RZ Greatest OF Tournament - Rd 1

[Oxblood]

Had some last minute entrants so we went with a 32 man bracket. Might have been a couple greats left off but I think we have the bread & butter here.

Post your vote for each matchup in this thread, feel free to explain your reasoning. Actually that would be encouraged.

Round 1

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[bucksfan2]

Round 1

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[Slyder]

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[reds1869]

Round 1

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[dougdirt]

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[BoxingRed]

Tough choices for me were Yaz vs. Jr. and Clemente vs Sosa.
I'd love to see a losers bracket as many of these guys like Crawford and Kaline are great players that never had a chance.
Not sure I get the Joe Jackson over Rickey pick. Jackson has 6 remarkable seasons, but was always a SB liability and Rickey, believe it or not, was a big asset in the field for many seasons.

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[Cyclone792]

These are all no-brainer choices in Round 1, but it will start getting interesting beyond this.

Round 1

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[Eric_the_Red]

^ I agree with these.

[reds1869]

These are all no-brainer choices in Round 1, but it will start getting interesting beyond this.

The only one that I thought was difficult was Henderson/Jackson. Jackson had a much better wOBA. Using traditional stats that should swing heavily in Rickey's favor, Jackson comes out ahead despite having played in the Deadball Era. Henderson has a tremendous advantage in steals no doubt about it. But I think this one was fairly tough.

[Cyclone792]

The only one that I thought was difficult was Henderson/Jackson. Jackson had a much better wOBA. Using traditional stats that should swing heavily in Rickey's favor, Jackson comes out ahead despite having played in the Deadball Era. Henderson has a tremendous advantage in steals no doubt about it. But I think this one was fairly tough.

It just comes down to total career value for me. Henderson played in over 3,000 games while Jackson played in just over 1,300. Jackson was the better peak player, but Henderson has such an immense edge in career value. Merge those two factors, and I have to take Henderson's edge in career value (mind you, I am a big Joe Jackson fan myself).

[nmculbreth]

Had some last minute entrants so we went with a 32 man bracket. Might have been a couple greats left off but I think we have the bread & butter here.

Post your vote for each matchup in this thread, feel free to explain your reasoning. Actually that would be encouraged.

Round 1

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

For my money the hardest decision here is between Rickey Henderson and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Jackson's best years are better than Henderson's but Henderson's career was much longer and for my money he's the greatest lead off hitter in the history of baseball, so I give Henderson the edge.

[Oxblood]

Good feedback so far, will probably keep this up until Thursday and have Round 2 up Friday.

[Razor Shines]

Round 1

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[Cuban_Missile]

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[George Anderson]

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron

Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente

Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial

Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott

Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker

Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb


That was pretty easy

[Razor Shines]

Wow CM Gwynn over Mantle? That's quite an upset.

[George Anderson]

Wow CM Gwynn over Mantle? That's quite an upset.

Yaz over Junior is another.

[Razor Shines]

Yaz over Junior is another.

Yeah, hadn't noticed that one until you mentioned it.

[nmculbreth]

Wow CM Gwynn over Mantle? That's quite an upset.

I'd love to hear the reasoning for that because I can't think of one conceivable reason for that decision. Mantle's career WAR is nearly double Gwynn's career WAR and Gwynn's best single season WAR is just barely above Mantle's single season average. Add in the three MVP trophies and seven World Series trophies compared to zero and zero for Gwynn and I don't see how it's even a contest.

[Slyder]

I'd love to hear the reasoning for that because I can't think of one conceivable reason for that decision. Mantle's career WAR is nearly double Gwynn's career WAR and Gwynn's best single season WAR is just barely above Mantle's single season average. Add in the three MVP trophies and seven World Series trophies compared to zero and zero for Gwynn and I don't see how it's even a contest.

Gwynn "played the game the right way". And he also played when more people on this board were paying attention. That would be my guess.

[klw]

Babe Ruth vs. Reggie Jackson

Ken Griffey Jr vs. Carl Yaztremski

Mickey Mantle vs. Tony Gwynn

Harry Heilmann vs. Willie Mays

Frank Robinson vs. Dave Winfield

Chuck Klein vs. Hank Aaron
Rickey Henderson vs. Joe Jackson

Sammy Sosa vs. Roberto Clemente
Joe DiMaggio vs. Paul Waner

Manny Ramirez vs. Al Simmons

Ichiro vs. Stan Musial
Ted Williams vs. Sam Crawford

Gary Sheffield vs. Mel Ott
Barry Bonds vs. Al Kaline

Larry Walker vs. Tris Speaker
Hack Wilson vs. Ty Cobb

[New York Red]

I didn't realize Larry Walker was a RedsZone poster. :eek:

[Oxblood]

Round 1 Results

Babe Ruth def Reggie Jackson 11-0

Ken Griffey Jr def Carl Yaztremski 10-1

Mickey Mantle def Tony Gwynn 10-1

Willie Mays def Harry Heilmann 11-0

Frank Robinson def Dave Winfield 11-0

Hank Aaron def Chuck Klein 11-0

Rickey Henderson def Joe Jackson 8-3

Roberto Clemente def Sammy Sosa 10-1

Joe DiMaggio def Paul Waner 11-0

Manny Ramirez def Al Simmons 8-3

Stan Musial def Ichiro 9-2

Ted Williams def Sam Crawford 9-2

Mel Ott def Gary Sheffield 11-0

Barry Bonds def Al Kaline 11-0

Tris Speaker def Larry Walker 10-1

Ty Cobb def Hack Wilson 11-0

I'll get round 2 up tomorrow