the Kerry Wood comparison is ridiculous. Bagwell had a 16 year full career, Palmiero played twenty (Dh later in career). During those 16 years, he was a better player in every category when compared to Palmeiro. And thats while playing in one of the toughest hitters parks in all of baseball. Rafael gets points for longevity, absolutely...but that doesnt make up for this (while Raffy was on average in decent hitters Parks, and Bagwell was in one of the worst hitters parks in baseball).
Bagwell had a better batting average.
Bagwell had a far better on base average.
Bagwell had a 25 point better slugging average.
Bagwell had a better average WAR/year by 12%.
Bagwell had over 200 stolen bases (twice as many as Palmeiro, and had a 30/30 year...he was faster than Palmeiro.
Bagwell was a better fielder and won one golden glove vs none for Palmiero.
Bagwell won an MVP, was voted 2nd once, and third once. Palmeiro's highest finish was 5th.
Palmeiro played four more years then Bagwell, and racked up some great career numbers.
Bagwell, overall, was the better player.
On Raines, vs Wills, I mean yes, I said in my post that the comparison wasnt good imo, because they played different positions, Wills gets credit for being an excellent shortstop. But the numbers werent even compareable....Raines had three steps up better numbers then Wills. And what makes Raines stolen base numbers so great, is that not only did he have over 800 stolen bases, third most in the Modern Era, but he had The Highest Succes Rate OF ALL TIMEY for anyone with a signicant number of stolen base attempts. Raines at 85%, Henderson at 81%, Brock at 75%, Wills at 74%... IMO Raines was a Hall of Famer, the second best leadoff hitter of his time.
And Maury Wills was not the best baserunner of his era. Lou Brock was. So both Raines and Wills were the the second best baserunners of their times, Raines second to the greatest of all time, Ricky Henderson.
best.
