Power Pros Forum

He just likes to make flashy plays. I saw a Cards game a few years ago where there was a deep fly ball to center so Jim Edmonds climbs the wall and it hits him in the foot.

I don't think he's a hall-of-famer by any means, let alone the best of his position to play the game.
Edit: Wow, 20 pages!

Her's a list of players I would rather have than Jim Edmonds

Joe DiMaggio
Ty Cobb
Willie Mays
Mickey Mantle
Andre Dawson
Duke Snider
Larry Doby
Earl Averill
Kirby Puckett
Max Carey
Edd Roush
Richie Ashburn
Lloyd Waner
Marvin

to name a few

Yeah? Well . . . how many of them wear half-shirts? Because Jim Edmonds does. It's like a mullet for his torso, which is to say, it's obviously home-made and too short in some places.

haha, that's great. Yes, while Jim Edmonds is an exellent player and an all-star, I don't think there's really any chance of him being a hall-of-famer. A-Rod you know will be, so there is more of an argument there. The same could be said for Randy Johson and Pedro Martinez.

if christy masterson isn't on this team, i will not vote or read this topic anymore.

Christy Mathewson. Big man and a hard thrower for his era . . . or any era. One of the greatest sinkers in history, supposedly equal to or better than that of Kevin Brown, who is widely regarded as having the nastiest sinker of any pitcher post 1919. Back then, the pitch was known as a "fadaway" and later re-named the "screwball" but there were many varieties and nobody threw it harder than Mathewson, which is why historians refer to it as a sinker. Not many players from the early 1900's could make the transition to the modern game, but Mathewson is arguably the best bet due to his velocity & movement.

My picks would be Ed Walsh, Addie Joss, and or Christy Mathewson.
I would very likely pick Ed Walsh but I haven't really looked at the stats between Addie Joss and Mathewson. There's more important things then ERA and plain stats, often you have to look past them.
The biggest problem I have with Joss is he only played 9 years. While a worth hall-of-famer, he played when he was 21-30. With the huge ammount of innings they pitched back then, ending at 30 was not that rare. Ed Walsh pitched 13 years (a bit longer then average at the time I believe) while Mathewson had a long career on those standards of 16 years (23-39, about average if not slightly longer on todays standards). Now of course, we can't blame Addie Joss for his short career as he suffered from tubercular meningitis and trajically died from it at the age of 31. It was truly devistating and it would be like saying Lou Gherig shouldn't be on the team because he didn't play long enough. Joss through one perfect game and a no-hitter.

Here's my starting 5 opinion

Sandy Koufax
Walter Johnson
Bob Gibson
Ed Walsh
Dizzy Dean or Christy Mathewson

I'll have 4:

Sandy Koufax
Walter Johnson
Lefty Grove
Pete Alexander

Bob Gibson as swingman.

couldn't have said it better myself, lance and longball. let's add me in there, just for fun...

Guys, lets focus on determing those 2 of ten spots for the pre-1920s first. Dizzy Dean has already been eliminated. When we have all ten spots filled, the 5 with the most votes (you'll be able to vote 5 times) are the starting rotation. Here's more of a look at Ed Walsh. Obviously the thing that stands out the most with Walsh is the fact that he had the best ERA of all time. Despite pitching in the Dead Ball Era, no one can help but marvel at that stat. Walsh pitched what I believe was an all time high of 12 perfect innings(tied at least once), yet losing the game in the thirteenth. Clearly he pitched a better game then a perfact game, but his offense was dead (deadball era). He was known as the man who built Comiskey Park and had one season with a 1.27 ERA. He also was the strike-out king 2 years and has the 93rd most ks in history.
Christy Mathewson has the highest winning percentage of the Deadball Era. With a strong era of 2.13 and the owner of 79 shutouts, he is clearly a strong pitcher. Perhaps he is most known for his fantastic world series perfomance (which used to be best of 9) in which he pitched 3 complete games. A 2-time triple crown pitcher and a holder of two no-hitters, Mathewson was clearly a force to be reckoned with.
I'm really tied up between these three guys. Anyone willing to try to sway me? Please use actual stats or facts, just stating it isn't going to convince me. I heard one good argument for Mathewson before, any others for any other guys? Right now I'm leaning a little more towards joss and walsh.

Start up another poll Cownip! Here's some candidates for the pre 1920s

Walter Johnson
Christy Mathewson
Ed Walsh
Addie Joss
Chief Bender
Mordecai Brown
Joe McGinnity
Rube Waddell
Cy Young
Dutch Leonard
Pete Alexander
Vic Willis

Lance, you really have to read what's already been said mate. We were just determining that for the last 2-3 pages. Those aren't the candidates. The only ones left are:
1. Ed Walsh
2. Addie Joss
3. Mordecai Brown
4. Chirsty Mathewson
5. Eddie Plank
6. Chief Bend
7. Happy "Jack" Chesbro
This is based on ERA and WPCT.
I edited my post to talk about Mathewson.