when i got baptized in 1970 my brother apparently wouldn't stop talking. make sure your siblings know to be quiet.

mattingly best year:
.324, 211 hits, 145 ribs, 35 HRs
ripken best year:
.323, 210 hits, 114 ribs, 34 HRs

astonishingly similar. i suspect the rbi difference came as a result of the Os light-hitting lineup. if i'm not mistaken both guys hit in the middle of the lineup in each respective year.

also, ripken made 11 errors in 162 games at short that year. the following year he made 3 errors in 162 games, which is probably as hard a record to break as any in MLB.
pbdotc | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 9:51 am | #

I can't wait until the "dan kois" label on verbungle.com gets filled up with excellent posts.
Kois | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 10:35 am | #

tip: cover the family jewels
d | 01.22.07 - 10:56 am | #

I guess they don't pick you up and tip you toward the holy water basin at this age, huh.

I recently started eating meat again after being vegetarian for about 15 years. But I reconsider the choice almost every day. Too many bad consequences. I think a steak a month is OK though.
Christina | Homepage | 01.22.07 - 11:27 am | #

i like manwiches
angel | 01.22.07 - 3:53 pm | #

heat 35, knicks 9
:-x | 01.22.07 - 8:08 pm | #

What are you getting baptised as?
Kyle | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 12:30 am | #

a presbyterian. full-blown.
hans | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 12:54 am | #

full-blown? as opposed to partially-blown?
deion | 01.23.07 - 9:10 am | #

god is a superstition.
kissel | 01.23.07 - 10:26 am | #

Meat is delicious. This point cannot reasonably be debated.

Mattingly was a better fielder than Ripken.

Are you going to be naked at the baptism?
Joe | 01.23.07 - 11:52 am | #

> Mattingly was a better fielder than Ripken

that's silly talk
pbdotc | 01.23.07 - 2:12 pm | #

Absolutely not. Mattingly was one of the best fielders at 1B of all time. Ripken wasn't even the best of his generation.
Joe | 01.23.07 - 3:08 pm | #

mattingly was a better fielder, but at a much less critical position. ripken (as I recall) was a very good fielder at a super-important position.

defense is hard to evaluate, and my dad could beat up your dad.
hans | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 3:23 pm | #

Ripken was an overrated fielder at a difficult/important position. He really isn't even close to Mattingly.

My dad is weak.
Joe | 01.23.07 - 3:45 pm | #

Ripken lifetime attempts: 6,977 at short

Mattingly lifetime attempts: 1,104 at 1B

The gulf between the two players is so astonishingly wide it's hard to even contemplate.

Also ... I know for a fact Ripken's offensive output would have been markedly higher were it not for The Streak at short.
pbdotc | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 9:01 pm | #

there's no way Mattingly's career chances number is so low

- BJL
Anonymous | 01.23.07 - 9:47 pm | #

I fail to see the relevance of the attempts. Different positions, of course the attempts will be vastly different. When asked who is the best defensive first baseman of all time, many people will say Keith Hernandez or Don Mattingly. Same question about SS and you are highly unlikely to hear Ripken.

And, yes, The Streak. There is little doubt that his offensive numbers would be better but for the streak. In fact, I think some of his teams would have been better off, too. The Streak is an amazing record, but it's true value is difficult to determine.

The above are not arguments against Ripken's induction into the Hall. He deserves to be there. But he was only above average defensively. It would have been interesting if he had played third for many years.

Now, am I the only one who sees Cheney popping either Tums or Nitros on screen?
Joe | 01.23.07 - 9:54 pm | #

i'm guessing pete is listing assists, of which first basemen don't get many and SS's get tons
hans | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 10:24 pm | #

semi-meaningless stat that sort of backs up my theory about who was the more feared hitter:

Ripken 107 IBB in 11551 AB
Mattingly 136 IBB in 7003 AB

and they both generally had good protection in the lineup directly behind them (murray, winfield, etc.)
hans | Homepage | 01.23.07 - 10:54 pm | #

assists ... sorry. i hadda rush cuz the dumb speech started.

it's not The Streak so much as the short stop position that ate into rip's numbers. short stops work for a living.

incidentally The Streak is the only MLB record that differentiates itself as a proper noun when capitalized.

i'm gonna say those IBB numbers are not very relevant. but OK. ripken went through some very lean years when he had no protection (1988 comes to mind when the Os started 0-21).

i love this: most (new york) baseball fans can't decide if keith hernandez or don mattingly was the best defensive first baseman. this is the same provincial attitude that landed phil rizzuto in the HOF. just imagine if Rip had been a Yankee. he would be revered as a God.
pbdotc | Homepage | 01.24.07 - 12:14 am | #

Nah, we've got Jeter
Joe | 01.24.07 - 10:26 am | #

[T]he proudest thing that I have that I can think of is being given credit [for] changing the mind-set of being a shortstop. The guys like Derek [Jeter] and Alex [Rodriguez] come along and thank me for that.
cal ripken | Homepage | 01.24.07 - 10:49 am | #

Ripken fans can't have it both ways - the streak can't be used to make him into an immortal, and it can't be used to explain away his (mostly) so-so offensive numbers

Also - how, exactly, did Ripken "change the mind-set of being a shortstop"? What exactly should Jeter et al thank him for?

- BJL
Anonymous | 01.24.07 - 1:11 pm | #

Billy Ripken sucks.
Mark Belanger | 01.24.07 - 3:05 pm | #

I like you guys too much to argue any more. Kiss me.
pbdotc | Homepage | 01.24.07 - 4:22 pm | #

one more interesting ripken-mattingly comparison: I think basketball was the first love for both of them
hans | Homepage | 01.24.07 - 4:24 pm | #

I love debating dumb shit

somebody make sure DLee is taking care of the permit

- BJL
Anonymous | 01.24.07 - 8:07 pm | #

i read that mattingly was totally gay for baseball
balboni | 01.24.07 - 9:29 pm | #

We're all friends here on the Bungle.

Who're you guys rooting for in the SuperBowl?
Joe | Homepage | 01.25.07 - 12:09 am | #