19. Jason Giambi I won’t argue about him.

18. Thurman Munson “Sadly, Munson is glorified for how his life ended, which seems to inflate his play.” Ouch. From what I udnerstand he was a huge part of the team, the captain even when he died. He collected over 1500 hits in 11 seasons and had an average of .292. You compare him to Carlton Fisk and Johnny Bench, but generally when he is spoken of he isn’t compared to them. He’d be overrated if he was. But he is given proper credit for his abilities as a ballplayer and the effect he had on the team and fans in New York.

17. Bucky Dent I don’t really hear anything about him other than news related to his coaching positions and the Bucky ####ing Dent home run. For that reason it’d be hard for me to call him overrated.

16. Pee Wee Reese I won’t argue this one.

15. Joe Carter “Joe Carter is remembered solely for his play in the World Series.” If that is true, why is he overrated? All in all I wouldn’t argue this one much, the writer just argues them in such an odd way.

14. Barry Zito I won’t argue with this one I suppose…

13. Nomar Garciaparra I see where you are coming from on this one but I do think his acclaim went down considerably as his play deteriorated. But ok.

12. Mike Piazza See Nomar.

11. Jack Clark Never knew he was highly rated, but ok.

10. Mark McGwire Cheater. Hell yes. Overrated? Now? Now everyone almost acts like he never existed. Hard to call that overrated. Maybe I just believe in the baseball fan community too much, and maybe that’s why I find this list so problematic but I really think the fans adjust the levels of credit they give a guy pretty accurately as the guys play deteriorates or information comes out discounting their play.

9. Hideo Nomo No argument.

8. Darryl Strawberry All the mention of steroid use when talking about the other guys and you won’t even use the phrase “drug use” for this one. Feel free to take the kid gloves off.

7. Don Mattingly Another great hitter from the time just before the steroid era who you quickly discount. The writer is difficult to please.

6. Mo Vaughn No argument,

5. Pete Rose Really? Really?! The all time hits leader in baseball is your number 5 overrated player of all time. Hell, he hardly gets any credit for what he did. This is pretty much his fault, so it doesn’t bother me, but he certainly isn’t overrated. Also, proving either his ignorance or his arrogance the writer says “Pete Rose accumulated 4,256 hits in 24 seasons. For that, he is untouchable.” Untouchable? If he’s so untouchable how come MLB came down on him so hard and cut virtually all his ties to the game. He was proof that no one is untouchable. Either the author is lacking a grasp of the English language or he chooses not to think about what he types up. That might be the single worst word you can use to describe Pete Rose.

4. Don Sutton A lot of IFs, but OK. If you’re going to make a list like this then I suppose he can be on it.

3. Carl Yastrzemski IF you take away his triple crown he wasn’t that awesome. Another huge “if”, but I won’t argue him being here too much.

2. Roger Maris I feel like Roger gets credit only for his 61* Home Run season. Because of that I don’t feel like he’s overrated.

1. Nolan Ryan Give me a break. 324 wins, 5,714 Strikeouts, 3.19 ERA. Those are pretty good numbers. You mention his win percentage was only .526. Look at those teams he played for. He didn’t have a lot of support. You tell us how he was such an inning eater. Do you know how many ways that can help a team? You don’t mention his 7 no-hitters. 7 no-hitters. That is absolutely insane. He also threw 12 1-hitters and 18 2-hitters. He was a total beast. He can’t be overrated.

One more thing. I just realized Barry Bonds is not on this list. I don’t mind that fact except for the fact that it is absolutely inconsistent with his criteria for putting so many others on the list. The list is a joke.

I do not mind disagreement and I hope this author feels the same way. I’d be willing to discuss anything I said here.

Johnny Sain and Denny McLain

34. Bernie Williams This is one that I just might agree with you on, but as usual you argue against yourself. You put him on this list and then say “Bernie Williams was always an able hitter with a knack for coming up with clutch hits when it mattered the most. His 80 RBI and 51 extra-base hits both stand as postseason records.” So maybe that gives credence to why he’s viewed the way he is. Also you forget to factor in his musical abilities.


33. Brooks Robinson You say “A one-dimensional player is an overrated player.” How about this. A concrete statement is a dangerous statement. Take Adam Everett. Is he overrated? No. He’s one-dimensional, but not overrated so your statement is already wrong. You get notions in your head and you just run with these big bold statements. “Robinson was one of the best-fielding third basemen ever to man the hot corner, but that was all he could do.” You wrote that after you wrote “Robinson was a career .267 hitter. He hit .317 in 1964 which helped him earn the MVP Award that season.” Clearly he can hit with the consistency required of a Major Leaguer. He had 7 seasons where he hit higher than .280. Clearly he can do more than field.

32. Wade Boggs I think he gets due credit. He played in that quasi-dead ball era just before the steroid era. Not a lot of remarkable hitters were around and those who were remarkable deserve credit.

31. Edgar Martinez Again, the whole view driving this list is just wrong, which is why I have a problem with almost every single player being on this list, or at least the writer’s reason for putting them here. “Edgar Martinez could do one thing—hit. The fact that he had one job and one job only, makes him overrated.” The fact that he had one job makes him overrated. Neil Rackers is the kicker for the Houston Texans. He has one job and one job only. Therefore, he fills your criteria for being overrated, no? Regardless of the fact that NFL.com rates him as #17 among NFL kickers on their fantasy page. He still falls under your criteria. If you’re going to call a guy overrated don’t simply say one bad thing about him and then say he’s overrated. I think Edgar gets appropriate credit for being a professional hitter his entire career.

30. Sammy Sosa Odd logic you have but I’m not going to defend Sammy Sosa.

29. Denny McLain Everything I hear about Denny McLain is about he is the last 30-game winner in the Major Leagues. I don’t hear him listed among all time greats, or even all time very goods. His name comes up a lot, sure, but I wouldn’t call him overrated.

28. Mike Mussina Maybe I’m biased because I read “Living on the Black” by John Feinstein, but I really don’t think it’s fair to call Mussina overrated. The writer never mentions that he racked up 270 wins. He was a clean player and he did everything he did in the peak of the steroid era. The Steroid Era so hated by the writer. He had a 3.42 postseason ERA including a 3.00 World Series ERA. I think he gets deserved credit.

27. Larry Walker Ehh I don’t care to stick up for Larry Walker too much. He was a really good player who was fortunate enough to play in Colorado. Top 50 all time overrated? I dunno. Maybe…

26. Ken Caminiti “It is a shame that such a gifted athlete decided to cheat, and for that reason, Caminiti ends up on the overrated list.” I’m pretty sure he’s only here because he cheated. I just don’t think he was highly enough rated to register on this list.

25. Omar Vizquel Again a one-dimensional player who’s on this list for that reason. Again you give no credit to longevity or consistency. By the way, this one trick pony has over a .270 career batting average and he has over 2800 hits. In fact he probably doesn’t get enough credit for work at the plate.

24. Richie Ashburn No argument.

23. Ralph Kiner Jayson Stark puts Kiner among the most underrated players in his book, The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History. I’m not a Kiner expert but I’d tend to believe Stark over this writer.

22. Ozzie Smith I don’t want to defend Ozzie Smith, but let’s look at this quote. “Take away the glove, and Smith was nothing out of the ordinary.” You can’t take away the glove when talking about Ozzie Smith and why would you want to? To make your argument better? Ok, it works to make your argument, but only in the since that if you took Ken Griffey Jr., then took away the glove… and the bat… you’d have nothing remarkable. You could do this all day.

21. Phil Niekro I can see why he’s on the list. I don’t really see him getting more credit than he deserves from most perspectives, but if you have to make a list of 50, then OK.

All 3 are overrated according to a recent list on bleacher-report

Shaun McPartlin, a featured columnist for bleacher report wrote an article in April called “Nolan Ryan and the 50 Most Overrated Players in MLB History“. Ok, I have problems with that from the start. You can see that his #1 is probably going to be Nolan Ryan, which I take issue with. Then the simple fact that someone would have the gumption to try to make such a list is a little bogus to me. I think baseball fans are some of the smartest fans in the world and players generally get the credit they are due. I wouldn’t ever want to try to make a 50 most overrated list. It’s just not a realistic project. Well, I figured I’d look his list over. It quickly became clear that “MLB History” to this guy is basically the Steroid Era. Throw in a couple old timers and he figured he had himself a solid article. Well let’s see about that. (I’ll release this in 3 parts, so stay tuned!)

On to #50! (PART 2) – (PART 3)

50. Jorge Posada He tells us that “Jorge has always been known as an offensive player first and a defensive player second.” No arguments here. Then he breaks down how Posada isn’t that good offensively. Posada’s offensive stats are, it’s true, not terribly impressive. But the writer never considers Posada’s clubhouse presence, the way he works with pitchers, the fact that he’s been around for so long, playing at a pretty high level, for the most high-stress team in baseball and he has been an integral part of several World Series teams. So does he really get MORE credit than he deserves? Look, I don’t like any Yankee getting too much credit, but when you consider his body of work I think he gets a due amount.

49. David Ortiz A Red Sox player isn’t much better to me than a Yankee, but it’s why he has him here that bothers me.

He has hit for power and knocked in his share of base runners, but with the accusation of him using steroids being released, how much was really his natural ability?

Any player who uses a substance to gain a competitive edge has to have their stats looked at with a grain of salt. If he comes clean, forgiveness could be granted, but until then, Big Papi is just another overrated player.

Reread that if you didn’t catch it. He has been accused of steroids. Anyone who uses steroids has an unfair advantage when it comes to their statline (No? Really?!?!). Therefore, until he comes cleans and admits his steroid use he cannot be forgiven and he is just another overrated player.
Wait, wait, wait. Because he’s been accused of steroids he now has to admit to using them? What if he didn’t use them?

48. Alfonso Soriano No argument here.

47. Cliff Lee Among the most overrated players of all time? Get real. You see him on SportsCenter a lot for the past few years and we’re suddenly talking about him as one of the most overrated of all time? Also “His work in the postseason is what brings all of the hype and frankly, outside of last year’s World Series, he was rather untouchable.” Uhhhh, what is wrong with giving people credit for their post-season work?

46. Jason Varitek Not sure I disagree with him being on the list. But read how he opens this. “Varitek is a leader in the clubhouse and the captain of the Boston Red Sox and due to this, he is overrated.” … … Really? So he could be hitting .380 with 70 HRs, but he “is a leader in the clubhouse and the captain of the Boston Red Sox and due to this, he is overrated.” I know that’s not the writer’s intent, but you’re trying to write professionally correct? You base your opinion of him being overrated on the fact the he is a clubhouse leader. Instead of basing that opinion on the fact(?) that he performs beneath the level he is given credit for.

45. Jose Canseco Slimy cheating bastard, absolutely. But how can he be overrated if everyone thinks he’s a slimy cheating bastard? No one rates him high. He’s not overrated. This is a trend we will see continued. If a guy is a cheater he’ll be on this list.

44. Scott Brosius Ok in his heydey people talked up Brosius like he was a superstar. He wasn’t. He was overrated. But as of today, does anyone really think he’s one of the most overrated players of all time? Again, how high does anyone rate him? I’d wager not very.

43. Brady Anderson Again… how high is this guy rated? How can he be among the top 50 overrated when he is on no one’s radar? I get it. He pissed you off because he had an enhanced season. This bias of yours is causing you to lose any credibility for this list. It’s certainly fair to factor in steroid use, but do so accordingly. Also, this is biased of me but he show support for Eric Davis during his cancer battle (notice the helmet in the above picture), so I give Anderson a lot slack.

42. Chuck Finley Uhh not exactly arguing. Just didn’t know he was high rated to begin with.

41. Phil Rizzuto I won’t argue with this one.

40. Lou Brock The writer should read what he’s writing about this fella. “Lou Brock could steal bases at a blistering rate. His 118 in 1974 is almost incomprehensible… Brock did eclipse 3,000 hits,” He did all that? I had forgotten. Maybe he doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

39. Jonathan Papelbon No argument. Not saying I agree… A lot of these I have no argument on, but I’m not sure I agree either.

38. Vernon Wells Overrated sure. Top 50? Hmmm 50 is a lot of people so maybe, but I don’t know. I don’t see him as being rated high enough in hte first place to get on this list.

37. Joe Torre The more I learn the more I agree with this assessment.

36. Kirk Gibson Whaaaaat? He is essentially famous for his World Series heroics. This is true. Beyond that I don’t see people acting like he was a superstar. He was a very good player who performed an superman feat and I think he’s been given credit accordingly.

Inaugural Home Run Derby winner:Another former Cincinnati Red, Dave Parker won the event in 1985, which is also the year I was born.

In 1987 only 4 players competed in the Home Run Derby. Andre Dawson won with a total of 4 home runs.

1988 the Home Run Derby wasn’t played at all, due to rain.

Ken Griffey Jr. has won the Home Run Derby three times. No one else has won twice. He also has the highest home run total in derby history (excluding swingoff playoffs)

In 2008 Josh Hamilton hit 28 Home Runs in one round. Justin Morneau won, but it was Hamilton’s day.

1991 and 1995 tied for the largest group of Cincinnati Reds with Paul O’Neill and Chris Sabo appearing in 1991 and Ron Gant and Reggie Sanders in the mix in 1995.

1994 boasted the largest group of future Cincinnati Reds in any Home Run Derby, but no one who was on the Reds at that time. Ken Griffey Jr. won the event. Rubén Sierra and Dante Bichette were the other future Reds in the game. Speaking of Jr… and speaking of Dante Bichette… How about Dante Bichette Jr.?

This photo is still awesome.

The Morgan Ensberg Index Don’t you wish you had a stat named after you? Also check out his Joust video.

A note on tipping. I don’t completely buy into what he’s say, but it still needs to be read by people who have never waited tables.

The down of Barry Halper; Baseball Collecting’s Bernie Madoff – Pretty sweet reader for memorabilia collectors.

Atlanta schools take testing seriously. Ethics be damned.

I didn’t know they existed… Washington prospects not named Bryce Harper?

This is old but I’m currently reading Hero of the Underground by ex-NFL player (and Cornhusker) Jason Peter. Did you know he’d like to spit in the face of Lou Holtz? (Good book so far by the way).

At least Dirk Nowitzki won’t be pitching this summer.

Michael Vick is better than Steve Young? Really? I guess I can think of something he does better than Steve Young. (I’m actually glad to see Vick succeed. That comparison just seems too soon.)

I already knew about a iPhone-shot music video, but this one, done for a Kurt Vile song, was done with a Windows based phone. Cool I suppose. Not too impressed.

Umm Laura Robson is cute. Maria Sharapova is better at tennis, hotter and nice enough to give some almost maternal advice.