advantage,but Mantle's arm played just as strongly as Mays.
Mays has the better career numbers overall,but Mantle's peak years look very favorably to Willie's and one can make the argument that they are even better.
SO which one would you pick for your team?
From a fantasy baseball perspective,I think a peak Mantle would be a thread more valuable than Mays,although both would be early first round picks due to his edge in power.
From a pure baseball angle,I would take Mays although you truly cannot lose either way.
Mays seemed a little more baseball oriented and a bit more of the type that showed up every day,along with the durability issues of Mantle......
Tell me your preference-Mays or Mantle?
Or you think Duke Snider at his peak trumps them both????
Bullpen Notes
Something seems on the upswing at the Muni,as the Hagerstown Suns are having their first Meet the team party next week and it is open to the public,but free to season ticket holders.
The season hasn't started yet,but I like what I have seen thus far!!!
Minor league cutdown day for most teams.
A few notable names and one that unless there is an injury involved that I would love to see Pittsburgh take a shot at signing...
The Pirates released a handful of organizational soldiers as our friend Wilbur Miller calls them and one faded former prospect in Wardell Starling.
Starling looked to be a prospect after decent years at Hickory and Lynchburg,but was never able to get over the AA hump and didn't throw a pitch last year.
I didn't even know Wardell was in Pirate camp!
Houston cut a slew of former Lexington and Salem players,but one that I was astonished to see on the list was David Qualben.
Qualben turns 24 in July,so age may have been a factor and I have no idea if Qualben had injury issues or not,but when I saw him in 2007 as a Lexington Legend,he was dominant.
Qualben even was one of our award winners in 07 in being an honorable mention for best non-Sun pitching prospect.
Qualben's numbers for 2008 are not very good,but if he is OK physically,I would love to see the Pirates sign him and send him to Lynchburg......
Another Astro cut that gave me a chuckle (through no fault of his own) was Brett Robinson.
Robinson was the player that former Astro farmhand (now Yankee) Matt Cusick pretended to be when another collector attempted to get Cusick to sign a card for him.
Makes a fellow proud to be an Astro!
If you are that bad in the SAL,it gets no better for the collectors out there.
The Orioles cut one of our favorites in Blair Johnson.
Blair had signed with the Orioles organization after being granted free agency as a six year man and I was hoping he would do well there.
Good luck to Blair in getting another shot or in whatever endeavours he chooses.
The Cubs cut former first rounder Mark Pawelek after four disappointing seasons.
Going into the 2005 amateur season,Pawelek was looked at as a possible top five pick and fell to the mid first round to the Cubs.
Pawelek never found his stride in pro ball compiling a 3-7 record and never rising above a two game stint for Low A Peoria over the four years....
Back later with the Devils PATHETIC effort in Pittsburgh that was so bad (and I was so angry) that I needed to do a fun post to get my mind of it!
Photo Credits-Topps
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