Blyleven for the HOF

[RedBarron]

I'm just saying that lots of players get on the downswing of their careers and completely suck ass.

Will Clark went out very very well.

[JoeDirt]

Well, I agree with you that .345 is a very good ba, I disagree with you that being able to play in but 51 of 162 games is a "very very well" way to go out.

[Attezz]

Will Clark played in 130 games his final year and hit .319.

[Dryden]

Will Clark has an extremely credible claim for the hall, especially when you faxtor in that most of his best years were spent in an extreme pitcher's park in an offense-depressed era.

Blyleven should unquestionably be in the hall, but to say that he is one of the best 50 pitchers ever is almost certainly untrue.  It's pretty close, anyway.

[JoeDirt]

Will Clark played in 130 games his final year and hit .319.

I retract my statement.  I was looking at his stats with StL only that last yr, apparently.

[Metal King]

Yeah Will Clark never really had a bad season.  I mean NEVER.  He hit .300+ ten total times, and went out on top.  He could've still played, must not have wanted to.

Don Mattingly lost his power in '90 severely, and never hit more than 17 homers in a season from 1990-1995, but he had 40 doubles and hit over .300 one year in that span,  it's just that his 80's power and rbi's were down.  He went from great to merely a solid player.  And he retired the year before the Yanks won the World Series.

Other guys who went out on top:

Paul O'Neill went 20-20 in his final season.

George Brett led his team in homers his final year (but he's already in).  Well it was either hr or rbi he led in.

Chili Davis had a good final year (19 homers I think)

Mark McGwire hit 29 hr in 2001 but batted .187 if you wanna call that going out on top, heh heh.

Robin Yount is already in, but had a decent 1993 like Brett, but he had just turned 40 or close to it when he retired that year.

Paul Molitor had a great final 1998 season.  He could have played a few more years and threatened Pete Rose's hit record, but doubtful.

He'll never be a HOFer, but Dave Kingman hit 35 homers in his final season in 1986, and still holds the record for most hr in a final season.  If Barry Bonds would have retired after 2004, he'd have the record with 45.

Kirby Puckett got elected in 2001,  he had one of the best careers of anyone when he had to retire after 1995.  Never had a bad year, may have still been playing around 2001, would've had 3000 hits easy,  600-650 doubles,  close to 2,000 runs AND rbi's, 300 homers, a high avg.  I think it was Dennis Martinez who hit him in the face with a pitch and forced him to quit.  I remember watching that.  Damn him!

[Dryden]

Of course, for all-time "going out on top", there's that Ted Williams guy you might have heard of...

At the age of 41, Ted:  hit .316, with 29 HRs, with an insane (for anyone but him) OPS of 1.096.  Had he had enough at bats to qualify, he would have led the league, ahead of some guy named Mantle.

[BeefMaster]

Kirby Puckett got elected in 2001,  he had one of the best careers of anyone when he had to retire after 1995.  Never had a bad year, may have still been playing around 2001, would've had 3000 hits easy,  600-650 doubles,  close to 2,000 runs AND rbi's, 300 homers, a high avg.  I think it was Dennis Martinez who hit him in the face with a pitch and forced him to quit.  I remember watching that.  Damn him!

Actually, while the beaning was Puckett's last at-bat, it wasn't what forced him to quit.  He developed glaucoma during the offseason, which was the reason he retired.  I don't think the two were directly related.

[Stock]

True, but negative affects of glaucoma can be intensified by severe drama to the eye.  This is the same thing that happened to that linemen awhile back--the guy who got fined when he shoved a ref after being hit in the eye with a beanbag.

I believe he sued the NFL.  Not sure whatever came of it.
Personally, I think that ref should have been suspended or fined.  fkndumbass

[Dryden]

Courtney Brown...

[Gantry]

Courtney Orlando Brown...