Gwynn

Tim Kurkijian on Tony Gwynn:

Gwynn is the best hitter since Ted Williams.

No.

Tony Gwynn was about as good a hitter as one can be without substantial power or patience at the plate. He was very good, yes, and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Here, however, is a short, very incomplete list of players since Ted Williams who were better hitters than Tony Gwynn.

Mickey Mantle
Hank Aaron
Willie Mays
Ken Griffey Jr.
Rickey Henderson
Barry Bonds
Mark McGwire
Willie McCovey
Wade Boggs
Edgar Martinez
Mike Schmidt

Now, I doubt that Kurkijian would actually try to defend the argument that Tony Gwynn is a better hitter than Mays, Mantle, Aaron, or even Bonds. Rather, he’d almost certainly resort to the “pure hitter” fallacy, arguing that Gwynn’s propensity to hit safely on balls in play should count for something. Well, it should, but so should the willingness to take a walk and the ability to hit the ball out of the park. The purpose of a “hitter” is to create runs, and batting average isn’t even the most important contribution to run creation. It’s sad that, given the advances that sabermetricians have made in our understanding of the game, especially its offensive aspects, that a professional sportswriter will still spout such nonsense.

So, better than make the abjectly false statement that “Gwynn is the best hitter since Ted Williams”, one ought to make the much more accurate statement that “Gwynn has the highest career batting average since Ted Williams.” The headline isn’t as catchy, but it has the benefit of being true, active players aside.