"Whose" the Best?

     One of the best things about baseball is that it promotes silly arguments based upon both fact and emotion. Those inane discussions usually surround who is the best at something.

     When I was young, New Yorkers used to get into heated debates about who was the best center fielder in the city. These conversations many times turned into very heated arguments based on one's loyalties.

     Yankees' fans rightfully supported slugger Mickey Mantle, he of the long home runs, the brutish strength and the speed that was left in his damaged legs, along with his Triple Crown year of 1956, where he hit .353, clubbed 52 home runs and drove in 130 runs. The Mick or The Commerce Comet, referring to his hometown of Commerce, Oklahoma, where baseball proved to be the escape from the local zinc and lead mines his father, Mutt, could not orchestrate. Mantle was a switch hitting outfielder with equal power from both sides of the plate, an accurate arm and a boyish enthusiasm for the game. To many youths, including myself, he was Herculean.
\
     The Giants' fans raved about Willie Mays. A rookie who almost did not make it , going 0-12 in his first Major League at bats until he hit a home run off of Hall of Fame, lefty Warren Spahn. Mays went on to win the 1951 NL Rookie of the Year award and catapulted the Giants into the World Series. Ironically in the 1951 World Series, Mays hit a ball to right center field which Mantle and another Yankees' legend , Joe DiMaggio went for. While DiMaggio made the play, Mantle went down with a severe right knee injury. Mays hit tons of homers, graced the cavernous center field at the Polo Grounds with flair an panache punctuated by his famed basket catch. He even played stick ball with the local kids on the street of Harlem. Like Mantle, he too was larger than life.

     Not to be outdone, Brooklyn Dodgers' fans had their own star center fielder. Edward Donald " Duke" Snider, a.k.a., The Duke of Flatbush or The Silver Fox. Snider did not have the power statistics that Mays or Mantle put up on a yearly basis nor during his own illustrious career. The Duke led the National League in home runs just once--in 1956; Mantle was a 4 time American League home run leader and Mays correspondingly won 4 N.L. home run titles. He never won the N.L. M.V.P., finishing second in 1955, the year that Brooklyn finally took that elusive World Series against the Yankees. Mays made an incredible 24 All Star teams, Mantle secured 20 trips to the ASG. Snider's 8 All Star appearances is a high number, but paled in comparison to his New York center field compatriots. Mantle and Mays made Baseball's All-Century team and Mays was on M.L.B.'s All-Time Team.  But that meant little to the die hard Brooklyn Dodgers' fan. Duke Snider was the man.

     All three sluggers are in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Both Mantle and Mays were elected by the voters on the first ballot. It took 11 tries before Snider would join them. Many New Yorkers would say that Snider didn't measure up to Mays or Mantle. Others would state that Mays was head and shoulders above Mantle. Some fans even decried that Mantle wasn't even as good as DiMaggio.

     The arguments raged on even after the Dodgers had left for Los Angeles and the Giants had uprooted for San Francisco. I recall being in Yankee Stadium in 1960 and the debate continued--even if Mickey Mantle was the only one of the trio still playing in New York. When Mays returned for a career-closing curtain call with the New York Mets in 1973, the arguments were reignited.

     As I stated, baseball is full of these kinds of fans (and writers) squabbles about who is the best. Mays is thrown into the discussions regarding Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds and Henry Aaron, given their home run prowess. Many questioned if Joe DiMaggio or Boston's feared hitter, Ted Williams, was the better player. There have been debates regarding Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa during their steroid-filled Home Run Derby. Or which pitcher was better--Dodgers' lefty Sandy Koufax, Giants' righty, Juan Marichal or the Cardinals' ace, Bob Gibson. Even now, the debate ensues about pitchers--is the best one Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Chris Sale or Max Scherzer?

     Football has its Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.) controversies. Is it New England's Tom Brady, Denver's John Elway, Peyton Manning of the Colts and Broncos or 49'ers legend Joe Montana?

     Basketball, too, is embedded with these arguments. Was Michael Jordan better than Larry Bird or Magic Johnson? is Jordan better than LeBrorn James? Is the best center ever Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?

     Which brings me back to baseball and the debate which is in full rage over who is the best player now. The two names which immediately spoken are the Washington Nationals' phenom, Bryce Harper or the Los Angeles Angels' slugger, Mike Trout. In previous years, names like Detroit's Miguel Cabrera might have entered the discussion, but it seems like he is starting to show his age. Aaron Judge, who I extolled just last week, has only this stellar season in his resume, so he is a non-factor for the present. Cody Bellinger, the rookie slugger for the Los Angeles Dodger. may not be the best player on his team despite the whopping numbers he has  put up. David Ortiz, who retired in 2016 after an illustrious career mostly with the Boston Red Sox, was primarily a designated hitter. Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins can enter the debate, but he is not in the exalted air of Harper or Trout. Same with Andrew McCutcheon of Pittsburgh.

     Trout has played longer. He joined the Angels in 2011 at age 19. At age 20, Trout was selected the A.L. Rookie of the Year title in his first full season with the Angels. He has won 2 A.L. M.V.P. awards while finishing in second place 3 times, picked up 2 All-Star Game M.V.P. nods and has won 5 Silver Slugger awards for the best at his position. In 7 seasons, the powerfully-built Trout has mashed 187 homers, driven in 541 runs, sports a career .307 batting average and has made so many stellar outfield catches and throws. He has been compared numerous times with Mickey Mantle. Even being limited thus far to 59 games due to a sliding injury to his wrist, Trout has managed to hit 19 homers, drive in 44 runs and has a .325 average.

     Bryce Harper also broke into the major leagues at age 19. He too, was a Rookie of the Year.The mercurial Harper has 1 N.L. M.V.P. trophy and seems to be the leading candidate for the award in 2017. He has hit 148 homers during the 6 seasons he has made the Nationals suddenly relevant, while driving in 413 runs. His batting average is at .286 for his injury-laden career, but this season he is hitting at a .338 clip with 27 home runs and 79 R.B.I. Harper can field very well, making numerous circus catches while patrolling right field for the Nats.

     Career-wise, Trout has distance on Harper. But when they are both healthy, they have comparable statistics. There seems to be no one else in their rarefied air. Or is there?

     This player does not possess the gaudy home run totals that Trout and Harper have accumulated. He does not have any M.V.P. award--yet. But in his 7 seasons, he has a .317 career batting average. He has led the A.L. in batting average in 2 of the last 3 years, has the most hits in the A.L. during those 3 years and is on pace to lead the A.L again in hits and batting average. He has many more doubles than either Trout or Harper. Like Harper, he has appeared in the All-Star Game 5 times, which is one less than Trout's 6 times at the Summer Classic. Trout has 5 Silver Slugger awards and Harper just 1. This player has 3.

     But should he be mentioned in the same breath as Trout and Harper? Trout is 6'2', 235 pounds. Harper has been measured at 6'3" and 215 pounds. The player is question is generously listed at 5'6", 165 pounds. And his statistics do measure up against the two bigger players.

     Who am I talking about? The Houston Astros' star second baseman, Jose Altuve.

     Home run hitters garner greater accolades. Especially outfielders. Not so with second basemen. However, without the stellar play of Altuve, the Astros would not be in first place in the A.L. Central, maintaining a double-digit lead on their next closest pursuer. His achievements certainly measure up in the discussion. He should not be sold short in any debate. With this season, his likely A.l. M.V.P,. award may not be the first one--even if he may be dwarfed in the future by 6'8" Aaron Judge and his barrage of homers.
\
     So let's keep Altuve in the discourse about who is the best player in baseball. He is small, but he carries a big stick to home plate. He may be among the greatest to play the game when he is through. He, Harper and Trout can recount stories of their playing days in Cooperstown, where they are all headed to. And maybe the debating will continue even then, about who was the best player of this era.