One of many funniest issues to come back out of this mailbag column to this point occurred two weeks in the past, once I wrote about essentially the most replacement-level gamers of all time. I started that week’s mailbag by speaking about questions that require each quantitative information and subjective evaluation to reply, and I used the query “Who’s the best baseball participant of all time?” for example. I made it fairly clear that I wasn’t going to provide my opinion on the topic; as a substitute, I defined how folks would possibly contemplate the query and formulate their arguments, and in doing so, I discussed a number of of the most effective gamers ever. Nothing to it.
Besides, in fact, I ought to’ve recognized that you simply fantastic baseball sickos couldn’t resist hashing out that debate within the feedback. A superb variety of you latched on to the half about how somebody would possibly give Barry Bonds the sting over Babe Ruth as a result of “Bonds wouldn’t have been allowed to play throughout Ruth’s profession.” Readers additionally made factors about enlargement and cited U.S. census numbers to match the inhabitants sizes of main league baseball and the nation. I really didn’t anticipate any of that.
So possibly I ought to be ready for something with the query I answered to start this week’s mailbag, which additionally offers with all-time nice gamers and lineups. It’s quantitative for certain, however context can also be mandatory to grasp why issues turned out the way in which they did. It’s a enjoyable one, so let’s get to it. Earlier than we do, although, I’ll remind you all that whereas anybody can submit a query, this mailbag is unique to FanGraphs Members. If you happen to aren’t but a Member and want to maintain studying, you possibly can join a Membership right here. It’s one of the best ways to each expertise the positioning and assist our employees, and it comes with a bunch of different nice advantages. Additionally, if you happen to’d wish to ask a query for an upcoming mailbag, ship me an e mail at mailbag@fangraphs.com.
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