Best leadoff hitter in the game today - Page 4

andyfox · #31 12-15-2005, 01:12 PM

The Giants used to bat Barry's father lead-off, even though he was a power hitter.

rwperu34 · #32 12-15-2005, 01:22 PM

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Best leadoff hitter in the game? I guess I'd go with Ichiro. If you're just talking about last season, I'd go with Chone Figgins. Out of a leadoff guy, the most important stat by far is a high OBP. (at least .350) After that I'd be looking mainly for excellent speed AND excellent baserunning skills. Of course, this is all kind of moot, because some of the players I would think of to be prototypical leadoff type hitters are usually the further down in the lineup because of their power, hitters like Bobby Abreu, Chase Utley, and Jason Bay.

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jeter had a higher obp

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Hey, don't get me wrong, Jeter's a great leadoff guy... it's definitely close, but I like Figgins, especially since I'm a Halos fan.

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lol, its not close. and thats not saying anything bad about figgins, hes a solid player.

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Eh, then we'll agree to disagree. I mean obviously Jeter's had a brilliant career so far, but he'll be 32 next year, which isn't exactly old, but it's a good bet he won't have a career year anytime soon. Figgins will be 28, which should be right in the middle of his peak years. Jeter will hit more home runs, but they'll both probably hit about .300 next year, and Figgins will have more triples (he had 17 in 2004!) and stolen bases.

If you're just asking who's the better hitter, you're right, I don't think it's close, it's Jeter by far. But if you're talking about who's the better leadoff man, it's closer than you think.

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Figgins is closer to Freel and Castillo than he is Jeter.

youtalkfunny · #33 12-15-2005, 05:36 PM

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He'd look like Rickey Henderson or Tim Raines.

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Pete Rose gets sore whenever people call Rickey the greatest lead-off hitter. "I've got 1000 more hits than him, 200 more RBI."

samjjones · #34 12-15-2005, 06:01 PM

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He'd look like Rickey Henderson or Tim Raines.

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Pete Rose gets sore whenever people call Rickey the greatest lead-off hitter. "I've got 1000 more hits than him, 200 more RBI."

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Pete Rose gets sore about a lot of things these days, I'm sure. He was a great player, but Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter in the history of baseball.

sublime · #35 12-15-2005, 06:17 PM

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He'd look like Rickey Henderson or Tim Raines.

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Pete Rose gets sore whenever people call Rickey the greatest lead-off hitter. "I've got 1000 more hits than him, 200 more RBI."

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Pete Rose gets sore about a lot of things these days, I'm sure. He was a great player, but Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter in the history of baseball.

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amazing that most people would assume rose was the better player. ricky was just amazing. got on base a ton, hit for power, stole bases at a +EV clip. just unreal. im not sure what his defensive prowless was, but i would assume he was fast enough to be above average on accident.

Sooga · #36 12-15-2005, 07:05 PM

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He'd look like Rickey Henderson or Tim Raines.

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Pete Rose gets sore whenever people call Rickey the greatest lead-off hitter. "I've got 1000 more hits than him, 200 more RBI."

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Pete Rose gets sore about a lot of things these days, I'm sure. He was a great player, but Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter in the history of baseball.

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amazing that most people would assume rose was the better player. ricky was just amazing. got on base a ton, hit for power, stole bases at a +EV clip. just unreal. im not sure what his defensive prowless was, but i would assume he was fast enough to be above average on accident.

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I remember that old Bill James anecdote where he was asked if he thought Rickey was a hall-of-famer. His reply? "If you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall-Of-Famers."

Sooga · #37 12-15-2005, 07:12 PM

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He'd look like Rickey Henderson or Tim Raines.

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Pete Rose gets sore whenever people call Rickey the greatest lead-off hitter. "I've got 1000 more hits than him, 200 more RBI."

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Pete Rose gets sore about a lot of things these days, I'm sure. He was a great player, but Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter in the history of baseball.

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Rickey is obviously the greatest leadoff man in the history of baseball, but it's a crying shame that Tim Raines doesn't get more respect. As an contemporary of Rickey, he was always a Rickey Lite. He hit for power, but not as much as Rickey. He got on base, but not as much as Rickey. He stole bases, but not as many as Rickey. In fact, if you look on baseball-reference.com, the most similar player to Rickey Henderson every year from 24-42 (except for 1) is..... Tim Raines.

sublime · #38 12-15-2005, 07:20 PM

I remember that old Bill James anecdote where he was asked if he thought Rickey was a hall-of-famer. His reply? "If you could split him in two, you'd have two Hall-Of-Famers."

awesome!

sad that somebody would even ask that question.

TheNoodleMan · #39 12-15-2005, 09:14 PM

How much do you factor in pitches per plate Appearance, if at all? I'd like to have a guy taking pitches, especially in the 1st to get some extra info on the opposing pitcher. This is a stat that knocks Ichiro down a few pegs if you value it.

andyfox · #40 12-15-2005, 10:10 PM

Yeah, Rose made 1900 more outs too. Rose's OBP was .375 for his career, vs. the league average of .331; Henderson's was .401 vs. the league average of .327. Rose's OPS was .784 vs. the league average of .721; Henderson's was .820 vs. the league average of .728.

And Rose was a bigger jerk than Rickey. Still is.