Greatest "what if" player?

[OleMissCub]

Got this question idea from another forum. Which of these players would be the greatest in these scenarios?

 

*note*: My personal "what if" and I imagine a great deal of yours is how the Negro Leaguers would have done in the bigs, such as Paige, Gibson, Bell, etc. However, I'm not including them in this poll because there is no real way to measure what they would or wouldn't have done in the pros, whereas the scenarios I've included are a bit more measurable given real statistics.

[CuseCubFan69]

I think you could add Ken Griffey Jr to that list.

 

I think that's the thing that makes the game so interesting, so many things have to go right for you to have the ultimate career.

[OleMissCub]

Ted Williams got my vote.

 

He missed all of 43, 44, and 45. If you average the bookmark years, 42 and 46, then he should have had 3 seasons of .349/.498/.658 with a 216 OPS+ and averaging 37 HR and 130 RBI.

 

Likewise, if he would have had a full 1952 and 1953, he should have been averaging .332/.489/.596 with a 183 OPS+ for those two seasons.

[Lockes Eye Scar]

I voted for Koufax

[Andy]

Ridiculously biased I may be, but Mark Prior without his issues has to be in the discussion.

[wolf stansson]

Rick Ankiel.

[CubinNY]

I think it has to be Ted Williams.

 

Gerhig was nearing the end of his career anyway. Willams lost his 24, 25, and 26 year old seasos plus parts of his early 30s.

 

Gerhig is the only one who is close and it isn't even that close.

[Andy]

Rick Ankiel.

I think if he turns into Babe Freaking Ruth as a hitter he's DQ'ed. :wink:

[XZero771679666304]

Mantle.

[NCCubFan]

A couple of other possibilities might be Herb Score and Tony Conigliaro if they hadn't suffered injuries. Neither of them had records comparable to the players included in the poll because they were injured when they were still young, but they had very careers going at the time of their injuries.

[Skyballer]

Teddy.

[wolf stansson]

Rick Ankiel.

I think if he turns into Babe Freaking Ruth as a hitter he's DQ'ed. :wink:

The other Rick Ankiel. The who died and had the disease named after him. You know Rick Ankiel disease. Prior died of it a few years back iirc.

[Guest]

Mark Prior w/o Marcus Giles, Dusty Baker and Brad Hawpe.

 

ETA: I'm not as serious as Andy.

[TruffleShuffle]

Ted Williams got my vote.

 

He missed all of 43, 44, and 45. If you average the bookmark years, 42 and 46, then he should have had 3 seasons of .349/.498/.658 with a 216 OPS+ and averaging 37 HR and 130 RBI.

 

Likewise, if he would have had a full 1952 and 1953, he should have been averaging .332/.489/.596 with a 183 OPS+ for those two seasons.

 

Ted Williams would be not far behind Babe Ruth in career numbers if not for the two stints in the military. He was just an amazing hitter.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Corey Patterson of he didnt suck.

[soccer10k]

It's gotta be Ted Williams. He'd probably have the RBI record, #2 in total bases, #3 or #4 in HR's.

[B]

Bo Jackson

[illiniguy]

Josh Gibson would have to be mine.

[CubmanPi]

I think you could add Ken Griffey Jr to that list.

That was the first thing I thought when I opened this thread. The numbers OMC listed for Williams makes it hard to vote any way else, and I haven't done the actual number crunching on Griffey, but I'd imagine the 'what if' is pretty staggering.

[CyHawk_Cub]

Easily the Splendid Splinter, IMO.... That he lost those years due to service to his country makes it even more compelling, to me at least.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Corey Patterson of he didnt suck.

 

assuming you meant "if" he didn't suck, you could put anyone's name in that group

[UK1679666180]

Steve Dalkowski if he had control.

[CuseCubFan69]

Steve Dalkowski if he had control.

 

Could that guy throw hard or what? Do they actually know what he hit?

[wolf stansson]

Corey Patterson of he didnt suck.

 

assuming you meant "if" he didn't suck, you could put anyone's name in that group

Good point.

 

I'm changing my choice to me if I didn't suck.

[UK1679666180]

Steve Dalkowski if he had control.

 

Could that guy throw hard or what? Do they actually know what he hit?

 

There was no way to tell back then, some experts believe his FB was between 105-110MPH.