Griffey #6 All-Time CF on Prime 9

[Z-Fly]

I am up late watching Prime 9 on MLBtv. They have Griffey at #6 All-Time at CF. I know he was not the greatest here, but I think I would have put him at least in the top 3. What do you guys think?

[Griffey012]

I am up late watching Prime 9 on MLBtv. They have Griffey at #6 All-Time at CF. I know he was not the greatest here, but I think I would have put him at least in the top 3. What do you guys think?

Who was in front of him, I am assuming probably...
Mays
Cobb
Mantle
Dimaggio
Speaker?

Granted I never saw any of those guys play, but from what I have heard and from highlights I would go Mays #1, thats a no brainer.
Cobb #2 seems like a pretty solid no brainer also.

I would put him above Mantle, similar hitting numbers but I am sure Griffey blew him away with the glove.

I would have to say Griffey would be number 3 and no worse than number 4...Mantle or Dimaggio could slip ahead just cause they are Yankees greats. People have quickly forgotten just how dominant all-around Griffey was in the 90's against juiced up competition.

[Kingspoint]

Dimaggio was special, and not because of being a Yankee.

Griffey isn't even close to DiMaggio....no where near him. DiMaggio couldn't be struck out (he homered as many times as he struck out in his career....nobody can say that who's had at least 25 home runs). Griffey, in his wildest dreams, could never win a Triple Crown. DiMaggio just missed. DiMaggio did it as a Right Hander where Left-handers have it made at the plate. The Yankees hadn't even been to the World Series since 1932, but when he joined them in 1936 (after winning the MVP in the PCL and leading the San Francisco Seals to that title in 1935) they won that World Series and the next 3 after that. Later, with his heart not in it, and wanting to show how "American" he was (his parents had to carry "alien" cards with them and weren't allowed to leave 5 miles from their home during the war, while his father, a fisherman, had his boat siezed and wasn't allowed to go onto San Francisco Bay and earn his living), he joined the service and spent all of the '43, '44, and '45 seasons in the War at the prime ages of 28, 29, and 30.)

Sorry. But, people can't forget how great Joe DiMaggio was just because they never saw him play.

He not only had the 56-game hitting streak in the Majors, but a 61-game hitting streak in the Pacific Coast League, which, top to bottom, was at the time better than half of the teams currently in the Majors right now.

And, don't for a moment think that Griffey was better in the field than DiMaggio. He wasn't. DiMaggio covered just as much ground as Junior did. I saw Junior 1000 times during his best years in Seattle. Junior was great. DiMaggio was greater.

Another comparison...

From: The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs, by Bill Jenkinson:
For example, Joe DiMaggio was acutely handicapped by playing at Yankee Stadium. Every time he batted in his home field during his entire career, he did so knowing that it was physically impossible for him to hit a home run to the half of the field directly in front of him. If you look at a baseball field from foul line to foul line, it has a 90-degree radius. From the power alley in left center field (430 in Joe's time) to the fence in deep right center field (407 ft), it is 45-degrees. And Joe DiMaggio never hit a single home run over the fences at Yankee Stadium in that 45-degree graveyard. It was just too far. Joe was plenty strong; he routinely hit balls in the 425-foot range. But that just wasn't good enough in cavernous Yankee Stadium. Like Ruth, he benefited from a few easy homers each season due to the short foul line distances. But he lost many more than he gained by constantly hitting long fly outs toward center field. Whereas most sluggers perform better on their home fields, DiMaggio hit only 41 percent of his career home runs in the Bronx. He hit 148 homers at Yankee Stadium. If he had hit the same exact pattern of batted balls with a typical modern stadium as his home, he would have belted about 225 homers during his home field career.

Whereas, despite its cavernous interior, the Kingdome's field dimensions were relatively small. It had a reputation as a hitter's park where it was only 312 feet to the right field foul pole and only 362 feet to "deep" right Center. Those are all "normal" flyouts in DiMaggio's Yankee stadium. The area that Junior had to cover was so much smaller than the area that DiMaggio had to cover defensively, too.

His intelligence of the game was unsurpassed. He only stole 30 bases in his career (caught 9 times), but 5 of those thefts were of Home Base. Unbelievable.

[Z-Fly]

I was flipping back and forth, so I didn't catch them all. I found this list on the web. It matches up with what I remember.

1. Mays
2. Cobb
3. Mantle
4. Speaker
5. DiMaggio
6. Griffey
7. the Duke
8. Edmonds
9. Puckett

[Z-Fly]

I just always remember Griffey being called the Micheal Jordan of Baseball. I know that was a stretch, but he was a outstanding outfielder and has 600+ home runs. It just felt like he was slotted a little low. Thats why I wanted to turn it over to you guys.

[Griffey012]

Kingspoint, I am not trying to discredit DiMaggio, and I appreciate your long insightful post on him. And you have pretty much sold me on him. It sounds like he may be a bit under appreciated. As a little kid in the 90's we all heard about Mantle and Mays, but you really only heard about DiMaggio because of his hitting streak.

[bounty37h]

[QUOTE=Kingspoint;2028032]Dimaggio was special, and not because of being a Yankee.

Griffey isn't even close to DiMaggio....no where near him. DiMaggio couldn't be struck out (he homered as many times as he struck out in his career....nobody can say that who's had at least 25 home runs). Griffey, in his wildest dreams, could never win a Triple Crown. DiMaggio just missed.

So, to translate, Joe D couldnt never win a triple crown in his wildest dreams then either, since he never did it.

[texasdave]

Jim Edmonds is the 8th best centerfielder of all-time?

[Z-Fly]

Jim Edmonds is the 8th best centerfielder of all-time?

Yeah, I about fell out of my chair when I saw that too.

[Kingspoint]

[QUOTE=Kingspoint;2028032]Dimaggio was special, and not because of being a Yankee.

Griffey isn't even close to DiMaggio....no where near him. DiMaggio couldn't be struck out (he homered as many times as he struck out in his career....nobody can say that who's had at least 25 home runs). Griffey, in his wildest dreams, could never win a Triple Crown. DiMaggio just missed.

So, to translate, Joe D couldnt never win a triple crown in his wildest dreams then either, since he never did it.

He just missed 4 times! It was never a possibility with Junior, and DiMaggio would have have had 3 more really good chances to do it if he hadn't gone to war when he was 28, 29, and 30.

[1990REDS]

Juniors injury problems in the latter part of his career really hurt his total numbers. If he is healthy all those years in Cincinnati whos knows how crazy his total career numbers would have been. Definatly the best of his generation. Overall I think #6 is a good number.

[Kingspoint]

Juniors injury problems in the latter part of his career really hurt his total numbers. If he is healthy all those years in Cincinnati whos knows how crazy his total career numbers would have been. Definatly the best of his generation. Overall I think #6 is a good number.

In 1934, DiMaggio's career almost ended. Going to his sister's house for dinner, he tore the ligaments in his left knee while stepping out of a jitney. The Seals, at the time were hoping to sell DiMaggio's contract for $100,000. Scout Bill Essick of the New York Yankees, was convinced the Joe could overcome his knee injury and pestered the club to give the 19 year-old another look. After DiMaggio passed a test on his knee, he was bought on November 21 for $25,000 and 5 players, with the Seals keeping him for the 1935 season. He batted .398 with 154 RBIs and 34 HRs, led the Seals to the 1935 PCL title, and was named the League's Most Valuable Player.

While DiMaggio's stroke was an incredible torque of power, Junior's was always smooth as silk, one of the sweetest swings to every watch. I don't know how many times I've stopped what I'm doing to watch Junior swing the bat. I've never seen anyone else ever swing like either one of them. They both were unique. If Junior had taken steroids like his contemporaries, Junior would have hit 900 Homeruns.

FYI, Junior's teammate, Edgar Martinez, is the only Right-Hander to win 2 American League Batting Titles since Joe DiMaggio.

[ian_madden]

I like Puckett over Edmonds, and that is not because Edmonds has been a thorn in our side for years. Puckett to me was your every man. He was the little round guy that was pretty good in gym class but still wasn't picked early. He was the underdog, even if he shouldn't have been. Man I miss him.

[bounty37h]

[QUOTE=bounty37h;2028209]

He just missed 4 times! It was never a possibility with Junior, and DiMaggio would have have had 3 more really good chances to do it if he hadn't gone to war when he was 28, 29, and 30.

Horse shoes and hand grenades :)